Bringing the Soul Sketches to Life

Many artists experience "periods" that display a distinctive style spanning a specific era of their lives. So it was with Tzporah Breitman Lee, A"H. In 1956, my beloved mother created nearly 100 sketches with a design all their own. She called them "Soul Sketches." And indeed, they possess a deep mystique.

These sketches were preliminaries “blueprints” for oil paintings. Most of the pieces also record the colors my mother had intended to use on canvas. Sadly, to my knowledge, very few of these sketches realized the transformation from sketch to painting.

What I have done is to "colorize" copies of these black & white sketches, utilizing the colors my mother annotated, to the best of my ability. But unlike a paint by number kit, I had no way of knowing where on the canvas my mother had intended to set each color. I could only “guess.” The mediums I used ranged from computer PAINT program, to crayon, to colored pencils and markers. It is a feeble attempt to realize the majesty that my mother would have captured with her oils on canvas. However, it is an attempt to bring the sketches to life.

The "Soul Sketches" in this website are classified into themes—religious, field workers, motherhood, etc.—under which almost every sketch can be classified. The few that do not "fit" are classified under “Miscellaneous works.”

 

Each "Soul Sketch" theme appears in two categories on the website. The "Gallery" allows you to view one (sometimes two) colored interpretation(s) of each sketch within a specific theme. The "Originals" category allows you to view the original black & white sketch, along with one or more other colored versions. Hopefully, capturing at least part of the mysterious "soul" of these "Soul Sketches." Enjoy.