Family Portrait Commission - the daughter updated

Blogger has been having issues the past couple of days so please see link for image Portrait
Well I think the daughter's portrait is looking much better now :) It is a bit of a tough photo to work from as were the boys as the photos are a bit blurry and over flashed so alot of the shadows and features are washed out, but they are such great expressions! It really helps to have photoshop (or any other software to work with) so that the tonal values can be adjusted back and forth depending on where you are at in the drawing stage to exagerate the shadows. You can get the same effect from squinting, but this is much easier on the eyes ;) I will leave her for a bit and may come back and make minor tweaks along with the rest of the family.

Family Portrait Commission - Sketch and Reference Photo

This is the start of my latest commission. It is a sketch of the grandparents, father and children which will be a birthday gift for the father from a very nice friend. The artwork is 15 x 19 on a sheet of 16 x 20 Arches Hot Pressed watercolor paper.

The layout took a bit of reworking both by the client and myself and I think it was well worth the effort. It has a very nice flow which draws the eye from the father around the portrait to the other family members.

As this is a larger commission, I will start with the grandparents and work my way down from right to left, top to bottom, to the kids, house & then the father to avoid smuding and keep the drawing fresh. Generally each portrait is completed to roughly 90% before moving onto the next and then final adjustments and tweaks are made at the end. Time to jump in!

Framed Art in Exhibition Frames from Opus

I thought I would post some of my artwork in my new frames. I bought a bunch for an upcoming exhibit from Opus Art & Framing Store as they were nice and simple and were on sale which is very nice when buying so many at once.

I wanted something simple so as to not distract from the artwork and they looked ok at the store but once the double matt is inserted with the artwork they look really great! I am considering replacing artwork and photos in my home with these frames as well as they are super easy to change out the photo or artwork as the backs pop out easily with little clips. They can sit or are hung by a wire which attaches easily to the back.

Graphite & Charcoal Cat Portrait

This is the graphite sketch of a cat name Vartz that I have just started. It is a 50th Birthday gift for his person and it is a rush job so not sure how many posts I will do of him before he is finished due to the time. I darkened the graphite sketch so that it is easier to see online it is much lighter on the paper. I added more detail in the sketch than I usually do as he has so many stripes in his fur and the photo is a little dark so I don't want to get lost as I go.