To Create is to Hope
A blank canvas.
The first mark.
Then thousands of marks and erasures.
And finally, something real.
I first experienced the nexus between creation and hope while working on a portrait commission for a little girl, diagnosed with a rare and fatal disease. Putting down those initial pencil marks was just like any other portrait....until I began sketching out her eyes. I realized, those eyes coming to life on my sketchpad were losing their life in reality. Picking up that pencil again was a struggle, and I seriously considered passing on the commission. That was when I heard the phrase "to create is to hope." Every pencil stroke was a prayer that this little girl would find a miracle. And she did.
Over the years, I have received many portrait commissions with a story behind the person. Some end happily like the little girl. Many are of loved ones who have passed. It is impossible to spend so many hours pouring over every contour and plane of a person's face without getting a distinct sense of "knowing them." Regardless of their story, I have a connection with every subject I draw and hope that shines through in the final portrait.
Bringing something distinct and real to an empty space is what drives my other artistic endeavors whether that space is canvas, my Canon sketchpad, or the concrete sidewalk. To create is to not accept the status quo. It means to push past the blankness and know there is beauty to be found if you try for it.
Thank you for stopping by! For more behind-the-scenes in my studio and just-for-fun sidewalk art, follow me on Instagram @imagocustomartwork.
