Saturday, June 9, 2012

Traditional art and the Portrait

Bogie and Ribbons 24 x 30 pastel
Among my clients, traditional art will always be the most popular when it comes to portraiture!

I just completed this large 24 x 30 pastel of an adorable Bichon and her late companion, a cute Schnauzer sitting on their favorite chair on the back porch of the owner's house.

Created from the client's photos and my visit to her house, it's always challenging to paint dark objects such as a wicker chair and black railing and not have it overwhelm the subjects. I kept the two dogs as the focal point by not cluttering up the background, softening what I did create and detailing them so that they would "pop" from the portrait. There was no photo of them sitting together like this...all of it is created from my personal, non computerized "photoshop" abilities the old fashioned way-by hand and brain :-)

The fun part is that she has seen it digitally (which I honestly hate to do) and the "unveiling" will be a treat as any artwork is far better in person than on someone's computer.

And finally, if I have one piece of advice for pet owners, make the time to take decent photos of those you cherish! Look for their expressions and try to capture it as best you can. The very best imagoes this family will have of their much loved pets will be from this pastel portrait. That makes me happy :-).

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