The Matriarch of the Family

I urge people to take many photos of their loved ones. Good photos are essential if you want to commission a posthumous portrait. This applies to dogs as well as humans. I've had to turn many people down because they didn't have a decent reference. Photos taken out side in the shade are the absolute best.

Sometimes I'll try a flash photo if the subject is especially interesting and that's how I came to paint Molly's grandmother, the matriarch of their family. The reference looked like it was taken in a dark reception hall but the contours of the subject's face were pretty clear so I thought I might be able to pull it off. I was pleased with the way the portrait came together.

The Matriarch 11" x 14" 

Oil on linen

Changes....in how we see things

My friend Dave Rolestone from the U.K. was nice enough to send a portrait he started of me along with the one he completed for our Christmas Portrait Exchange. I had told him I would like to fix it. When he was working on it I tried to offer some advice but sometimes- especially when it comes to fine art-- a picture is worth a thousand words.





Here's the video I made to document the changes.

Dave from the UK

Every year I participate in the Holiday Portrait Exchange at WetCanvas in the Portraiture Forum. I am a long time member of WC! and the artists there are like family to me. This is the ninth year I've participated and the pairings are random. You can state at the beginning whether you prefer to exchange portraits with someone in the U.S. or if you are willing to ship internationally.

I drew Dave from the United Kingdom this year. He is an interesting looking fellow with w fun beard and I asked him to pose outside after the first pictures he took inside a studio were too dark.

This is a 9" x 12" piece of linen canvas which he can trim to an A4 if he wants to frame it in a standard UK size frame. It will also be relatively inexpensive to mail to England, as it will less than 10 Oz.

Here is my initial underpainting, done in raw umber.