Peoples! I Do Peoples Too!

September was a very busy month. We spent most of the time camping, so I was away from my computer, the television and all news. I didn't even look at my phone. When I'm out in the woods it's my chance to escape from EVERYTHING.

Now that I'm back, I've got a ton of work to do before winter hits, so I'm quickly posting this portrait that I finished back in August, so I can get back to work chopping wood, cutting trees, building an addition to the shop, and thinning the three remaining acres of woods.

In truth, I don't think I retired so much as I exchanged a cushy desk job for manual labor. Not sure that was such a great deal.

This portrait took me at least fifteen hours (probably more). Portraits of people are very difficult and require some very careful work. Why? Because we're wired to analyze faces and we unconsciously notice any flaws in the faces we see.

It's different with animals. There's a bit of slop that's allowable because our brains will fill in any missing details. But with people, we are all highly critical.

Overall this was a very satisfying, though challenging, portrait.

Matt & Sam (21x28, digital)