Colored pencil commission takes a surprising tack.

This is a first!  While working out the composition for a full colored pencil commission , I sent a picture of the pencil sketch to my client.  She immediately shot an email back asking me to "STOP!"  She liked the pencil sketch so much, she wished to buy it as is. Of course I'll "clean" it up a bit before I let it go.  Here's the most recent photo.  I will continue to darken a little here and there and  brighten a highlight or two. The piece started out as a horizontal, but the client wanted  me to show pool water, so now it is square.  Interesting development, wouldn't you agree?

Graphite portraits, powerful and beautiful.

This triptych study of my daughter's cat Linus has had more Facebook shares and likes and pins than I ever imagined.  I did several cp paintings from the series of reference photos taken of Linus two from the graphite study. The graphite triptych sold to an extreme cat lover who set aside money from her limited retirement income for five months.   She was delighted to finally unwrap the framed piece after months of waiting.  As luck would have it,  I was at the gallery to witness the reveal.  It was a great moment for both of us.  Just a simple pencil drawing, but well loved.  These moments are what keep me on track. No matter the medium, if a portrait reaches into someone's heart, it is a success.

Graphite Study and decision making.

When I start a commission project, I often create a preliminary sketch. Here, my client provided several photographs, with lighting so interesting, we could not agree which was our favorite. Hence, the vertical triptych idea came to be. This drawing, though time consuming, was critical in making  compositional decisions. It also allowed practice rendering. And as much as I love the concept, the piece ended up too big for my client, who preferred to go with the central cat shown in the sketch. Good thing I didn't just jump into the project without exploring options first. Now I'm left with this 11x 28" graphite on watercolor paper, just waiting for a frame.  Should I make the investment?