![long-jump[1].jpg](/wp-content/uploads/image/long-jump[1].jpg)
This was a commission I did for the proud father of this athlete. He was a record holder in the long jump at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
I had a hard time trying to get the look of action. Finally I painted little gobs of paint in the background, then quickly and lightly brushed them sideways. They blended slightly, but gave a blurred look as though he was moving.
Comments on Long Jump
Tom, this is such a great piece! Your portraits of various people are so expressive. Reading your story about painting different people and their perceptions of how they look makes me remember an experience. Often, we view ourselves and those closest to us as they were at the most exciting or prime times of our lives. Then, we see current photographs of ourselves – we stop, look in the mirror, and realize that is how we really look, and that is how others see us now. I find this happens most often with myself and my husband. One day I looked in the mirror and said, “What is my mother doing in my body!”
Great action “shot”! I hadn’t thought how difficult it would be to portray action in a still painting. Very interesting!
I love the triumphant feel of this painting.