Concentrated Reader (Ellis)

by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 Acrylic Oct 2020

My grandson, Tyler, who was definitely NOT a reader, had to be forced or bribed to read even 20 minutes per day. On one visit to the family in Sacramento, I turned around in the car to catch a rare moment of him enjoying the old technology once known as “a book.” I thought the moment told a story. About the painting of Tyler, my niece, Angie, said, “I love the expression of concentration on his face.  You captured it perfectly!”  We were pleased at how the complicated shirt and the seat belt came out.

Here he is holding his Christmas 2019 portrait. He doesn’t smile often, and never for a photo, so his smile means the world to me.

Below is the only photo I have of the portrait in an early stage of painting. This was definitely in the “awkward” stage.