An artist is offering amazing tribute sketches for free to families who have lost loved ones to Covid-19.
Calvin Taylor Lee, 44, started his Covid sketches about three weeks ago, when a friend of his asked him if he could draw her grandma, who had recently passed away from the virus.
He shared the sketch on his social media page – and since then, he has been inundated with thousands of requests, and has completed over 100 sketches of deceased loved ones.
The A5 pencil sketches take Calvin, from Scunthorpe, Lincs., around 20 minutes to complete.
Among the 120 sketches he has completed so far is a young woman in her 30s who lost her battle with Covid-19.
And he has also drawn “hero” paramedic Tony Chadbourne, who died aged 46 in December, while working for East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Calvin, who usually works as a wedding photographer, said: “It means a lot to me to be able to fill my time in this way.
“There are obviously no weddings to photograph at the moment.
“So it is better for me to pick up a pencil and spend a couple of hours each day sketching maybe five portraits, than to sit and do nothing.
“It’s an emotional thing, seeing people’s reactions to my sketches.
“One local lady who asked me to draw her grandad, came to pick up the sketch and she just stood on my doorstep in tears when I showed her.
“I just wished I was able to give her a hug.
“Some people have sent me thank you cards for the sketches I’ve done for them, which means a lot to me.”
Calvin added: “There are so many people who die from Covid that don’t get reported by the media, and their families could not even see them at the end or say goodbye to them.
“These people, and their families, just get left in the darkness. It’s tragic.
“This is my way of doing something special for them, and brightening up their families lives a little bit.”
Calvin’s A5 pencil sketches take him around 20 minutes to complete, with four layers of contrast on each sketch.
He is currently working at a rate of around five sketches per day, and has completed 120 so far.
But the artist and photographer has a backlog of around 6,000 email and message requests from people around the Lincolnshire and Humberside area, for sketches of their relatives.
But he said: “Even if I have to take 50 years to get through them all, I will do that. It’s about giving back to my community.
“I hope other artists will see this and be inspired to do the same for people in their area who have suffered loss due to Covid.”
