Drawing Live Portraits of Children With Special Needs

I just got back from doing live portraits this weekend at a summer camp for children with special needs and had a great time.

Every year, the USSA (United Special Sportmans Alliance) puts on a camp to serve children with special needs, and their family and friends. The camp is hosted in Pittsville, WI on a huge parcel of land that holds several tents and booths with activities like hunting, boating, horseback riding, fishing, arts and crafts and many other fun things. Everything is provided for free, and vendors volunteer their time and talents to make sure the children can enjoy exciting activities, building their own confidence and skills in an environment where they won't feel judged or pressured to conform to societal standards of normalcy.

This was my second year serving there, and I had my portrait tent there Friday and Saturday (and was kind of off the grid with no internet service). I couldn't Steem, but I could esteem these children as valuable, since God made them, and bring encouragement by drawing pictures of them that would capture their beauty.

One of these children was a handsome African American boy with beautiful dark skin and a charming smile. He would wink at me as I drew him. I think he may have had Downs' syndrome and was on the autism spectrum as well, so although he couldn't talk much, he sure was a lot of fun to be around! I drew a picture of him and his family.

Most of these drawings took between 15-30 minutes, depending on how many faces were on one portrait. They were all drawn with charcoal pencil on 11 x 14 sketch paper. Some were challenging to draw, since it's hard to capture a moving object!

What I enjoyed most in this experience was being able to talk to the families as I drew their pictures, and really get to know them and their life's story. It made me thankful, as I listened to them. I have a son with special needs and although it is a huge challenge, I really have it easy in comparison to many of these warriors. Some of them didn't choose this alternative lifestyle. This is the lot they were given through genetics and possibly environmental factors that they had little to no control over.

Others, wanting to serve and give of themselves to bring value to another human being that is often mistreated, misunderstood and ignored, made a commitment to raise these children as their own at a huge cost to their own comfort and convenience.

I connected with these people in so many ways, and truly enjoyed doing these live portraits. It's good for us to remember that we're not alone and that there are many people on this earth that can encourage each other, as we come together for community, moral support, and shared experiences.

If you enjoyed this post, I'd sure love to hear your comments.

Be blessed,

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See more of my artwork at: MattPhilleo.com