June and Riz were my wife, Jane's parents. I did June's portrait in December of 1990. It is pencil and white acrylic paint on chip board. June had passed in February at the age of 58. I did this portrait from photos taken at our wedding as a Christmas gift to my wife. Funds were tight at the time so I did this portrait to fit in a frame that held a piece in the same style that I had done in college.
I had hung the portrait. The kids were in bed. It was very early Christmas morning. Before going to bed we decided to each open one gift. I gave her a card with a poem/riddle describing how to find her gift, the last line of which was "Just look for the little red bow." She was tired and could not solve my riddle so I gently took her hand and walked her into our dining room and pointed to it. She sat down and cried for about 20 minutes. Later that evening when her brother and father arrive for dinner, she met them at the door and after taking their coats walked them in to see it. They all sat there for another 20 minutes before joining the celebration.
Jane's father, Fortunato "Riz" Rizzitano lived to be nearly 92. He passed in November of 2012. I did his portrait a few weeks later, just in time for Christmas. Once again I used photos from our wedding as my frame of reference. The medium again is pencil and white acrylic paint on chip board. These portrait are 13 x 17 inches.
David and Rosemary were my parents. My father Devendra Hari Thakar Sr. always went by Dave or David. He died in August of 1988 a little more than a month before his 63rd birthday. I tried many times to do his portrait over the years.
After my recent success with the portrait of Jane’s father a few months earlier, I decided to try again in February of 2013. After tearing up the first attempt I moved on to Rosemary, my mother. Successfully completing her likeness in one day, and feeling much more confident I completed David the next day. In all the prior attempts I had tried to do him without his mustache because my mother liked him better without it. This time I included the mustache because he liked it. Rosemary lived to be 91 and loved these portraits.
Like the portraits of Jane's parents, these where done from photos taken at our wedding in 1985. They all hang together in our Living Room watching over my family. They are 13 x 17 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on chip board.
John was my mother's younger brother. He passed in March of 2011. He was about 80. I visited my Aunt Helga in July of 2014. She talked about Johnny constantly. I decided then that I would do a portrait for her for Christmas. The photo I used was from their honeymoon. The surprise here was including Helga in the portrait because she had to supply the photos. This portrait is about 15 x 17 inches, done in pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
In August of 2014 the Wabash High School class of 1974 held our 40th reunion. The class wanted to raise funds for future reunions, so we held a silent auction of items donated by class members. I offered to do a portrait for the highest bidder. My friend Jena really wanted the portrait as a gift for her mother. At the party I kept asking other people to bid on the portrait and then would tell Jena that someone had just outbid her.
Jena did eventually win the bid and asked if I could do a portrait of her mother's parents. I figured it was the least I could do. When she was getting ready to send me photos I asked her to include pictures of her mother, Ida for reference. I had planned to do Ida's portrait as well. Ida had been my nursery school teacher.
I completed both pieces in November of 2014. Ida is about 11 x 15 inches and her parent are about 18 x 15 inches. The medium is pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Joe are my children. I did these portraits in February of 2015 as a 30th anniversary gift to my wife, Jane. Our children shocked us by flying Rebecca out from California for a surprise party. I look back at these now and see how happy they all were. Sadly Rebecca lost her short battle with breast cancer the day before our 31st anniversary.
These portraits are 11 x 14 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
Dave Booth was a wonderful friend and golf buddy of 27 years. He died in October of 2017 at the ripe old age of 91. I did this portrait the night before his funeral. His daughter provided photos of Dave at about the age of 60. This portrait is 11 x 15 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
My friends Bridgette and Dan lost their daughter Laura in August of 2011. I offered to do her portrait after they raved about the portrait I did of Dave Booth. They sent a number of digital photos and I did the drawing just after Thanksgiving of 2017. When I delivered "Laura" I suggested that a portrait of her sister would look great on the facing wall. I figured they would get back to be after the holidays. The next morning I got an email from Dan telling me I was hired. The email included 40 photos and then he sent me a link Molly's wedding photos. I delivered the second portrait the following week. These portraits are 11 x 15 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
After I did the portrait of Laura, Dans friend, Steve contacted me about doing a portrait of his two young grandson as a gift for his daughter, their mother. He provided images via email in the middle of December, 2017. The portrait was delivered a few days before Christmas.
This portrait is 19 x 15 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
My friends Jean and Tom unexpectedly lost their son, Ryan at the age of 25. Finding a photo at that age was too painful for them. I suggested they look for photos of Ryan showing him young and happy, the way they wanted to remember him. This portrait is 11 x 15 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
Melinda and her sisters, like my brothers and I, grew up in Wabash Indiana. As we've all reconnected on Facebook, Melinda has seen all the artwork I've posted. Once in a while she even inquired about a piece.
More recently as I've posted portraits particularly of people who have passed, she asked me about doing a portrait of her beloved husband, Cal. He had passed suddenly five years earlier in 2013. I suggested that I do a portrait of both Melinda and Cal and then make prints for her children. Melinda sent me four photos ranging from their wedding to a shot taken at a restaurant a year or two before Cal died. I really liked the more recent photo for the pose and the older photos helped me take a few years off.
This portrait is 19 x 15 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board. It was done in March of 2018.
Nicolette & Brooklyn are my first two grandchildren. Brooklyn is 3 months older than her cousin and lives two towns away, here in Massachusetts. Nicolette was born 2 months before her mother, my daughter Rebecca, lost her battle with breast cancer. Nicolette lives near Monterey, California with her father, Nick. We try to get Nick and Nicolette out for a visit about twice a year.
Shortly after Nick and Nicolette went home after a recent visit, Brooklyn was visiting. As she walked though the house, she noticed the portraits I had done of her mother Liz, her Aunt Becca, and her Uncle Joe. She said to Jane, "Grandma, where is the picture of me!?"
Well, here it is!
This portrait is about 17.5 x 15 inches, acrylic paint on acid free mat board.
Todd is my younger brother. Angie is his lovely new wife. I wanted to do a portrait of them, as a wedding gift, in time for Todd’s 65th birthday. I asked Angie to help supply pictures. In the meantime, Todd had asked me to modify a photo from their wedding in PhotoShop so they could use it on their Christmas card.
Once I received the photos from Angie I got started. I showed the first attempt to my brother Nick, and he agreed with me, “it just didn’t work.” After one more failed attempt with pictures from Angie, I decided to try working from the wedding picture from Todd. The original picture shows the happy couple walking in a field, holding outstretched hands. The best part of the photo was how their eyes were locked on each other. My challenge was to modify the photo a little more, bringing their bodies much closer together without loosing the connection between their eyes.
I missed Todd’s birthday to take a COVID break, but finished it shortly after. Todd happened to be in Boston on business a few weeks later, we got together for lunch, so I was able to present it to him in person.
This portrait is about 14 x 18 inches, pencil and white acrylic paint on acid free mat board.