When I began this portrait, I had envisioned what I wanted it to look like. It started out rather slow and there were times I was in doubt as to whether I was going to be able to do it. But eventually it came together and I was happy with it.

The reason that I chose to do this portrait was because of  my love and respect for the subject.  He is my dear, dear friend and he was so kind as to allow me to adopt him as my Dad.

So, as I was completing the project, I had it all planned out on how I was going to give it to him as he had no idea I was doing it. He lives quite a distance from me but I wanted to present it to him in person and I looked forward to the surprise in his eyes when I unveiled it.

But things happened that threw a few monkey-wrenches in to my plans. Some were the results of poor decisions on my part but there were also sudden (and frightening) health issues for him. Eventually, I had to just ship the portrait to him as it appeared that I would not get to present it to him in person as  I had hoped. The day after I shipped it I learned that his wife was terribly ill and in the hospital. It sounded really bad. So instead of a wonderful surprise arriving at his door with sweet memories to enjoy later on, the memories that will be associated with that piece will be ones of tragedy and sadness.

So now I present to you, my readers, the revelation of the Secret.

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