by Godfrey J. Ellis — 12×16 Acrylic Oct 2020 In return for significant help with putting in a new back lawn, I painted this man’s wife (see “By the Lake” on this website). He gave it to his wife as a gift. He wasn’t sure she liked it but, a few weeks later, she commissioned […]
Category: Friends
The Bandanna (Garcia)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 16×20 acrylic 2020 There is a Hispanic restaurant owner near where we live who has a little hole-in-the-wall place called, Don Garcia’s. In his restaurant, he has a huge, framed photo of him much younger in a cowboy hat and with his name, Don Garcia, splashed across the photo. He […]
Batman (Shingzing)
Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 Acrylic July 2020 Oliver 7 yrs and Alex 4, the two little boys next door, sit in front of our planter. They have the long hair that came with Covid-19. When I gave this to the family, Dad had given them a haircut. I said, “Do I need to change […]
By the Lake (Johnston)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 acrylic 2020 This portrait was painted from a small, very dark, and somewhat fuzzy reference photo (see below). It was the one my friend liked, so… that’s the one we used. I wouldn’t want to do that again, because it made it very difficult. The goal in this portrait was […]
Graduation Memories (Blume)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – May 2020 Acrylic 12×16 My friend, Jeff, has helped us a great deal in the replacement of our front lawn and supplying the soil for the replacement of our back lawn. I wanted to do a painting for him – perhaps his wife or a grandchild. Instead, he wanted a […]
Powder Blue (Nies)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 acrylic 2020 In this portrait of our friend Carol, I tried to strike a balance between realism of the wrinkles and flattery for the subject. I don’t know if I achieved the perfect balance but I tried. This was a difficult painting in many ways and I ran into […]
The Sniper (Robles)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 acrylic 2020 This was painted for the same neighbor for whom I painted “Brothers” back on Dec. 12th. I offered to paint another one of the father in his dress uniform. He was a Bronze Star Master Sergeant and had a chest full of medals. No, he strongly preferred […]
The Airline Captain (Coppin)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 acrylic 2020 Our previous stake president, Eric Coppin, was captain of United Airlines at the same time he served. An amazingly loving and humble man, it was my pleasure to offer him a portrait. He selected this reference photo – one his daughter had taken of him in the […]
The Island Troubadour (Hohaia)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 acrylic 2020 Luman Hohaia is an extremely soft-spoken man who comes alive when he entertains with the Pacific Island songs that he loves so much. Suddenly his voice is loud and strong – it’s quite amazing. He sings in English and Polynesian. This portrait was my gift to him […]
Congo Preacher (Kayij-Wint)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 acrylic 2020 This is the Reverend Kayij, the husband of the woman in the bright dress (“Congo Pride”) and the father of my colleague, Kaj Kayij-Wint. Her father had recently passed on and this painting was commissioned by her as a memory of him and a tribute to his […]