I finally got around to seeing the Hank Williams biopic “I Saw the Light”, and thought English actor Tom Hiddleston did a great job portraying Hank. Often times when seeing films about musicians, I’ve had a hard time seeing past the actor, but Tom became Hank to me immediately. The music, the clothes, the cars, the furniture, etc., beautifully captured post-war America, and Hank’s tragically short life.
When I was a young boy, songs like Your Cheatin’ Heart and Hey Good Lookin’ along with others by Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton, Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and so many others, captured my imagination, and soul, paving a path of musical exploration that continues to this day.
Like so many of my personal heroes, it’s somewhat bittersweet to learn that despite the great art created by these people, in so many cases, their personal lives were filled with so much strife and turmoil. And for Hank, perhaps even more so.
In response, I created this somewhat haunting life-size portrait from an old publicity photo, after finding a roll of this odd textured paper, similar to a football, which created an interesting pebbled texture as I applied charcoal and pastels. I titled it “The Ghost of Hank Williams”.
