2015 so far has been the year of the portrait commissions. It actually began last November, but it seems to continue its theme. I was asked to do a second portrait painting for my workout partner's mother. He loved the painting I did for his wife's Christmas present.
He wanted to do something similar for his mother's birthday. And here it is:
I prepped a 20x16 canvas with watercolor ground. I used Koi watercolor for the background, which was an interesting experience. I'm still an amateur with the watercolor ground and I guess it takes longer to absorb the watercolor into it. I discovered this a few hours after I painted the background with a few washes of blue. I thought it was dry, but every time I moved the painting I would find blue all over my arms and legs.
For the mother and the dog, I used Derwent Inktense pencils. I was working from 2 different photos so I included a few in-progress shots showing the originals I was working from.
In order for me to
figure out proportions and placement, I had to use Photoshop to put the two
images together.
My workout partner and his wife loved the finished painting a lot! So much, that he wants me to do a third portrait painting!!!
