Creating a large portrait of a child

I can't tell you the number of large portraits such as this one that I have created over the years! 

When the portrait is 24 x 36 or larger, and when possible, it's best that I take the reference photographs. From my experience, very few parents take photographs of their children the way that I do-they don't zoom in on the face, catch subtle expressions or the detail that I like when I paint the faces.

Oh they catch a lot of smiling faces or cheesy grins, but not those timeless  looks that make a portrait ...well, respond to them!

I deliver this one later this week...it wound up a bit larger than the original 24 x 36 (no one has ever complained about that!) but no matter-they will love it :-)

It's all about the face, the pose and lastly the background-which is totally fabricated to bring the focus onto this charming little girl and her rabbit companion!

Now-off to cut the grass-people coming to the studio later today and it's already feeling like late June in North Carolina!

A Child's Portrait as a Family Tradition

I love it when clients have a family history of portraiture and they come to me for a portrait to continue that tradition!  I know that a family portrait is valuable to them. They understand the emotional and long term appeal of capturing a moment forever in a way that a camera cannot! 
Often the earlier portraits have something in common-an expression, a pose, medium or a location. In this case, with the 16 x 20 pastel portrait of little Harper that I just completed, her expression and the fact that it was created in pastel, mimic the earlier portraits of her father, uncle and grandfather! How fun!