Fred's Portrait

Eileen decided to paint a portrait of her husband, Frederic Whitaker, in 1977. Fred agreed to pose and Eileen positioned him in profile and gave him a large book to hold. As Fred was posing and time was passing, Fred politely pointed out that the book was getting heavy. So, Eileen swapped the book for a large empty box. Thus Fred was comfortable and Eileen had her composition model in place. The background, including Eileen’s birds in flight softens the whole, but the wonder here is capturing the essence of artist Frederic Whitaker, age 86. A stunning likeness. Fred died three years later, March 9, 1980.