This painting is part of my dad vast series of faces. The faces series is pretty much any face he wishes to paint whether that be a real famous person such as Johnny Cash or a character in a work of fiction such as Kratos from God of War. This face though is the face of Chris Evans or as some people my know as Captain America. Dad decided to paint this face when we were watching to Marvel movies together. I might have also had a hand in this because I said it would be cool if he painted the 3 “Chris’s” who were playing characters in the movies as well. Those 3 Chris’s being Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, and of course Chris Evans. This specific portrait comes from Chris Evans portrayal of Steve Rogers in, Captain America: The First Avenger. in this movie Evans plays Steve rogers who will be given a super soldier serum that will make him stronger and faster, which is important in his fight against the Nazis and Hydra.

Now dad always has some sort of meaning behind the things that he paints even if it seems as straight forward as a face. Here he chose a picture that made Evans seem stoic, but with also a weight behind what it means to be a leader. Dad will also make slight adjustments to the face to make it seem more pleasing to the eye. An example of this is getting ride of shadows on the face that may look a little off when they are painted. Another example is if the person is squinting, dad will paint both eyes more open so that it doesn’t seem like one eye is larger than the other.

This painting is just one of the many others that will remind me of dad when I’m ready to move out of the house and start my own life. That’s what I like about paintings is that yeah, they capture a specific moment or thought, but also has the weight of all the time, commitment, and reason it was painted embedded with those memories as well.

-Elijah Cook