Reflection – Paiting a Portrait Inside my Mind by TMNK

I am now beginning my day the way I often end it, reflecting. Perhaps today I will paint a portrait, perhaps a self-portrait. Not of myself, but of humanity. Her vanity showing, I know she’ll want me to capture her good side. A mirror will be of no use, reflecting only the slowly decaying image in front of it. To paint a great portrait I must challenge myself to look deeper.

Reflection. Yes, I’ve decided to answer the call to stare, inspect, reflect then paint a portrait of humanity. Slowly, methodically, peering in my mind’s eye beneath the surface, I begin the search inwardly. Intrigued, fascinated by the possibilities of discovering a hidden treasure, I continue. Painting, even when my labors seem unrewarded. Reflection. I remind myself that I am the artist, yet I am also the subject, human, and representative in some small degree of the face of humanity. There is much beauty to be discovered and shared. And so I must continue to look, to search as I paint.

I know that there is so much more, we are so much more than the flesh and bones, reflected in a mirror. And there is more to society than the ugliness so often portrayed on the evening news. So when I paint a portrait, I first shatter this glass façade, and attempt to paint the soul beneath the surface. With quiet meditation, I attempt to capture a universal truth and express it with honesty. Reflection, we’re more alike than different. Reflection, beauty is more than skin deep, even when ugly is to the bone. Today, as I painted, I chose to look past the ugly blood stained scars of poverty and violence, and create a small portrait of humanity’s beauty. It won’t be too difficult, if only I reflect inward, with both eyes and heart open.

I’ve recently finished three portraits,
Reflection, SatchMO, and Malcolm X.

– TMNK

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