Reposting "Raillard and Zagon Jan 45" (with Prisma filter)

Edited in Prisma app with Aqua

Several years ago for Veteran's Day 2020, I posted this old snapshot taken during WWII, a picture of my Dad and his army buddy Ray Raillard. Today I added the "Aqua" filter in my Prisma app. But what I wrote about it a few years ago still holds true:

On Veteran's Day, I often look through old photos for pictures of my dad during World War II. I usually look in my mother's old album. (My father was born in Brooklyn, but was stationed in Pueblo during WWII, and met and married my mother in the short time he was there, before heading overseas. While he was gone, my mother filled a photo album with photos from life at home in Pueblo as well as photos that he sent back from overseas). More recently, I have had an additional place to look: a collection of my father's old photos, sent to me a few years ago by my cousin Rori. That is where I found this photo today. This snapshot shows my dad with another soldier, standing in front of an apparently damaged building. On the back of the photo, my father wrote: "Raillard & Zagon Jan 45". From my Aunt Edy I have heard that Ray Raillard was a good friend of my father's when they were in the army. In the past I have not been able to to track down Ray Raillard or his family, but I will tag him here and see what happens. Looking though the other photos this morning, I saw another snapshot marked on the back with the logo of photo finishing company in Texas, which I believe is where Ray Raillard is from. That handwriting is different from my father's, very square and distinctive printing, and that handwriting also appears on a third photo that says "Leaving Cherbourg" date July 24, 1944. Is it possible that this photo was also taken in Cherbourg? I wish I knew more about my dad's time in the army. But what I do know, what brings me to tears right now, is that I am grateful my father had a good friend when he was in the army. My father was a gentle, peaceful man who went overseas to do his bit against the Nazis, and he left his brand new wife to do it. He didn't say much about his experience when I was a kid, but I know he was afraid during the war because years later, when he was facing cancer surgery, he told me so. And so now when I am feeling afraid in these uncertain times, I remember that my father did his part to stand up to tyranny even though he was afraid. And I will try to live up to his example.

Mom in Pueblo (Rescued Snapshot)

This is a snapshot of my mother standing in front of our house in Pueblo. I have posted a digitally colorized version of it some years ago, but I don't think I ever posted the original snapshot. 

Although I don't know the date the photo was taken,  the hairstyle and the clothing make me think this was taken around the mid-1940s, around the time she married my dad. I don't know who took this photo, but likely suspects include my Grandma Katz - I remember her taking pictures -  my Aunt Edy, or even my father (though that is less likely.) Back in 2009, I cleaned up the original snapshot, and then used Painter to add color.  But I always liked the texture and composition of this original snapshot, so I am posting that today in memory of my mom, who was born on November 2nd. 

Sisters and Brothers (Crop of Portrait) as of Oct. 30, 2025

Here is a crop of the painting I am working on, from a photo that I took  of my work on October 30, 2025.  This commissioned portrait is an ongoing project which I am hoping to wrap up in November. I am working from a photo taken during a trip to Disney last spring.  I have been working on it a little at a time.  On Oct. 30th, I cropped the photo of my work and sent it along as a "progress report"to the family, which was well received, I am happy to report.  At this point I was working on the background,  trying to suggest the castle that was in the family photo. And in the photo, the kids are wearing lots of Disney gear and I was trying to decide how much of it to include in the painting.  (You can see the little Minnie Mouse ears roughed in on the little girls)  The client seems happy with the painting so far, including the Disney gear, which makes sense because this a family memory of a specific time and a place that is special to them. For me, as with other portraits, this is a balancing act because I want my portraits to be "timeless".  Which details of the background should I include? What should I edit out of simplify? I have done several other portraits  in which the background or the pose, or the clothing details were very important to the client (ranging from sunglasses and motorcycle helmet to tuxedo and dance floor).  So I my plan is to include "just enough" Disney gear in this portrait to evoke memories of time and place, but also create an image of these sisters and brothers that will stand the text of time.

Sisters and Brothers (Portrait) as of October 4, 2025

Here is the portrait I am working on as it looked on October 4, 2025.  This is a long-running project, a commissioned portrait of four kids based on a photo that was taken during a family trip.   I have been working on it little-by-little, but at this point I felt I was getting there with a likeness of each of the children.  I decided it was time to rough in the background. I thought it was good enough to post here (with parental okay.)  To be continued. . .

Rage of Achilles (Painting)

Here is my finished painting on October 2, 2025. It was time to turn it in for the special "Homer" event at Porter Mill which featured paintings inspired by the Iliad and the Odyssey. I wanted to participate in this because the Iliad was one of the first books I read when I began graduate school in Comparative Literature and also because I think the Iliad still has important things to say to us even now..

Over the past year, I have produced several literary-themed paintings, and this painting will be part of that series. My little "literary series" came about by chance because of a number of art shows with literary themes that I participated in over the past year or so. So now I have done paintings related to "Moby Dick", "Alice in Wonderland", "The Scarlet Letter" and a "Midsummer Night's Dream," and now Homer's "Iliad". These paintings are all the same size (20 x 20), and done in the same style. I hope to exhibit them together at some point. And I hope to paint more.

This painting is a representation of the shield of Achilles, but instead of being engraved with fantastical images (as in Homer's poem), it is inscribed with Homer's words: the opening line of the "Iliad," as translated by Robert Fagles.:

"Rage -- Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls."

So this how my painting looked on October 2nd, the day I finished it. In the intervening days, I had made changes, large, small, and invisible to the naked eye. I added a few layers of gold metallic paint to the border of the shield. I mixed the same paint with acrylic medium so I could add more layers of gold to the body of the shield without obscuring the lettering. And I added some white to the background, using soft circular strokes to suggest clouds in the sky.

 

Rage of Achilles (Painting as of Sept 27, 2025)

Here is my painting as it looked on Sept. 27, 2025.  At this point, the special "Homer" event at Porter Mill was fast approaching.  This event featured paintings inspired by  the Iliad and the Odyssey. I chose to participate because the Iliad was one of the first books I read when I began graduate school in Comparative Literature and also because I think the Iliad still has important things to say to us in 2025.

I have produced several  literary-themed paintings over the past year, and this painting will be part of that series. This series came about by chance because of a number of art shows with literary themes that I have participated in. So now I have done paintings related to "Moby Dick", "Alice in Wonderland", "The Scarlet Letter" and a "Midsummer Night's Dream," and now Homer's "Iliad". These paintings are all the same size (20 x 20), and done in the same style. I hope to exhibit them as a set at some point. And maybe I will paint more.

 

This painting represents the shield of Achilles, but instead of being engraved with antastical images (as Homer describes it in his poem), it is inscribed with Homer's words: the opening line of the "Iliad," as translated by Robert Fagles.:

"Rage -- Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls."

Here is my painting as of September 27th.  I continued to work on getting the lines right, and fixing small mistakes in the lettering.  But the biggest change was an additional coat of blue to the background.  Almost there. . .

Reposting: Rosh Hashana Still Life drawing video

Back in 2022, I created this little drawing video on my iPad with the Procreate app.  I am bringing it back today to wish those celebrating the Jewish New Year " L'Shana Tova" and  to everyone, no matter what calendar you follow, I wish you bright days and a sweet year ahead.  So let's get started.  Just press play.