A Wedding Portrait

Rachel Gerber

Charcoal on Paper

10/2016

The piece is a duo of portraits based off of the wedding photo of my late grandparents Richard and Marion Neil. It is a charcoal on paper created with willow charcoal and blenders to create the smooth finish. The image is a surrealist view of my grandparents, describing how they looked when they got married, as it was very different from how I remember them. I really tried to capture the ever present happiness on their faces. For me, that was something that was always noticeable about them, that they made each other happy. My piece may not have captured it entirely, but to be honest, I think I put myself with an impossible task trying to do so. It’s hard to show that level of happiness with charcoal and paper. My piece is mounted on either side of a black art board to reinforce the idea that they were inseparable, or like two sides of the same coin, while also allowing them to act separately. Overall I am quite happy with how this piece turned out. I think that the charcoal helped make it appear so much more blended and smooth. And I am very happy to have been able to create portraits of them.