"The Candy Man" Original Drawing by Samantha Long

This drawing is fixed with a fixative spray, which reduces to eliminates the possibility of the graphite smudging or releasing from the paper. Nevertheless, due to the nature of works on paper, I recommend framing behind glass.

Last year I decided I needed to paint something cheerful, colorful, and whimsical. “But Samantha, don’t you do that all the time?” Ah, well… I haven’t done candy in awhile! I theretofore set out to do a whole miniseries of candy-themed paintings, the first of which was this: Portrait of a Candy Man. Firstly I painted a whole mishmash of brightly-colored bonbons behind the man himself. Next, with a little nod to the formal dark portraits of the 19th century, I added mystery and gravitas with a succession of alternating brown and blue glazes. Despite the smokiness, if you look closely, you can still see the happy little candies shining through. Kinda sounds like a metaphor for our times, doesn’t it.