Bob Marley portrait

My boy Sol is at it again. His uncle commissioned him to paint a few music portraits for him, and this is his finished Bob Marley piece.

Lots of people are amazed that a ten year old boy could pull off something like this. I have to admit, I’m impressed but then I’m not impressed! This is just Sol being Sol. He makes things like this look easy. I can talk to him as a fellow artist, meaning we’ll discuss techniques and I know, with complete confidence, that he understands what I’m saying. I wish working on fractions were as easy for him. He is very observant–most of us in the family call this: being nosey–and he is constantly studying things around him. He is usually the one working alongside Michael outside, so I have no doubts that he learned a lot of his skills from his daddy. And me, too.

Mama ain’t too shabby.

In exchange for his paintings, his uncle builds us wood panels. All of us here at the Cortes house like to paint on wood panels versus canvas. Personally, I don’t like the texture of canvas and I don’t like the fact that you can puncture a framed canvas piece. Couple a sturdily built wood panel (which consists of leftover wood scraps) with practically indestructible acrylic paint and you’ve got artwork that is archival and eco-conscious.

So far, he’s painted three Bob Marley’s. He has a Zach De La Rocha in the works and my Pops mentioned he wanted a Jimi Hendrix painting last night. Personally, I want a shot at that one because it sounds ridiculously fun and I’ve always wanted to do one.

I’m looking forward to working alongside my boy this summer as we work on our own independent projects. He’s such a cutie, with his pompadour ‘do that my baby bro hooked up.  l love the fact that he’s an artist. I knew there had to be at least one out of the bunch.