One of the earliest commission jobs I asked Gerhard to take on was looking through some of my favorite images that I had taken during my trips to China, particularly shots of the Great Wall, and then to transform them through the magic of his ink and watercolor prowess.

He made some terrific choices in how to handle these, particularly in going to the light sepia tones instead of full contrasting color.

As he was reviewing a site that had lots of pictures, we collaborated on narrowing down the exact set according to the different points of view and depictions.

When the four drawings arrived, there was a fifth included. A truly wonderful and amazing and hilarious gift from Gerhard, who, in reviewing the pictures, had come across one that he simple HAD to do. So funny. So cool. It is there at the bottom of this set.

The Great Wall Series (2009)

“Great Wall No. 1” (2009)
by Gerhard (1959-)
16×20 in., ink and watercolor
Coppola Collection

“Great Wall No. 2” (2009)
by Gerhard (1959-)
16×20 in., ink and watercolor
Coppola Collection

“Great Wall No. 3” (2009)
by Gerhard (1959-)
16×20 in., ink and watercolor
Coppola Collection

“Great Wall No. 4” (2009)
by Gerhard (1959-)
16×20 in., ink and watercolor
Coppola Collection

And… presenting… the bonus fifth drawing.

Yes, that’s me… in garb… on a camel. And yes, that happened.

“Great Wall No. 5” (2009)
by Gerhard (1959-)
16×20 in., ink and watercolor
Coppola Collection

Gerhard surprised me twice with this image. It appeared as a framed picture on the wall of “Gerhard Dreams” (2011).