Angelito Prestado

This post is coming a bit late, as is my pattern lately, because I have been battling the flu. But I wanted to share my first digital oil painting: a portrait of my uncle.

My uncle was a sweet, pure, genuine, funny, and loving man who’s sole desire in life (as far as I could tell) was to be with his loved ones, especially his mom (my Abuela). He was intellectually disabled after a high fever in his infancy, but that is simply a detail of who he was. It may have been the first thing people noticed about him when he walked into a room, but it certainly wasn’t the last. He carried with him a contagious joy that spread like wildfire everywhere he went, and that spark still keeps me warm today. He was my joy and childhood best friend. When he passed we all agreed that with his pure spirit he was simply an angel God had lent to us and he was due to return to heaven.

I worked on this painting for some time. I’d work on it, walk away, come back a few weeks later and work some more, then walk away again. As it’s my first attempt at a digital oil painting portrait and of someone very dear to my heart I wanted to get it right.

I finished it just before Mother’s Day and ordered an 18×24″ print to frame and give to my Abuela. Both she and my mom were moved to tears and it warms my heart to be able to give them the gift of his presence in their lives again, even if only through a painting.