Soul Eclipsed by Mortality

In honor of my grandfather who died of silicosis in the lungs, a mining related disease, this is my first painting under direction of a master teacher.

A pillar in my young mind, I worshipped my grandpa. 

He could do no wrong.

His whole life was of service and hot peppers lol. I used to watch him eat peppers so hot they would steam up his glasses. Is this a true story? I think it is, but maybe that's one of those things I hold from my past to make him even more of a super hero. 

The man in this painting looks broken. His Soul has been eclipsed. But not my grandpa.

As the tiny shards of silica (glass) tore up his lungs he died so powerfully. He didn't complain and always held strong in his faith in God and in the afterlife.

His life was hard but it didn't harden him. 

...the eyes are my specialty. Look closely. I did make one mistake however that dropped my heart momentarily. After completing the underpainting (verdacchio) of one eye I put on what I thought was the right spray to set it. Remember it's my first painting...

I took a shower and came back 30 minutes later to find the paint had dissolved and dripped down the face! It devastated me! 

"I can't paint another perfect eye!"

But I did and there is the lesson for us all. Trust. Fail. Get up. Go again.