This sketch is by far one of the most meaningful pieces I’ve ever created and my first infant portrait I did of my sweet boy. It’s a portrait of my son as an infant, drawn from a photo I took during one of our early walks together. He was tucked close to me in his baby wrap, observing the world around us. It’s crazy to think that at this time, this was something completely foreign to him. The trees didn’t have name. The river was just basically a giant bath tub. The fresh air, much different from his favorite spot against me in the rocking chair.

When I finally sat down to draw it, I wasn’t thinking about technique or how it might turn out. I just wanted to try and express some of what I was feeling — the warmth of his small body against mine, the safety and security we both felt together, the happiness that him and I felt during that walk, and the curiosity, awe, excitement, and innocence radiating off of him.

As I sketched, I realized it wasn’t only about recreating what I saw, but about preserving what I felt. The overwhelming and unimaginable love I felt for him, the feeling of motherhood, and the feeling of how time stood still during our walk. In that way, this piece became something more than a drawing; it became a keepsake of a moment in time that I have come to understand goes far too fast.

This sketch represents more than just my adorable son. It holds a beginning. The start of his story, the start of mine as a mother, and the beginning of understanding how art can become a way to keep what’s most precious from fading. It’s simple in form compared to my other infant portraits, but it contains everything I felt then: wonder, tenderness, and a love too deep to comprehend.


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