Classical Oil and Pastel Paintings by  Susan Martin Spar

"Ray"
Pastel

Ray was a biker dude that lived next door to me in California. We were very rural and he raised wolves. Ray often came by for an afternoon chat with my husband and traded pet sitting services with us. He posed for me one day and this was the result. Ray gave meaning the phrase "appearances deceive". He has great depth of character and I was honored to have had the opportunity to paint him. He's as sensitive and vulnerable as he looks here.

A lot of people get the wrong idea about this painting. But the truth is that Warren is a Social Worker and Junior is his son. Warren asked me to do a portrait of him and his son and time only permitted a photo session instead of a sitting. I took hundreds of pictures and Warren chose another pose because he wanted his dog in it. He had asked me to try some poses this way because he had seen other pictures of fathers and sons with their shirts off and he liked them. The look of adoration in Warren's eyes and his son's look of trust said it all. I did this one for myself, but Warren was sorry he didn't order it instead of the other. His dog ran away a week after I delivered the portrait.