Wednesday, October 26, 2005

My Handsome Son



My oldest son Bill - Click for larger image

As some of you may know, I spent part of my weekend going through 20 years of work in my old flat files. One interesting item I stumbled upon was a 16" x 20" color photo I took of my oldest son when he was only 5 months old. He was just starting to roll around on his stomach and lifting his head to look around at the world. I just loved the photo and took it to a lab for enlargement. But there it sat, tucked away in my flat files for the last 15 years.

As a joke I taped it to the door of his bedroom and waited for his reaction when he went to bed that night. He was startled to say the least . He had no memory of the photo. He, his sister and I looked at it for a bit and we all had a good laugh. I said,"What a beautiful baby you were!". His sister, in an attempt to be funny said, "What happened?".

My son, in all seriousness and almost to himself, said, "I was beaten with an ugly stick." This just crushed me. He is such a confident and positive young man that I hadn't seen this crack in his self esteem. And in the few days that followed I began to think how few drawings, and no paintings, I have done of him. And I recall him commenting on that fact in the recent past as well.

So this morning I did this sketch of him. Hopefully it will be the start of other portraits of my oldest. I want him to know I think he's beautiful (OK, handsome is a more manly word I suppose) and what a fine young man he is, and what a fine adult I know he will become.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful drawings and beautiful blog discovered today.

Show us more of your job!

ciao from Italy

Carolyn said...

Truly beautiful... Chuck, the eyes and mouth are amazing... you draw in a "sculptery" fashion.

Your son is quite handsome indeed!

Linda said...

Your son IS handsome! And this is a wonderfully simple drawing!

Kathleen Pequignot said...

I really like this simple sketch of your son. Very nice. He is quite a handsome boy. You must be very proud.

pedalpower said...

He is indeed a handsome boy. And your drawing is very finely modeled. I think it is a wonderful idea to sketch your kids.

Laureline said...

What a loving and wonderful drawing, Mr. Rose! He is very handsome and I know for a fact he has two great-looking parents, so the apple has not fallen far from the rose bush. ;D

Cin said...

wonderful, I like that so much is not drawn, beautiful eyes! do you belong to the Everyday Matters drawing group? you should submit this for the "eye" assignment.

Chuck Rose said...

Thanks Cin. I took your advice and did just that.

I'm sorry I'm going to miss you this weekend.

Lindsay said...

what a handsome guy! and a beautiful drawing. Hope to see more.
BYW I really like your new self portrait on the profile part of your blog.

Chuck Rose said...

hey Lindsay,
I must admit that is not a self portrait, but a drawing done by my dear friend Laura. You can find her at http://laurelines.typepad.com/.

She's fantastic.

She did that portrait of me from the last time some of us bloggers got together.

Robyn said...

What a wonderful minimalist image! I am sure that you have captured the essense of your very handsome son with these very few strokes. Congratulations.

Cheers,
Robyn
Scratches & Scribbles

Unknown said...

Very nice drawings!! Great works!

"Maggie & Kevin" said...

Wow! He is very handsome and there is nothing of the "beaten with a stick" resemblance here at all!

Felicity Grace said...

A beautiful drawing and a handsome guy (hope he gets the message now!)
My eldest son is 14 and going through that stage too (well I hope it is). It's a lovely gesture, I'm sure he won't forget.