Hello Friends! 

As with the last two pages of this journal with Van Gogh’s portrait of his mother, I chose not to do a whole lot with these pages either. I wanted to simplify them as well. So I just used acrylic inks with stencils to paint the left page and around the portrait. I wanted to keep it in monotone colors, however, I bought a new color of Liquitex acrylic ink that I was anxious to use. It is Bronze, and I love it! 

Vincent painted this portrait of his father, Theodorus van Gogh in 1881, seven years earlier than the portrait of his mother. The emotions Vincent depicts of his father come across to me as distant and repressed. They had vastly different views of Christ and the vocation of the clergy. Basically, they just didn’t get along because of their differences which I find sad. I wonder if perhaps Vincent had experienced acceptance by his father for who he was, that maybe he would have lived a longer life. Personally, I think if Vincent had been encouraged by his father in his pursuit of being an artist, maybe he wouldn’t have been filled with so much self-doubt and despair. But I admire the way he still had such a strong passion to do what he loved. His choice to stick to his own beliefs instead of living to try and please his father proved to be the best one he could have made. Otherwise, we may never have been blessed with the art of such a beautiful soul. 

Have a wonderful day! 😀