#291 Grandpop 3/29/20

I have this old photo of my grandfather, Melvin, known to his grandchildren as Grandpop, known to his children as Pop, known to friends as Scoopy.....and I'm not sure what his wife called him, they somehow reached a point in their marriage where they decided to never speak to one another, yet they lived together, he worked and she kept house.  It wasn't till my cousins and I were teenagers that we ever questioned this as odd.  Well any how, we loved them both very much and they loved us.  At our most recent family gathering my Uncle Tim handed us all a copy of this photo.  So, Grandpop has been sitting on my painting desk, next to the photo of my Uncle Gene....my deceased patriarchs, watching over my work.  I decided to paint Grandpop.  I like his even-keeled look, such a calmness.  I sketched it without benefit of tracing.  With the first layer of paint down, I saw my brother, my Dad, my uncles, but alas not my Grandpop.  Each day, another layer of skin, another touch-up on the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the ears.  I think the only thing I left alone was the hairline and the jaw.  I tried to keep a sepia-like tone, just like the photo.  While I still don't see my Grandpop, I see a relation, and I'll call it quits there!