Grandfather As A Young Man

This is a portrait I did of my grandfather when he was a young man. In the center of the portrait there is the shape of a square-cornered spiral. The symbol means "return." I never knew my grandfather because he disappeared during a return trip from Alaska.



I did this piece in school. The purpose of the exercise was to match values and colors. If you look closely, you will see that the spiral is all in grays. The values (dark and light) of those grays matches the colors around them, so if you squint or view it from afar, the spiral will disappear into the image. It is tricky to do, but rather fun. Although this was a school assignment, with a skill to learn, this piece has a lot of sentimental value to me.