Man Paints Portraits of Front line Medics, Capturing Their Exhaustion Treating COVID-19 Patients

Courtesy of Steve Derrick

When the pandemic forced artist and video game developer Steve Derrick to work from home, he found himself with extra time on his hands that he said he did not want to spend watching Netflix or Hulu. When he stumbled on a magazine photo of a nurse who had just spent a long shift treating Covid-19 patients, he decided to paint her with marks from her PPE and all.

Artist Steve Derrick paints portraits of front line medics. Courtesy of Steve Derrick

This led him to paint more than 100 portraits of front line medical workers and send the paintings to his subjects, free of charge.

Derrick, 54, told CNN that after painting that first portrait, he felt inspired and began using Instagram to reach out to nurses who posted photos after their shifts treating Covid-19 patients. As word spread, medical workers started sending him photos, and so did their friends and family members who wanted to honor their hard work.

“The great thing about it is they send in pictures that are not your cute selfies that you would usually expect from Facebook,” he said. “These are real, real experiences people had.”

Briony Lusted works as a nurse at Cheltenham General Hospital in Gloucestershire, England. Courtesy of Steve Derrick

To show his gratitude for all that they do, he sends his paintings to them. Even though Covid-19 makes it nearly impossible to meet any of them in person, Derrick said their responses keep him going.

“I saw who they are and so I sent the pictures to the people and said, ‘Hey, here’s a thank you,’ and the reaction I got was, ‘This is amazing, it’s documenting a time in history,’” he said.

Sandy Tran is an Emergency Room nurse in Las Vegas who worked in the intensive care unit at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx.
Courtesy of Steve Derrick

Derrick said he would snap a picture of the portrait before putting it in the mail. The project exploded when he started publishing the paintings on social media. He began receiving photos of front line medical workers from around the world.

Friends and family members would send him photos of doctors and nurses to paint. He even received photos from patients who wanted to honor the doctors who helped save their lives.

Gemma Marin works as a nurse in Madrid. Courtesy of Steve Derrick

Since early April, Derrick has painted and gifted at least 100 portraits. He said each one takes three to four hours to complete. He still has his 9–5 job but finds time for painting in the mornings and after dinner, and sometimes even during his lunch breaks.

Derrick had never shown his artwork in a gallery before. When the Albany Center Gallery in upstate New York asked to hang the portraits, he had a problem: “They had seen a whole big body of work, but I can’t show anything because I gave (each portrait) to the person right away.”

Dr. Numan Rashid is a pulmonologist at Saratoga Hospital in New York. Courtesy of Steve Derrick

He then got to work and created 20 portraits in two weeks, which was enough to hold the show and continue spreading positivity.

“I’m just one guy painting pictures. So, it’s a little overwhelming for me. But I’m really happy that people are getting some good news and some inspiration and that there’s light shed on how amazing these people are,” he expressed.

Courtesy of Steve Derrick

The CNN Wire contributed to this report.