Blog

It is always an honor to be asked to participate in a project that will be presented as a gift to a loved one. A commissioned piece can be challenging and a little complicated when balancing the needs of the client and my needs as an Artist. I love working with a client who participates in the process but also trusts and believes in what I do as an Artist.

My approach to this piece was going out to the location and taking photos based on the needs of the client and what was of interest to me. I took hundreds of photos in the couple of hours I had been on location. This can be challenging if it is further away and I only have a few hours to try and capture what I need.

I always enjoy doing a few studies especially when I am trying to capture the specific anatomy of something in particular. John sent me some beautiful photos of his own for me to study from. After talking with John about what he would like to see in the piece, I came up with a small study to give him an idea of what it might look like. After the initial small study, we talked about what more we could do with the piece which then allowed me to do a drawing the size of the painting so that he could see what that would look like.  After the go-ahead, the painting process began.

The finishing of the piece needed a little more time than was originally agreed upon and I am grateful that I had that opportunity to get the piece to the point where I was satisfied that it was indeed finished. The delivery is always a little stressful for me because I want and hope it is everything the client is hoping for. When it is, I am very grateful.