In Chap­ter 173 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” the nar­ra­tive unfolds over a month of prepa­ra­tion under­tak­en by Patch, who metic­u­lous­ly pins pho­tographs to a board, orga­niz­ing names and loca­tions. This effort is a reflec­tion of his father’s mad­ness, though Patch’s approach is more sys­tem­at­ic and struc­tured. The chap­ter is set against the back­drop of a swel­ter­ing July in Mon­ta Clare, where Patch, after more than a decade, takes up his paint­brush again. He estab­lish­es a rou­tine that bal­ances his artis­tic pur­suits and fam­i­ly life, ensur­ing that he spends qual­i­ty time with his daugh­ter while also encour­ag­ing her to prac­tice on their baby grand piano.

His daugh­ter Sam­my observes the changes in her father, not­ing the vibrant paint stain­ing his jeans and the rem­nants of col­or under his nails. She silent­ly appre­ci­ates his rekin­dled pas­sion for paint­ing, feel­ing a sense of relief as if they both have regained some­thing pre­vi­ous­ly lost. Over the course of six months, Patch engages with the par­ents of three girls fea­tured in his art dur­ing late-night calls, gain­ing insights into their lives and hopes. This under­stand­ing helps him por­tray their essence more accu­rate­ly on can­vas.

As win­ter approach­es, Patch and Sam­my share moments watch­ing films like “Toy Sto­ry,” where they con­nect over themes of iden­ti­ty and nos­tal­gia. Char­lotte, pre­sum­ably anoth­er char­ac­ter in their lives, humor­ous­ly com­ments on the return of the sev­en­ties fash­ion, to which Patch jests about final­ly being in style again, only to be play­ful­ly dis­missed by Char­lotte. In a cozy moment by the fire, Char­lotte engages with old cor­re­spon­dence while Patch pre­pares to unveil his lat­est work to Sam­my, inten­si­fy­ing the famil­ial bond and the artistry that has woven them togeth­er amidst the chaos of their past. The chap­ter encap­su­lates themes of cre­ativ­i­ty, fam­i­ly, and the pas­sage of time, high­light­ing a poignant explo­ration of iden­ti­ty both in art and with­in their lives.