Theodore Roosevelt

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

Recently, I began reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's sizable book, The Bully Pulpit which I received for Christmas in 2013. In essence, as its subtitle states, it parallels the work of Presidents Roosevelt, Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism. In the process of reading this book and beginning to become intertwined in their lives, I became interested in painting each of the two Presidents.

The above watercolor (7" x 10") of Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, was done on an Arches watercolor block. The image was derived from the photograph of him on the cover of the book that cropped off the top of his head. It follows a pencil drawing I did, which I have included below. At this scale it is challenging to get into much detail, however I do think it characterizes many of his known traits. 

The eyeglasses in particular, are challenging as they often can be. The rimless lenses both are transparent and offer defined edges on areas of his face. Each layer of subsequent watercolor washes over the face further diminishes the presence of his glasses which led me to painting greater values in the eye socket areas to make the lens project forward.

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro