Trent Johnson, now running the Angels' Marathon

It's been too long since I sat in front of a model.
This character reminded me of a buddy I had when I was in high school. Usually, I draw on newsprint, but I was out and dug up this heavy stock from a shelf in the studio. I picked it up years ago from somebody who was unloading it, but never used it due to its "chunky" tooth. You can see the large, unrefined, massed dark area that the paper is dominating the graphite. The model's name was Trent, and I like to jot down the model name and date on sketches. If there's anything peculiar to the stories they share between poses, I may note that as well. The bottom of the drawing reads, "Trent the Runner", due to his marathon participation.

About a year or so later, I read in the local paper about some guy that had fallen to his death at a waterfall/swimming hole area. I couldn't figure out why his name seemed familiar until a woman called about this drawing. Annette Everett, a sculptor whose studio was in use for this drawing, wanted to buy it. I thought that seemed crazy, since she had plenty of drawings of her own, but then she asked if I had read the news about the guy who slipped from the edge of a waterfall... holy cow. It was THE MODEL.

I had framed the piece for hanging in a library area of a model home, so it was framed, matted, behind glass, and ready to go. She wanted to give it to the family as a gift. Wow. I had her pay for the cost of framing. The family was very appreciative, and I reflected on how the little things we do can affect others in profound ways.