This sketch was comissioned by a father for a surprise gift for his son. Here are some words from Matt, the subject oof my sketch. It’s pretty awesome getting feedback like this:
“It’s funny, but everyone– including my wife– agrees your sketch looks more like me than the actual picture. You have some kind of artist magic that removes the “blue steel” look, don’t you? Anyway, it’s a lovely sketch that my family treasures. Looking at my own ears, forehead, hair (that blew me away), back of my neck… it’s oddly flattering to think that someone else carefully observed, understood, and put all those details together– that unbeknownst to me someone was combing over every detail of my head. That creates such an odd feeling, something I’ve been trying all afternoon to articulate. You can see I hadn’t made much progress before deciding to write. Sadly, I keep returning only to this: I feel special… made special through your attention. Yes, that was exactly as awkward as I thought it would be to write.
I feel a little asinine giving exuberant compliments outside of my area of expertise. You probably get that a lot. I can definitely tell you, however, that you have created two pieces of great _value_ to me (and a number of others). What a gift you have!
Thanks very much, Heather.”