Daisy and Chase

Daisy & Chase

7x14 oil on canvas

(click on photo to enlarge)

This was another fun commission for a birthday surprise gift for my client's friend.  Daisy and Chase seem inseparable in the set of photos I was forwarded  so I wanted to convey that they were "best buds".

Pretty Petunia

"Petunia"

8x8 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

I've been fortunate to have been working on several commissions. Here is a kitty that I painted based a forwarded cell phone photo. The client wanted the square format but this slender kitty didn't fill the canvas so I surrounded her with blossoms of her namesake.

My first International Commission!

"Lambretta"

24x24

oil on canvas

I had a client contact me via the FineArtAmerica.com website. He was looking at my vespa series and was wondering if I had any larger paintings for a certain wall he had in mind. I told him I could work with him in painting something specifically for him. He liked the 24x24 size and was wondering if I could include a "Mod" guy in with the a certain model Vespa, the Lambretta. I drew this sketch as an initial idea:

He was okay with it, but during the night I came across a photo of a man in a mod Nehru jacket, [anyone under 40 will not know about Nehru jackets and love beads] and he was leaning against a Bentley. I submitted this sketch and he likes this pose better:
The photo reference had the man leaning face on with his arms at his sides. I asked my son's friend to pose for me:
Which resulted in this nearly done painting I submitted to the client:
Well as you can see from the end painting, the client changed his mind on the "mod" attire and wanted a more up to date look. He gave his final approval for the finished painting: *phew* and as soon as it drys a few more days, I hope to get it on its way to Belfast, Ireland.

Why did the Chicken....II

9x12 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Some of you who have been viewing my posts for a while may remember my first chicken crossing the road. [ click HERE to view the post] Well someone who had view this first version on FineArtAmerica.com wanted to buy the original. I realized I committed an awful faux pas because I no longer had the original and had not updated my web page. She allowed me to paint another version a little bigger and I thought better and she was under no obligation to buy.

Fortunately she loved this version and said she had been looking for the perfect present for her sister's 50th birthday. I had to ask of course....why the chicken? She explained that her sister loves chickens and her life motto is "forward progress" and she thought the sprinting chicken represented that attitude. The client also thinks the fact that I am retired Law Enforcement would add to her sister's delight because she also loves crime dramas. The client was kind enough to share that she had worked for the Art Institute in Chicago in the 20th Century Department and later became a graphic artist so imagine my delight when she emailed me to say the painting was even more beautiful in person.

This is half of the reason I have been away from my blog. The other half is another commission I've been working on for the past several weeks that I'll tell you about in my next post. Love to all!

Challenging commission

So you have a client who wants this pose....

but to make sure it's in the right colors...

It takes you much longer than you expect because of the larger size and now you hope that she is happy with the result.

Mina: 16x20 oil on canvas board.

Commission Piece for Anniversary

This was commissioned by a now blogger friend who found me in Etsy.  Valerie Cesari and hubby were going to  celebrate their first anniversary this month and she asked to to do a painting of an image she had for her present to her handsome hubby.

She was a delight to work with and we together came up with this 8x10 watercolor on Fredrix board.  The beetles represent the couple with their respretive Alma Maters on their backs.

Challenging Commission

I was delighted to have been asked by my contact from the SPCA to do a commission for an employee.  She sent a Jpeg of the lady and her favorite cat I am assuming.

I emailed her back and asked her if she wanted any particular color for the background or if she wanted to have her shirt black and if the price of $50 was okay for a 6x8.  [I know it's low but I'm giving the employees a good price]

She emailed back and said she would get back to me.

I started on just the form because I thought it would be challenging with the two subjects.  Then like some projects, I kept going back to it all the while waiting to hear from the employee.  Well the gal went on vacation and I went ahead and finished it.   I guess I can always change it right?

I know, I know, next time I'll ask for a direct contact number so I can work with them directly.  I'm still learning!

So...

No big commission from yesterday but I did get some more cat food for a 'pleine air' commission for another shop employee.  She want a painting for her daughter's birthday present in May.

She gave me two photo references.  One was in a frame with a collage of images you see a bit of on the right.  She then gave me a B&W photo of the pose she wanted to have the dogs in.  Mind you, the heads in the photo were about the size of a nickel.

Business was slow anyway because there was a Civil War reenactment occurring down the street.  She wanted a bigger canvas so I drove home (15 minute round trip) and got an 11x14 canvas board.

I then spent the remaining time I had for my "Meet the artist" event painting inside the store.  [about 2 and a half hours]

Sorry about the quality of the photo but I forgot my camera and used my phone to capture the images so I could leave the painting with her.

That was it!  I got several inquiries and we'll see if that results in anything.  HUGS! Oh, reminder.. contest ends tomorrow...

First Pet Depot Commission

So I've let you know every step of my trying to make this art thing a new career.  Here's my first commission through the Pet Supply Store.

The customer read an email from the store and brought her daughter and several photos of the pooches she wanted a painting of.  These dogs [Rocky the Bichon and Louie the Dachshund] were her husband's babies.  She wanted to give him a painting for his birthday on April 4.

She had seen the sample of the Bichon I had displayed at the store and liked the style.

So you see one of three photos she had for me already bless her heart.  The other two were a photo of Rocky without his fluffy fur in his eyes and a closer photo of Louie.  I asked what color background she wanted and she said she really like the blue in my sample.  I told her I would send her a jpeg to make sure I was going in the right direction and another jpeg for the final painting.

I sent her the first image of the painting to make sure the composition was okay.  I sent it a day after we met and she said she thought I was almost finished because she thought I had already captured their personality.

I was unhappy with all that space on the left of Louie so I thought I would break it up with grass and because the customer and her daughter were obviously the masterminds on this I called and asked if it was okay if I painted ladybugs to represent them.  I also asked what kind of toys Rocky and Louie liked to play with so I could fill in some of the open spaces.

They sent me photos through the email of Rocky's lamb, Louie's ball and a toy they played tug-a-war with.  They also asked if I would paint bumble bees to indicate here husband and her son.

The first rendition had bumble bees hovering over Louie's head.  If anyone remembers the Saturday Night Live skit with John Belushi as a rebel bumblebee you would know how silly they looked.  Of course they were not happy with this and I changed it to the final rendition that they were satisfied with.  

I'm sure I brought on most of these snags on myself.  Any advice from seasoned commission artists is truly appreciated.

11x14 oil on gallery wrapped canvas

My day at Nicia's Pet Depot

As the folks who have been following my blog for the past couple of months, you know I'm still transitioning from flatfoot to fine artist.  On top of these being not the best times for artists everywhere because of the economy, I really felt I was swimming up stream with lead weights tied to my feet.

My friends also know I try to think of innovative ways to get my art noticed because I don't know better.  Some of them work and some of them fall flat on their face.  This idea worked out better than I thought.

On a whim, I approached a smaller neighborhood pet supply store owner and ask if we could work together by the store having their own artist to provide customers with portraits of their pets.  After discussing it with the owner and working out what services I would offer, I also asked if she wanted to host a "meet the artist" day.  

I brought in samples of my work, painted their favorite store cockatiel and the owner did the rest.  She wrote a press release, emailed her customers and arranged to have refreshments during my time at the store today.  It was not a busy day for either the store or me but I did get one commission (yay) and while I was at my table I was painting the store clerks dogs.  That's Kimi with her owner to  the left of the painting.  The clerks didn't have to pay me anything but they insisted on buying me bags of cat food (for Meatball and Sami) and kitty litter.  I also had a couple of inquiries from customers that might lead up to a couple of other commissions.  The store owner liked the experience so much, she wants to hold an event like this every month.

If you're interested in trying something like this, email me and I can get into more specifics on how to approach and work the a store in helping sell your work.