The Shortest Story...an unfinished epic in the making. Inspired by the Harry Chapin Song

The Shortest Story - 20 Days Unfinished artwork by TET

'The Shortest Story: 20 days' is a painting I've been 'working' on for over a year.

It's based upon the Harry Chapin song of the same name which tells the story of a child born into extreme poverty.

It is a very sad story and probably my least favourite Harry Chapin song. However, my partner likes the song and thought I should create an artwork based upon it.

So, towards the end of January 2005 I began work on, what was intended to be a Valentine's Day gift (Feb 14, 2005).

Two Valentine's Days and over a year later, this is where it is at - just over half finished. It's a difficult artwork to get excited about even though I'm happy with how it looks so far.

Obviously I haven't actually been working on it every day. For the most part it's sat in my studio, neglected for the larger part of 2005.

Early February 2006 I managed to progress it to this stage after about a days work but haven't touched it since.

Maybe the song is just too depressing or maybe the image contains too much fine detail that I'm reluctant to tackle? If I really set my mind to it I could finish it in a couple of days.

Whatever happens I thought I'd show it to you. Maybe a few words of encouragement might be in order...

[2021-Jun-7 update: Sadly this painting still remains unfinished, progressing no further than you see here. Having not used chalk pastels in years I'm not even sure I'd have the skill level to finish it now. - TET]

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TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

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