Saintly Inspiration (Mortinson)

by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 acrylic 2020

This is one of my favorite portraits. It is a painting of Mark Mortensen, a very sweet, gentle man suffering with Parkinson’s. There are technical mistakes but I felt like I captured the saintly tone of this sweet man. I wanted to capture not only his likeness but also that aspect of his personality. I was most pleased with how his eyes came out. The ear? Well, that needs work. But it looks like him. In fact, when I took it out to be photocopied, the copyman said, “Hey, I know that guy. Isn’t his name, Mark sombody?”  I was stunned.  To have someone who barely knew Mark and had no reason to think I would know him recognizing the face was amazing to me.