Painted Gallery Of My Father

For my Character Study, I would like to do my father. I loved him with all my heart and even more. My father was more than any “portrait”, but a gallery of pictures that moved the old and captured the young. As I sit here and write, I slowly and very carefully paint a portrait of my father without the use of any materials but my mind and visions. As the picture reveals itself, a man of the golden years sits in a well worn suit that is tailored to fit his able-bodied figure. His eyes glow and shimmer like gems worth nothing without its holder. Those eyes symbols how he sees the world. He used them not just for seeing, but imaging, predicting and looking past reality into a world of bliss. They see past the trouble in people and see the real problem hidden in the depths of their corrupted soul. He sees past the negatives that surround us daily and instead sees a rainfall washing away all undesirable pain. His ears are small and delicate which tells us he has no desire to engage in conflicts, politics or any other insignificant drama the world plays. He rather hear small talk here and there with strangers, friends and family. The eerie silence is like Beethoven or Mozart to him, a classic. He rather hear the cheers of joy than hear the tears or sorrow slowly drop towards the ground, fashioning a flood of heartache and misery. If my father could choose his fate, he would decide to be deaf, unaffected. Maybe then would he rest in eternal peace. His sturdy legs carried him not with a limp, but with control and grace. Legs that could uphold any crisis no matter the weight. Ready to sustain any amount of miles to their goal or destination without hesitating or giving itself a second thought. The shape of his lips says he’s a believer in many things, but respects all other opinions whether agreeing or not. From behind those closed doors is a voice the sound of an man of knowledge, warmth, and comfort. A voices that sings your heart to sleep and calms the disturbed and puts all that can hear at peace with itself. A voice I miss so much, that at times it leaves me without joy in life. Walking past this portrait will make you look at yourself and wonder. It’s almost impossible to avoid the man that shows all colors in life. Why would you want to? This portrait brightens up a dark hallway, lifts the unsettling souls of those in despair, calms the raging and all it does is sit up on the wall and look beyond, like it always did.