Megan's Family Portraits
- Brenda E. Shook, Artist
- Sep 12, 2017
- 2 min read
MEGAN
I first met Megan at the University of North Texas (UNT/Denton) in 1999. We sat across from each other in a relief printmaking class, and we were in the same rotation of art education classes for several semesters.
Right away, she was like family. Megan is a native Texan like me. She is big hearted. She connects with people in an accepting and caring way. She is wise and creative. She openly loves her friends and her (big) family. She has known her husband, Matt, since high school, but they became a couple while she was attending UNT and he was in the U.S. Air Force. Because we are such close friends, she has often been inspiration for my art.
COUPLE WITH TUXEDO KITTEN, OIL PASTEL, 2009
This oil pastel (Reeves oil pastels) drawing was inspired by a photograph I took of the couple
in their backyard in central Texas. The two found this little Tuxedo kitten wandering alone in their yard a few days before my visit. He was so tiny and adorable and very playful. He declared himself home and they happy agreed to feed, cuddle, and entertain him.
The drawing is about a couple's love and their beginning a new family together--starting with their first pet. I wanted for this portrait to tell a story about a family relationship--Megan has her arms wrapped around Matt, the colors are bright and cheerful, and the scene has fun and humor in it while Oreo climbs (as kittens do) onto Matt's shoulders. I cropped down my reference photograph so that my drawing of the couple and kitten fills the picture plane with the focus on their eyes, their happy expressions, and their close family bond.
NEW PARENTS, OIL PASTEL, 2011
A few years after Oreo joined their family, Megan and Matt had a daughter. She was born the day before
Thanksgiving and I waited at the hospital with family for her birth. She was so beautiful--and tiny!
This oil pastel celebrates her first day home from the hospital on
Thanksgiving Day.
I took several pictures of Megan and Matt holding their baby girl and combined them into one drawing to create the mood and the scene I wanted--a new and happy time for their family. I liked the way Matt looked at his daughter in one photograph and how Megan looked directly at me (the viewer sharing their joy) in another. I added the baby's quilt over the back of the sofa taken from a third photograph for variety and more color. Overall, I used the colors I found in the photographs, but I gave the baby a brighter green onesie to match the the green in the quilt.
COPYRIGHT
These artworks are my creations. Please do not use them without my permission. Thank you.
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