Acrylic Lincoln Portrait Of America
The color is phalo blue, it’s the color left over on my finger from signing the painting. I just finished my portrait of Abraham Lincoln. While it’s not the most important painting I’ve ever done, it is the best acrylic portrait I’ve ever painted, and I believe, it’s a portrait of America.
The colors I used were, in addition to phalo blue, were cerulean blue, burnt umber, burnt sienna, deep yellow, lemon yellow, titanium white, permanent black, vermillion, and crimson. The gray in the President’s eyes, they say his eyes were mostly gray, were made up of cerulean blue, lemon yellow, and vermillion. Call it what you will, but I find it fitting that every color is found in this portrait of America.
Like the colors that made up the gray in his eyes, he had to take in to consideration feelings, events, and circumstances all across the country. His days were not easy. I’ve heard people speculate about what would happen if Ford’s theater hadn’t, and I don’t know the answer to that.
What I do know is, in researching the portrait, I looked at more than one picture of the President. From young Lincoln to 1863, 64, and 65, and I have to say, there’s a considerable change from 64 to 65. In 64 he looked young, and vibrant. One year later, he looked much older than his fifty six years.
I’m sure the tragedies he faced personally, the loss of children, and the stress of the country weighed on him. The portrait is an amalgamation of all of these years. Things were added, things I had intended were left out. Like the white in the flag, his shirt has a touch of red and blue in it. Lincoln, and the country were affected by the blood shed, and the hope held dear.
The years did affect him, but he also affected the years. It reminded me of Pastor Denny Livingston’s Sermon from this Sunday. If you can at all, I encourage you to click the link and listen. I was in joyful tears listening, and it inspired me to hope. It’s my prayer that this simple painting, in some way can do the same.
Like this portrait of America that is Lincoln, our country is made up of every color, every viewpoint, and every brush stroke. Of them, not all were kind, not all were easy, but Lincoln continued to work to better all those around us. That is my portrait of America, all of us working to make our country a better place in however way we can.