Post 8: Foot to the Floor
The harder Mike fought against help, the deeper he sank into the grip of his addiction. The fury that erupted during that phone was promise that he could stand on his own. But in reality, alcohol was already in control, pulling the strings beneath the surface.
As soon as he hung up the phone, he knew where to go. He pulled into the nearest liquor store, his mind already fixating on the bottle of vodka that would calm the turmoil inside him.
By the time he arrived at the game, the bottle was tucked beside him. The first few sips soothed his nerves, blurring the edges of his anger. But with each drink, he felt a new hunger awakening—a need that went deeper than just numbing the pain.
Over the next five years, the drinking spiraled out of control. Vodka became his constant companion. A morning drink to get going. A mid-afternoon drink to keep steady. By nightfall, he was long past counting.
He knew he was losing control, but the need for alcohol had become greater than the shame. His friendships faded.
Each drink felt like a step further from the man he used to be, and Mike barely noticed how far he’d fallen.
Current Progress
I have finally gotten thru the insane details in the hand and have started getting to the colors in the arm.
REMEMBER
This is only the first layer. Everything will be painted a second time. That’s when I will fix the traveling smudge and reduce the red in the finger tips a little bit.
Intimate feelings about the story
This is the depressing part. To know that Mike was so close in getting help but wasn’t ready to take it … yet.
As you can see with Mike’s tattoo, faith will be a huge part of the rest of the story. I hope that me, an atheist, can do it justice. I struggle to connect with that part even though I understand the importance. I have a tendency to put the focus on the person rather than the higher power. I hope you can understand my struggle here and forgive me if it’s a little lost in the passion. I simply don’t know how.
When I paint, I think about the details. I can see him driving in my mind’s eye. I go back in time and create the scene and can see him red faced on the phone. I can see him pouring a drink in the morning and saying, no one will know.
About the Painting
I am only making 2 posts this week. I felt that I was not really showing enough progress in the video. These blog posts and editing the video take almost as much time as the painting itself. Each post takes about 3-5 hours to write, edit and post. That doesn’t include the social media part. To say that I love it though would be an understatement.
While I paint the arm, I have switched to a slightly larger brush. The size of my brush for the hand and fingerprints is a 3/0. The brush for the arm is a 1. I will try to really show next the difference in the brush strokes.
When you look VERY closely at the work, you will see that the paint is not totally opaque and there is still some grey primer coming thru. THAT is the reason I will paint everything a second time. I want my colors to be solid.
I really want to say THANK YOU to those of you that are here. You have no idea what it means to me that you are supporting this crazy idea and my journey. Without you, I would be talking to myself 🤣.
Feedback is always encouraged.
Collect early - Gigantic rewards.
By being a paid subscriber here, you have the opportunity to collect this work before it’s complete at a price with a HUGE reward. I will progressively increase the price of this work as I tell the story and complete more of the painting. IF you collect early, the painting will still be completed and the story will still be told, but you get to call it “Yours”. You will be the ONLY person to call it “Yours”.
Each Sunday, the cost of collecting this work will increase.
I have scheduled this work to take me 7 weeks. I have divided the story into 7 weeks as well as the progressive pricing. Collect early, save BIG!