Whose portrait is it anyway?

Last night was the final portrait practice drawing session for the year.  It was a freezing cold night, with snow and ice on the roads, so it was not surprising that half the group was missing.  The few hardy souls who did show up to feed their addiction were treated to our wonderful model, Dan. 

You may remember Dan as the model who can hold a Mona Lisa smile for 3 hours straight.  He is a gentleman with manners from a bygone era.   He always models in a camel colored sportcoat and bola tie,  with an expression of poingnant "remembrance."  I find it enchanting, and I wonder who he is and what his life has been like.

I have painted Dan at least 5 times, and last night I gave him one of the paintings as a gift.  He was very surprised and pleased, and kept looking at the portrait during breaks.  He finally said to me that there was something about it that reminded him of when he was about 10 years old.  I must have channeled his life somehow ...  what a mysterious connection there is between artist and model.

Here is a very poor black and white photo of last night's painting of Dan.  I was trying to take a color photo of the painting this morning and managed to drop it between a wall and an unmoveable shelving unit.  Never fear, though, I went to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a "gopher" grabber wand.  Rescue will be attempted tomorrow.