Turn away Luuuuuurve haters....

I remember seeing an episode of some fairly mainstream U.S. television show (back in the days when I still watched TV!) where a girl (who could have been Ally Mcbeal) goes to meet an old artist whose work she had studied and loved at university. He had once been an important figure in some art scene or other during the 60's, but upon going to his studio she found that now he did nothing but paint portraits of his wife, who had passed away a few years before. At the time I saw that show, I had not yet got together with my girl, and I don't think I really thought that deeply about it. For some reason though, it stuck in my memory, and when I was sketching up this Valentine's pic it came back to me, and I was moved by the thought of an aging artist in a dusty old loft devoting the last years of his art to try and capture the memory of his life's one great love. I'd like to think that Esty is already in everything I do; every female character I draw seems to just naturally have the feel of her personality, looks and style, but the influence of my girl goes much deeper than that. Within my work, she is the sense of fun, the optimism, the energy, and the love of funny little creatures hiding in the corners of panels. She is my absolute inspiration, and maybe one day I'll have what it takes to do a "serious" portrait which captures everything she is to me. Until then though, It's our 7th Valentine's together, and I just want to say that I love ya' baby, and I hope this silly scribble goes a little way to telling you how beeeeeutiful you are to me.

Lorenzo xx