“Arlene I”

“Arlene I” – Pen and ink illustration, unfinished. Circa 1980 – ’81. When going through dad’s studio, as I’ve said in previous posts, I found pieces that I haven’t seen since he did them. It was great to find these, because they brought a flood of memories long forgotten. This unfinished pen and ink is a family friend that used to work with my mom at Nyack hospital and once in a very blue moon, babysit me and my sister when mom and dad were in a pinch. There are very few of dad’s portraits that survive today because most were commissions or gifts, and back then, he never consistently took pictures of his work. I remember dad sitting at his art table and working on this one, and thinking at the time, how great the detail in the eyes were. Dad loved doing eyes on any piece he was doing, whether it was an animal or a person. He always made those eyes look like they were following you wherever you walked, and that both creeped me out and intrigued me at the time. “Arlene I” is no different as the eyes portray a lot of emotion and depth.