This happened a couple of years back. I got an order from a colleague (let’s call her ABC), for a portrait of her sister and brother-in-law. She wanted to gift it for their 25th wedding anniversary. She was very excited about it and wanted to frame it in a silver frame.
I was also excited to take up the commissioned work. I always am (if I take up the order that is). She sent me a few of their images, which I used as a reference and did a color pencil portrait of the couple. After a couple of changes suggested by her, I finished the portrait on time and took it to hand it over to ABC.
So, whenever any of my clients gift a portrait to his/ her loved ones, friends, or colleagues, I insist on taking a video and sharing it with me. I may not post it on social media, but I love to see the reaction of the person while they unwrap and look at the hand-drawn portraits. For most of them, it may be their first portrait.
So, coming back to ABC’s story. I met her, handed over the portrait, curious to see if she felt, I have done justice to the image. She took off the newspaper covering, let out a surprised sigh!; gently touched her sister’s portrait, and kept looking at it for a few moments. The way she kept staring at it, it appeared as if she was lost in a trance. She kept looking at it with a faint smile…as if she was tracing back to some old memories.
Wow! I was amazed at the reaction. I knew she liked it; I was confident the couple in the portrait will also like it. The way a person looks at an artwork for the first time gives honest feedback, then comes the words, well, equally valuable, but I do not want to miss that first reaction as well.
I told her, “Let me know your sister and Brother-in-laws’ reaction after they see this portrait.”
She looked at me as I broke her trance and said, “My sister is no more, and she left us a few years back due to an illness.” That moment, my heart skipped a beat. I was shocked and still remember the goosebumps I felt then crawling beneath my skin. “But my Jijaji will love it I am sure,” she said with a smile. Did I see a hint of tears in her eyes? I didn’t know what more to say. I thanked her, made some small talks, and left.
While walking back to my seat, that view still lingered in my mind, ABC’s reaction while she was looking at the portrait… of her sister. Then it appeared to me as to why she had let out that sigh and caressed her sister’s portrait. It was as if, her sister became alive to her through that portrait.
How a simple piece of art can evoke various emotions! There is some magic or charm in a hand-drawn/painted portrait that touches the emotions of a person.
Another similar incident happened quite recently when a client gifted her sister-in-law, a portrait painting of her sister-in-law with her father. The process was the same. She sent me a few images, I selected the best among those, basis the angle of the faces. That’s all is required! In this case, I knew that the girl’s father has passed away a few years back. This was a big portrait painting.
I shipped the painting to my client who then gifted it to her sister-in-law. My client told me that when her sister-in-law saw the painting, she cried profusely. She said, “It’s the best birthday gift ever”.
Though money can buy a lot of things to make you happy, often it’s a customized and personalized piece of art that tunes the cords of your emotions and brings them up on the outer surface. Of course, the girl would have had several of her father’s picture, but perhaps a large portrait with its look & feel, texture, and colors, struck like something closer to reality. More than that, it might have struck the chord because it was hand-created by someone with a lot of effort put into it. Perhaps it brought back memories that lied dormant in the old shelves of the mind, I don’t know!
It is the same when it comes to pet/animal portraits. A very dear friend lost her pet labrador – Zack to cancer. He was just 6 years old; young to go away like this. His family was shattered, specially my friend’s mother who had lovingly brought him up. My friend shared Zack’s photos with me. I created a color pencil portrait of him and gave it to her. She told me that her mother broke down with tears in her eyes when she saw Zack’s portrait. Such stories move me emotionally.
Portraits are not just a piece of art on a canvas or a paper, but it is something that speaks volumes about the relationship of the people involved.
It is a lot more than a beautiful and personalized gifting option. It is an expression of one’s love, emotions, and feelings. Yes, it is materialistic happiness but narrates a whole of a story about the lives of the people involved.
I am very fortunate to have learned the art of creating portraits because I believe when my clients (or friends) asks me to create one, they sort of let me in their personal space; it is like they share a part of their lives and stories with me.
It motivates me further to learn and practice the intricate technicalities of portrait making and create more beautiful works that touch the soul of the person who wants to gift it and also the person who receives it.
VarTOONS - Varun's Art & Toons 