Saturday, January 21, 2012

Portraits


This idea started some time back in late 2011 – drawing, sketching and painting a whole lot of portraits of famous and notable Minnesotans, or folks who made an impact on MN. This is a sample of what could turn out to be hundreds of portraits.

I have always had a love for creating portraits going way back to grade school, and later I made a pretty good living off of drawing caricatures at fairs and stuff. These particular ones are sort of a combination of serious renderings to more cartoonish sketches. In my approach, I am considering everyone from local basketball great Lindsay Whalen to pro golfer Patty Berg, Chief Little Crow of the Mdewakanton Dakota Sioux to American Indian Activist Dennis Banks, Garrison Keillor to John Madden, and many more influential one time and permanent residents of the land of 10,000 lakes.

The scale of each portrait varies, and they can range from acrylic paint on canvas or wood to rough sketches and water colors. Some of them take on a scrapbook quality (especially the water color ones).

Once I have a satisfying amount of portraits, I will then start hanging them on a large wall collaging them in the shape of the Minnesota.

The project as a whole is both a history lesson for me and a tribute to the people who have shaped this state.

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