Artists who can capture someone’s essence in a pen sketch have always amazed me. A skilled hand is required to catch the nuance and emotion of people, to some it is a lost art. To be able to create something out of a vision and convey the emotion and nuance of it through sketches and hand renderings is a communication tool that will never grow old. To me it is part of my past.

At some point in your life you may become interested in your ancestors and ask the questions: Who were they? What did they do? What jobs did they have? Were they grumpy or fun-loving? Do we have anything of theirs that would give us a window into their life? The other day my dad pulled out this big leather portfolio, one that you knew would house treasured contents. It belonged to my paternal great grandfather. We began to leaf through the contents and among the yellowing papers and folders that included school writing assignments and business papers were some illustrations and portraits.

They have great detail, pen shading, and life-likeness. I asked my grandfather who these belonged to and he said “My dad, he was a machinist by trade but he also was an artist and specifically did portrait illustrations. These are all his!” Here it was, part of my past and family heritage right before my eyes.

I was very surprised to find this out as I hadn’t heard about this talent of his until now. I myself enjoy sketching as it helps me develop and extract ideas for further refinement. Apparently, he did too. Check out this beauty of his which I call “The Mobile Distillery” and a few portraits he had done, many of them had their 100th birthdays this year.

The art of sketching and creating something out of nothing is what we like to do here at Land Concern. We create concepts and turn them into reality oftentimes starting with just a sketch. I think my great grandfather would be proud to know the creative talents have carried on through generations and the lost of art of sketching, is very prevalent today and not lost at all.