A THOUSAND WORDS

STORY & PAINTING BY ROBERT BECK

GUS’ PARTY

IT’S BEEN A WHILE since I did a live painting of a group of people who need to be identifiable. Not portrait likenesses, but distinctive enough that members of the group can tell who is whom. In this case, it was a party for Gus, thrown and attended by people he works with and their partners. Twelve of the twenty-some guests would be in the image, and the event was three hours, working out to 15 minutes per subject if everything goes like clockwork, which doesn’t happen. You can never find Ralf, Anne doesn’t like pictures of herself and needs a lot of convincing, and no matter what I do, Peter comes out looking like a walnut, and I have to start him over three times.

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