Sketch: Seeking the Truth

I had one of my sons pose for me the other day. The above sketch is one from that session. I have been trying to get some painting time in while school is out. I love my software - Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, etc, but my true love will always be traditional drawing, painting and illustrating. It is in my blood.

As a child - I was always drawing or sketching. I wanted to be a naturalist when I was in 4th grade. I would draw twigs and trees and bugs. Lovely bugs! I love beetles and spiders. Their colors are stunning, but I digress. No one in my immediate family drew or painted. My dad is one the best carpenters I know. He is very creative and can pretty much copy anything he sees. He has a great eye for proportion and scale. He can read a ruler to minute fractions. I remember dad rough sketching out something he was going to build, but never just drawing. Unless I asked him to draw me a person to fit within my nature drawings - at age 6 or 7, people were not in my range of abilities.

Then several years ago a cousin was doing the family genealogy and voila! artist ancestors. James Reid Lambdin and George Cochran Lambdin. Their works are scattered across the nation. Several reside permanently in the Smithsonian. We were lucky enough to get a private showing of those works. I can tell you I was trembling with excitement and awe.

James Reid and his son, George, are ancestors of my mother. Her father was born the same year George died. I believe they were cousins of my grandfather. Finally, while I was still the odd one in my family, always daydreaming, drawing, looking for creatures in the clouds, I had found tangible evidence that my preoccupation for art was genetic.

While I am not in their league, I try to draw daily and paint when I get the chance. I love being immersed in a painting. So for the next few weeks I'll continue to carve out a few precious hours in front of the canvas and at the drawing board. I will also post a few more of my ancestors paintings and links. I cannot afford one of their originals, but I did find this one "An Enchanted Tale" by George Cochran Lambdin on AllPosters.com and it now hangs in my living room.

Hope all your days are filled with art and wonder!