Dexter the demo painting

I ran a FB competition asking for people to send in their photos and I would select one for a demo painting. Michelle won with her photo of Dexter.

 She receives a $50 voucher towards a portrait , some hand made cards of  the portrait and a discounted option to buy.

With commissioned portraits I consult with you all along the way , you choose the size , whether it is Oil or Pastel and the framing. 

With a demo I more or less just do what I want which is why I offer any demo painting at a reduced rate. There is no obligation to purchase the portrait.

 Here is the original reference photo for Dexter.

Thanks to Penny Brookes Photography for allowing me to paint from her great photo! 

 

 Dexter

 25 x 30cms image size 

 Framed Pastel

The finished portrait. I removed Dexter's chain from around his neck

Here he is framed.

Below
 I have cut the mats and show the frame I will be using. This is how I run my framing ideas past you for your feedback..You can see how much better the actual frame ( above) looks than the mockup ( bottom below) but it gives you an idea of what he will look like with that framing option.

Above - a rough computer mockup top show you what he will look like framed. This was done before I took his chain off. You can see how his neck is puffy because of the choker.

He will be approx 51 x 44 cms framed size.

 The 25 x 30cms image framed pastel is a great value portrait option!

Contact me to have your own pet's portrait created!

Holly sent me a photo of Bruno framed on the wall. I suggested the frame and she had her local framer frame him.
 

'I think it looks awesome! I have it hanging in a place I walk past all the time so that I can enjoy it!'

 Holly -Western Australia

My portrait ' Homeward Bound " wins the 1st prize at the CA Brown Art show this weekend!

I was excited to hear that my portrait " Homeward Bound " won 1st Prize in the CA Brown Artshow last Friday !
I've included the judges comments . 
 It's great to have a judge confirm that my portraits capture the personality / soul of the subject. I've been working away for years perfecting my art with that aim foremost in my mind.
 People tell me I capture soul , something intangible thing in my portraits and  it's great to have this skill officially recognised in this way!

Cessnock Visitors Centre exhibition opening Oct 24th

If you haven't managed to get to my other exhibition I will be having some paintings in an exhibition as part of the Wine Country Art trail so come along and have a look.

 

You can view more information about all the artists at the Art trail website

http://www.winecountryarttrail.com/

 

The large Torso - complete and delivered

Well he's finally done and delivered!

Although he looks realistic from a distance he is actually quite colourful close up.

 Here is where we were last time I showed you.. I had made his rear shoulder blue green and although I liked each area I didn't feel it hung together as a whole..

Here is the final version..

The background is a bit more even than in this photo..

Details-

Contact me if you'd like something along these lines created! 
I can work from any photos you have. Dramatic lighting is best..I can take photos if necessary

The article in the papers about the Business Award winners 2014- I'm in the red jumper

I've just won the 2014 Hunter Business Excellence Awards- Arts , Crafts and Giftware section

I was just told I've won the 2014 Hunter Business  Excellence Awards Art section!
I'd like to thank all of my great clients and supporters.
I find my ' job' very rewarding and everyone I deal with great to talk to. To be recognised in the business world in this manner is just the icing on the cake!



 The awards are created by Setsuko at Ogishi Glass in Pokolbin. They are really striking.
Check out Ogishi's website for some great gift ideas.
http://www.ogishi.com.au/studio--gallery.html



I have now have won 4 Art Awards and been Highly Commended once.


Here are the previous BEC awards along with the Bullocky Mural launch wine bottles.
 There will an official photo of me with the award in an article on the awards in the Maitland Mercury , Cessnock Advertiser and Lower Hunter Star next Wednesday 17th September.

Zuzie , Gidget , Baby and Daisy's portrait creation.

Leanne had me create a portrait of  Jimmy for a friend

Jimmy

 30 x 40cms image size

 framed Pastel

 She decided it was time to have her own dogs immortalized. With 4 of them we decided to do them credit and get each face a decent size a large portrait in Oil would be the best option. 

The portrait is a 35 cm x 1260cms Oil on gallery wrap Canvas that can be hung as is without framing. Here is the finished portrait with me to show you the size.

The first step was to obtain photos of the dogs. 

Leanne is a good photographer so she took some candid shots but she wasn't happy with all of them all so I came and took some extra ones.

We selected the favourite photos  and then had to fine tune those down to the ones that would look good together in a portrait.This took a while and much back and forth emailing but it is the most important stage.

Once we had selected them I knew the portrait would be a good one as the photos were flattering and nicely lit and showed each dogs personality well.

Here is the final chosen mockup using the selected photos.This is used for the general design and position I would create a background to suit as I painted the portrait.

Sketches were done of each dog and sent through and approved and then I drew the four of them up onto the canvas I had made. Now to do the acrylic underpainting!

 Although the colours look radical and won't show a lot in the finished portrait they are actually carefully chosen to best enhance the final result.

Early stages - you can see the size of the portrait by the A4 reference photos I have along the top.

The early stages of Zuzie and Gidget.I have a lot of fun at this stage as things don't have to be that accurate although I need to get a likeness of each dog. You can see the tape I used over the top corners. Once I had a finished portrait fall face forward into my wet palette- Argh!!!!!!! I now make sure that won't happen again by using tape as a backup..lol's

 Now I go back and start painting each dog in Oil. Here's the early stages of Baby.I haven't done any final background colours yet. I'll wait till  they are all their final colours and then decide.

 I actually painted each dogs eyes and nose first as they are what really gives them personality and brings the portrait to life . Technically they should be the  final touches thing I do but I like to see how things are going early on and it gets me enthused.

Here Baby is roughly painted in Oil. You can see all their eyes and mouths are done. The paintings can look funny at different stages but I know what will happen and how it all comes together.

Gidget  and Baby roughly painted in Oil.

Early stages of Zuzie.It's funny I thought that as she isn't as colourful as the others I would have more trouble making her stand out but I really had a ball doing her coat!

 It's often the way - the pets I think will be hard to paint are easy and the ones I thought would be a breeze take ages!

Here I have 3 roughly done and am now starting on Daisy - RHS. You can see my Palette where I mix all the paints in the foreground and my brushes RHS.

Starting On Daisy

Bit further along - here I've started on background colours as well.

The finished portrait ( actually I've done a bit of fine tuning to some of them since this was 

 taken.)

Zuzie

Gidget

Baby

Daisy

An update on the large torso in Oil

This is where I was at before. I'd underpainted the torso in blue acrylic.

Much as I liked it the specifications for the commission are for a colourful contemporary painting so the next stages were to add Oil colour over the top.

Below - I've covered a fair bit of the painting. I really like the face so I've decided to keep it blue. This also opens it up to a more contemporary look as it obviously won't be realistic! I'm thinking it's a bit boring at the moment too much orange.I want a variety of colours.It's challenging as it's a large painting and I only have a small studio.When I stand back in the studio to access colour impact it looks great but when I get further back it loses impact as your eyes blend the colours more. I suppose I have to decide on a probable viewing distance and plan for best impact from that distance.

Below -  A bit further along - I've put thick spirals of yellow / cream Oil on the right chest so it is featured at the moment.I'll even things out more as I go along but I don't want to reduce the impact. I want this painting to have zap!

 It has been commissioned by a chiropractor and will be in her office for a while so I want it to be believable but really exciting. As it is a big painting it will have impact.

Above - I actually quite like it here but have decided to add more greens and blues to the LHS which will give a bit more 3D and bring out the RHS more.

Above - mmm in a photo it looks like I've gone backwards with this idea but I think in the flesh it hangs together better. 

 I've redone the LHS with greens and blues and been a bit more careful to fix the anatomy. I've also reduced the thickness of the right arm ( held up) as it was too wide.

It's a tricky business painting a colourful portrait. If you get the tones( light, mid and dark) correct theoretically you can use any colour and get a convincing result. Colours also recede or come forward depending on whether they are warm or cool so that has to be taken into account too to get convincing form. It's a bit of a juggling act. If I didn't want the figure to be 3Dish I could use colours with more abandon.There's a lot of thought and experimentation required to do a portrait like this- much harder than just using pinks and creams.

I'm going to let it dry a little and then come back and put more reds and yellows on the greeny side. The hard part is going to be bringing it all together as a whole while having impact + having a bit of  3D. I think it needs some more of the light blues etc from the face through the LHS too.

I'll sit on it for a while until I know what it needs.It's a on a wall in the hall where I can see it everyday and evaluate things.

Cass- Here's a horse memorial portrait with reference photo so you can see how much more alive the portrait is than the original photo

I have never met your pet or loved one so your photos are the only way I have of getting to know them and creating your memories. The better the photos the better the portrait!

 I can accentuate any character in a photo but I can’t make a sad photo happy .

When you or your pet ‘smiles’ their whole face change shape – the face becomes shorter and wider , their eyes change shape and close up and their mouth obviously changes shape. If I just make a smile with the mouth without changing everything else it will look unnatural and creepy..lol’s.

 Without a photo to show me how their face changes shape I am only guessing and I won’t be able to make it look like your pet. So a happy flattering photo is best.

Ideally your photos will be sharp , nicely lit and exposed and with your pet happy and showing  some of it’s pet’s character.

Generally though that’s not the case and I do the best I can with the photos I receive.

I always tell people ‘ Take heaps of closeup sharp photos of your pets when they are alive! even if you never get a portrait created at least you will have some nice photos of them. Often people only realise they don’t have any sharp or flattering photos of their pet after it has passed away and they need a memorial portrait created. I can create portraits using less than perfect photos especially if we  have other sharper ones from a similar angle – they don’t need to be as flattering as your favourite – I can use them to help me with face structure and nose and eye details.

 Although I don’t include every detail in your portrait I need to be able to see the structure of your pets face and if we have the eyes and nose sharp I can use the photo to let me give the little accents that really bring your pet to life! Whereas a photo shows everything in equal detail I choose to only accent the important things in your portrait to bring your subject to life and bring back the connection.

 ‘ A photo freezes a moment while a painting melts hearts!

Cass’s head is distorted in this photo. His nose is too large. When taking photos of horses don’t get too close or you will get the big head effect. You also need to stand in the centre of their body with them parallel to you if you are taking a full body pose. If you stand with them crooked with one end closer to the camera it will come out too big for the rest of the body. Sometimes it’s not easy to tell that a pets face isn’t normal. Luckily I had taken some other photos of Cass so realised this wasn’t normal. I reduced the size of his nose in the portrait and created a neck that was hidden under the rug. Ideally he would have had his neck showing in the photo.

 Don’t worry about background distractions I can remove those.

 Cass

30 x 40cms 

 Oil on gallery wrap canvas 

Cass’s portrait minus big nose and rug!

‘Hi Sue,

I just wanted to let you know I received Cass yesterday. I am very pleased, it is so lifelike and like him.

You certainly are gifted.

 Mum loves the portrait. There were lots of tears, but we all agree it’s a great likeness. ‘

—Leslee

Why my portraits capture your pet better than any photo.

I'm painting the 4 dog portrait.
It's going to be a stunner when it's finished. Each face is 35cms high and almost the same wide .I have some great photos to improve on - they are sharp, nicely lit ,and show a bit of each dogs personality. I can always enhance a photo but photos like this really help!
Although I can create portraits from a wide range of photos I can still improve on professional photographers photos and you'll get the best portrait from something like that.I will enhance only the areas that are important .
A photo, even with a blurred background, just shows everything with similar importance.
Your eye doesn't see like that- it dwells on the things that are important to you and the rest is peripheral.That's why you often get excited , take a photo, and then when you view the photo it just hasn't captured your pet!
In your portrait I enhance the important things - expression , eyes colour etc . Once again they are what you notice- the excitement is back!

 The original reference photo

 

The completed portrait. 

See how much more feeling there is now.

A photo freezes a moment while a painting melts hearts!

I'm about to start painting Daisy the RH dog in the portrait.This is going to be a challenge as the canvas is really wide and she is over the top of my bench where I have my brushes etc so she will be hard to get at.Usually I can move the canvas across to help but I can't here.Oh well time to start!

The coldest morning of the year so far

Minus 4 the morning these were taken. Frost all the way up the hill.