a portrait

It was Saturday night in Miami and I was getting ready to go to sleep when I noticed I had a voicemail. I checked it and it was a man saying he needed a portrait of his girlfriend. I was excited yet estranged for I did not know how this person obtained my phone number. He stated in the voice mail that I could call him back at any time. So I called him back. Sure enough it was true. He told me that his girlfriend's birthday was on Tuesday but I was going to leave tomorrow (Sunday) for Sarasota. I told him I would try and break that reputation of the boyfriend being late with the gift. So the next day at 11 o'clock I went to Jerry's Artarama, bought my supplies, headed home, and got started on the portrait. I told him I would have it by 4:30 when I wasn't really sure if I could do that. I mean I knew I had the ability but I felt it was going to be somewhat stressful.
It was the complete opposite. I started at 11:30 and finished at 2 o'clock with 2 hours to spare and it wasn't anywhere near stressful. He drove about half an hour just to pick it up. We briefly met and he paid me and signed my contract. He told me he would have other jobs for me.
I learned that I could finish a charcoal portrait in 2 hours and met a decent person in this hard-to-find-a-decent-person world. Thanks Mike!



12x18 Charcoal

Happy Birthday Sammi!