Sunday, October 20, 2019

Schrag Wall: Uncle Ben in a "Big Car"

.
OK, this is a "full disclosure" post from my "Legacy" series of drawings.  The original photo remains unchanged.  Here it is:


I had always believed that this was a picture of my mother in one of her father's taxis - he ran a cab company. I posted the image with that description. Not too long after, my sister Margaret - the family archivist - contacted me to say she wasn't sure of the image or its provenance. So she began to search through her archives.

Eventually in one of Mom's journals she found the original image with this caption:

"Bennie in a really BIG CAR.
1917"

So the picture is obviously of her brother Benjamin, who died young, before she married and naturally before I or any of my siblings were born. The provenance of the car remains a mystery. One of the family taxis remains logical, but year, make and model all remain mysteries. Obviously, some type of touring car manufactured in 1917 or earlier. A friend pointed out that the valve on top of the radiator might be a diesel escape valve. The multiple intake valves on the side of the hood might also might point in that direction. But still a mystery.

I will admit that none of those issues concerned me during the 4 million hours - OK, maybe only 2 million - I spent creating the Legacy image below. Finished mere minutes ago :-)!


The image is 9.5 x 15 inches. The color is the result of several types of markers on heavy water color paper.

Enjoy!

No comments:

Post a Comment