Done

No shortcomings hit my eye when I opened my art pad this morning. I've gone about as far as I can go without seeing the young woman for myself.

I ordered the frame,double mat, acid-free backing and non glare plexiglass and should get those things the end of the week. I was going to ship the framing directly to my son and mail him the drawing to save time and additional shipping charges, but I, a control freak about how my art work sits in the window of the mats, must do the assembling myself. My daughter in-law's birthday is the 13th. There's time to be picky.

Kelly is not going to be surprised; She had my son ask. Britney will be though--and may even have a few comments. Good or bad, I'm in Michigan. She's in California. Three thousand miles away on Thanksgiving is bad, but in this case, may be a good thing?

As I said, doing portraits by request is risky business. I imagine that some portrait painters have even lost their heads. Do you recall, in The Tudors, Henry VIII's angry fit when he saw the portrait he commissioned? He was furious--didn't look regal enough he shouted at the cowering Mr. Eworth,(I'm assuming that's who the painter was). But lucky for Hans, the King, more mellow in old age, didn't send him to the block. Henry just ordered him to do it over. It was a tense moment for me empathizing as I was with artist.

The subject seldom likes herself as drawn. The artist is always to blame. Fortunately, this drawing doesn't come close to the caliber of a formal portrait by Eworth or Holbein the Younger, (Henry VIII's favorite court painter till the artist died). Done with coloured pencil, an informal medium, it's just an impressionistic style drawing. And considering the problems with the photographs,I think it came out fairly okay. I also think Britney might consider red highlights--No,streaks. You get better shades with a cap. She looks great with a lot of blondish red in her hair. Something to try for real before the wedding. I just learned yesterday, she's engaged.