Two People in a Portrait is Twice the amount of work

I don't charge double for a portrait with two people in it although maybe I should. I usually charge an additional 60-70%. Couples are just as hard to paint together as they are individually. I used a photo of the couple here taken outside in different positions and turned it into a studio type portrait. Yes, I even changed the style of sweater the woman is wearing from a heavy cowl neck to a round neck. I'm not sure that is something a photographer could do.

This was a lengthy and time consuming portrait to get "right". Changing clothing, position and background required some thought. In the end I think (hope) they were happy with it. The painting is a gift commissioned by an aunt for someone so I may never hear what the actual couple think of it.

Here is the original reference.

Charlie

I started this portrait from life at the Hyter Group, a portrait group that meets in Toledo on Saturday mornings at Common Space 2. Our model was Charlie, a Vietnamese immigrant who was into body-building in his younger days.

I had a pretty good base down and planned to continue it the following week. Unfortunately, I left it in my trunk at Oak Openings when I took my dog for a walk on one of the trails and something happened to it. At home, I removed it from my trunk and discovered tiny track marks all over the painting and also on a leather bag. Something, perhaps a chipmunk or a mouse, was able to squeeze into my trunk. Maybe it was attracted by the smell of the oils. I don't know.

I had to smear the entire painting into a series of tones while it was still wet to get the footprints out. So I decided to fix it and I used a cell phone picture I took of the model as my guide.

11" x 14" Charlie

Original Oil Painting Portrait of Jessica

I couldn't resist doing a full color version of Jessica in her over-the-top costume. If a model is willing to wear long heavy gloves in July I feel it's my duty to paint them in full color. I was going for a Rembrandt look with this- heavy dark background and luminous features.

The jewelry was a lot of fun to paint too. Jessica was going for a vampish look I believe and it really works.

12" x 16" oil on linen

Lauryn

Here is the final version of Lauryn, my 14 year old model. She has wonderful dark eyes and I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Lauryn 11" x 14" oil on linen

Black Lab Puppy Painting

This is Ruby, a nine week old puppy. Ruby wasn't feeling too well when I snapped her picture. She was having an allergic reaction to something and had bumps around her eyes and on her belly. The miracle of paint is that I could easily ignore those bumps when I painted her portrait. I also changed her glance so she was looking toward me instead of at the fingers her owner was snapping to gain her attention. Painting puppies is similar to painting children. You have delicate unformed features and a certain softness that needs to be emphasized.

I liked the colors of the porch swing Ruby was relaxing on and her soft green blanket, so I changed the design a little and used them. The collar has an "M" on it and her owner thought that was nice because he works at a school that starts with that letter. It's good to get their input too and if it's not too difficult or doesn't interfere with the design I'll usually try to accommodate them.

Ruby

11" x 14"

commission

Pretty Little Girls: Childrens Portraits

Their mom commissioned me to paint a "fun" painting of each of them for their grandmother's birthday. I wanted the paintings to look nice hanging beside each other but also apart. The colorful quilt-like background ties the portraits together and also emphasizes their youth. Children's portraits always take longer for me to do than an adult portrait. Their skin is so delicate and their hair is so fine it's just hard to translate into paint.

11" x 14"

oil on canvas