Working on W.’s portrait got the ball rolling and more people started stopping in, particularly young men! In general I’ve found that young men are the most interested in getting their portraits painted – maybe it is an ego thing? Women who come in are usually more interested in the paintings that I’ve already done, especially the Russian Reflections. But whether it is a matter of time or money, or both, getting people to actually commit to sitting has proven the biggest challenge. So in the meantime, I did a charcoal sketch of my son.
While we were working, M.P. and T.– two men who live in the homeless shelter in the armory building with castle turrets across the street – stopped in. They were interested in sitting for their portraits, but explained that during the day they had to be out of the shelter. T. told us that in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, FEMA had been hiring casual labor, so he was working, at least for the time being.
This was a fun process.