The beginning of a large pastel portrait!

A work in progress: 30 x 40 Pastel Portrait

Here is a sanded 30 x 40 pastel that I have begun of a whole family-the two daughters, along with their horses or first to be seen......mom and dad, along with the two Golden retrievers and a former horse,  are still way-y-y-y in the background waiting to emerge from their anonymity :-).

Keep an eye out for the completed version!

Painting dark skin tones

First draft of 18 x 24 oil

When painting people, you have to take into account the surroundings...will they be neutral? A scene of some sort? A room? Going back to the "less is more" concept, the other thing is will the background or clothes detract from the subject?

So here, in an 18" x 34" oil are the challenges, not the first being that I had 3 days to paint this! And just a few photographs! The woman sat at a desk in a different set of clothes. The clothes they wanted were in another photo of her standing....white with some decoration.  And the hair was from still another photograph (the second image is the "correct" hairstyle:-). 

After roughing in the portrait clothes and sending it to the clients, I realized how the white overwhelmed her dark skin tones.  So I completely changed all the colors surrounding her so that the opposite happens....SHE pops:-)  Take a look.


I have not changed anything in her face except I darkened her teeth just a shade.

Second draft and changes to 18 x 24 oil

Now the focus is on her and not the white outfit!

Valentine Pencils

It doesn't get much better than this when thinking of a gift that is priceless!  Daddy John Boggs communing with baby Molly the first day of her life!  A $225.00 investment in a 12 x 14 portrait that will become Molly's legacy in years to come!

The ultimate family portrait!

The Family Dog is such an important member of the family that clients love to include them in portraits of the children!

I created this 30" x 40" oil on canvas for the family and Roxie, the yellow lab, was right in on the action! 

We delivered the framed portrait a few days before Christmas and other than the older son seeing the prints the children managed to keep quiet (amazing in itself) until Dad opened it on Christmas morning. Originally they were going to prepare a place to hang it but portraits such as these deserve to be in a place where they can be viewed daily! Mom emailed me with:

"HE LOVED IT! absolutely loved it.

kids were so excited to give it to him...

and i was right, he thinks we should hang it on a different wall than where i planned!

Thanks"~ Amy Walsh, Raleigh NC

Portraits by M Theresa Brown

Further progress on the oil

Another day of progress in completing this oil! People have told me that they enjoy seeing the children emerge....it was Michaelangelo , who, when asked about his marble sculptures, commented that inside every large chunk of marble was a person waiting to emerge......sounds right!

But is not just this portrait that I am completing. I will be delivering an pastel today of a little girl and her horse which I will post after Christmas as it is a surprise! And I have a dozen more commissions to complete.

More progress on 30 x 40 oil

This, by the way, is the real life of an artist. Work. And if you are not creating your art for your clients, you are going out and finding it! That's how all businesses operate. LOL which is why I am behind in getting out my newsletters! I'm picking my challenges :-)

I will deliver a portrait today, paint more on this, work more on some of my other orders and get ready for art mini workshops in our studio tomorrow!. Yikes, it will be only in the 40's but with 15 attendees for each of the two classes, Steve and I will be spending the evening...LOL straightening the house and studio...OK maybe I'm feeling just a little pressure........:-)

Working on the oil for Christmas!

This large, 30 x 40 oil is for Christmas and since I am right handed, I work it in stages from left to right! Many artists work all over the canvas and often I do too, but with a Christmas deadline, the children are being created first and the background (scene from their porch) will be painted in with muted and soft focus detail!

People do love to see it in this stage and I am glad to show it. But I usually wait until all the faces are done before the client sees the portrait so they get a  complete feel for the expressions, rather than a partial one!  Any changes are then easier! 
The canvas has shadows from the backlight of the window.

Mother and Daughter portraits

I loved creating this pastel portrait awhile back. My client brought it to me to create as a memory of her late mother. Ironically, at first glance, the grown woman in front of me looked virtually identical to the woman in the original photo. When I realized that it was her mother and that the little girl being read to was HER, it was one of those fun "Oh my gosh" moments :-).
This was a large 18 x 24 portrait that can be handed down to the next generation and the family resemblances admired and appreciated!

Bridal Portrait created in Pastel with Bride and Groom

Sometimes it's hard for clients to visualize the sizes of paintings, so it's always a good idea to include images that do display the sizes. 

So here I have a recently created  Bridal Portrait. The completed size is 28 x 40 and it is created in pastels.  In the original reference photo, the bride and groom are flanked by other individuals but I  added the ocean which was indeed, behind them!

A beautiful, heirloom portrait that the whole family will enjoy for generations!

Vintage 1963

Ah one of my favorite things to create-portraits from old photos.
The gentleman pulled out a tiny 2 x 3" black and white photo of his family and I created this 18 x 24" pastel from his color descriptions.
When he first saw it, he cried. We walked into the framing shop and he is like a child at Christmas, already anticipating the look on his wife's face at Christmas. Yes, life is good! And the ability to create and bring joy into someone's life is even better!

Girl with Quarter Horse

A large pastel of Samantha and her late Quarter Horse, Sonny.
An emotional painting that had the whole family in tears. Ah, art!

theresa

Cameo Pastel of child

My cameo portraits are super popular and this one was created from some photos that I took of my subject. Grandma commissioned one of another grandchild several years ago and now it was Lilly's turn. :-)

Portrait of Teen Sisters

An 18 x 24 pastel portrait of two sisters.
Big smiles can be a definite challenge but I have created many smiling portraits and the key is to know the personality of the subjects. Neither of these girls were the serious, moody sort when I met and photographed them and the teen years need to be remembered as not always enveloped in "teen angst!"
But the important part is what the client thinks!

For years I have dreamed of having a portrait done of my children and like many of us I “never got around to it”. When Theresa Brown became a resident artist at The Cotton Company and I got a chance to not only view a good variety of her work but also talk to her about how she works and the whole process, I realized I had finally found the right person to do this portrait.

I gave the portrait of our two daughters as a surprise birthday present to my husband and he and I are both so happy with the results. When the girls go off to college this portrait which has captured not only their likeness, but also their spirit, will be a reminder of so many happy memories!

Thank you, Theresa!

-Elizabeth Johnson, Wake Forest NC

Pastel portrait of Little Girl in White

Here is an image of a cameo pastel that I just completed for a client of her granddaughter. People love the cameo size. Most frame out to around 11 x 15 with a mat and are the perfect size for gift giving and small apartments and those watching their pennies!

The clients provide the photographs for these and some can be quite challenging! I create many of these cameos for genealogists who bring me very old black and whites (or even tintypes) of their ancestors and I re-create them in the soft colors of pastels.

Super popular for the holidays!

Making changes in a portrait for a client

I completed the changes for the client in this large oil of their 3 charming sons.

Look carefully and see what I did compared to the image I posted 2 weeks ago!

We are getting ready to head to the Indian Wells Art Festival in Palm Springs, CA. The show is April 2-4. What a fun cross country adventure!

Family Pastel Portrait with westie

This 24 x 30 commissioned pastel portrait was a delight to create! I love zooming in on the subjects and although it means the portraiture must be very accurate when working almost lifesize, I find it actually easier to work larger.
The Jones family was delighted with my portrait of their two daughters, Lacey and Morgan and of course they loved Jack, their lovable Westie.
Although the garden was not in bloom, I recreated my rendition, groomed Jack, changed faces, hairstyles, perspective and a number of small areas to finalize my composition.
I met the family in October, took the photos early in November and completed this pastel right before Christmas! An heirloom for generations!

Large family Oils

This one was a challenge! 40" x 80" in size, it was created by adjusting the colors, composition, poses, lighting...you name it and it was done! But the family now has a beautiful portrait of a time in their lives that they will look back fondly and remember! Mom especially will wonder how she was able to juggle it all !

The colors just glow in this oil and the family was delighted!