‘Sounds dramatic. What are you drawing now?’
‘Come and see.’ He joined me by my easel where I was finishing the Boxing Day dip. ‘It’s nearly done.’
He studied it for a while. ‘How long does it take you to do one of these?’
‘It varies. I typically do a few rough small sketches and when I’ve got the concept I want, I do a bigger sketch and then I move on to the canvas. How long it takes at that point will depend on the detail needed and the size of the picture. Both these pieces are average-sized but detail heavy so I’ve spent longer on them.Creating the final version can take anything from one to five days.’
‘What’s on that one?’ he asked, pointing to an easel covered in a sheet.
I hesitated as it was the picture I’d drawn of his Boxing Day rescue and I wasn’t sure how he’d react to it. He’d been calm – if a little aloof – yesterday and was behaving in a similar manner today but how he’d react to the picture was an unknown. Although,a few minutes of courage…
‘It’s from Boxing Day too but there are no animals in it. It’s real life.’
He followed me to the easel and I picked up the corner of the sheet.
‘It might be familiar.’
I watched his face carefully as I removed the sheet. His eyes widened as he took a step closer.
‘Is that me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Because what you did was special and I couldn’t stop thinking about it and, when I can’t stop thinking about things, I usually draw them. It helps me capture the memory forever. And because it was you. I had a proper proud dad moment over what you did. You could have won the race but you helped someone in need instead. That’s amazing.’
His eyes glistened and I wondered if it had registered with him that I’d referred to myself as his dad again. If it had, he didn’t say anything.
He looked from the fancy dress version to the real-life one. ‘They’re so different. I mean, I know that one’s got sheep in it and this one hasn’t, but…’
‘They’re drawn in completely differentstyles,’ I said. ‘I love drawing the animals and they sell well but I sometimes draw landscapes and buildings. In the gallery in Sydney, I had lots of versions of the Opera House. I had playful reimagined ones with roos, koalas, wombats and so on, but I also had real-life ones with sunrises and sunsets, on sunny days, in the rain. By mixing it up, I build collections which suit different tastes while also keeping it fresh for myself.’
It felt strange having a conversation like this, as though Aaron was an art student interested in my creative process. I wanted to prolong his visit but I didn’t want to rabbit on about me all the time. I wanted to know about him instead.
‘Do you still draw?’ I asked.
‘Not at home. Declan hates me drawing so I have to do it in secret. My art teacher says I’m good at it. I want to be an artist or an Olympic swimmer.’
‘Maybe you could do both?’
He smiled and my heart melted. I’d noticed the use of ‘Declan’ rather than ‘Dad’ and wondered if that was for my benefit or whether Aaron had never acknowledged Declan in that way. It wasn’t the thing to focus on now, though.
‘What sort of things do you like drawing?’ I asked.
He put Wally down on the floor, removed his phone from his back pocket and scrolled for a bit before handing it to me. I looked down at a pencil-drawn skull surrounded by roses, predominantly in grey shading but with red hues on a few of the roses. Zooming in, I was impressed with the detail.
‘Your teacher was right. This is really good.’
Aaron told me to scroll forwards. He’d drawn a tree and a yacht which were both excellent, but the final drawing was of a cat and, although it was a good attempt, the facial features weren’t quite right.
‘The cat’s crook,’ he said as I returned his phone.
‘Animals are really hard to draw but you’ve got great potential. You might want to focus on just drawing the eyes. It can be tricky to get them right but they’re what really lifts the rest of it.’
‘Will you teach me?’
My heart leapt. I’d taught Erin and Lucy how to draw and I’d dreamed of doing the same for Aaron but never imagined I’d get the opportunity.
