The Faces of John Dawley: As he viewed them

By Morris Gresham

When John Paul Dawley, Jr. comes to mind, one inevitably thinks of his artistic talents, a natural reaction since the fellow usually called J.D. was always drawing. If he was awake, he had a pencil or pen in a hand that was rarely still.During every stop on his professional career in art, Dawley spent every spare minute making caricature drawings of his co-workers. One look at his work reveals his remarkable eye for detail. In an employee profile at one company, Dawley explained his unusual vision."Normally, when you look at another person, or at yourself in the mirror," he said, "your eye compensates for imperfections in the image, and the face, as a whole, looks more nearly perfect than it actually is."When I look at someone, I don't see the face as a whole," he continued. "Instead, I am looking for their most outstanding, noticeable features - a prominent nose, unusual wrinkles, a unique hairstyle - whatever it is that makes that face different from all the rest. Then I draw what I see."Older people are easier to draw," J.D. added. "because their faces have more of what I call 'character' than a younger face does. And I think I do a better job on someone I don't know well, rather than someone I'm close to."In the mid-1990s, J.D. was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. While the disease usually progresses slowly, it moved quickly in J.D.'s case. He died on October 25, 1999 at the young age of 64-1/2 and is buried beside his parents in Ft. Worth. He is sorely missed by his family... and the world has lost a remarkable talent.Although the hand was stilled, J.D.'s art lives on. And, thanks to this publication, you may now hold a selection of John Dawley's works, in pencil and ink, in your hand.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 152378881X
• ISBN13: 9781523788811
• Release Date: April 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 188 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"