Sitting on the spot over several sessions was not an option, so we had a photo shoot at the clients home. It seemed like the best way to approach this was to do a few small color studies to work out a few ideas and present them to my clients so they could visualize what I thought would look good. We ended up taking a few things they liked best from two of the studies and combining them for the main pose with Buddy and the dog, Chico. The final painting is assembled from four or five reference photos plus the studies.
"Buddy and Chico" 40x30" oil, Frank Gardner © 2010
Private Collection
It is now the main painting above the mantel in a room with 10 other large paintings of mine that these clients have purchased over the past 14 years. It is the first time all of them have been assembled in one room and it's kind of cool to view them all together. I enjoyed seeing how my work and style has evolved over the years in the context of what these clients have selected for their home.
I'll try and take a few photos of the other paintings in the room next time I am out there.
15 comments:
What would be REALLY cool, too, Frank is to get a photo of the entire room with all of the paintings together!!
Well done, and congratulations on your "first" portrait!!
Is Erin's portrait going to go up there on the wall, too ??? (LOL)
Good job Frank! I would love to see this "private collection" one man show.
very nice !
Beautiful work-lovely sense of light, and personality of your subject and his dog. When you show the other paintings, can you speak about the changes your art has made over the years? It's always interesting to hear an artist describe his evolution.
Excellent Frank! You should feel great about this, I bet the clients love it.
really fabulous frank! i wouldn't guess this was your first big portrait. it's interesting to see you work much tighter than usual. really wonderful!! :] [had to remove the first comment... total typo!!!]
You nailed it, Frank! Buddy and his little friend really look at home sitting there in the sunshine.
Quite a leap from landscape to portrait...but you landed great!
Very good portrait, congratulations!
Stunning. I love the way you worked in that big plant behind him. Powerful design. I also like that, even though it's a "posed" pose, has a formal element, it still feels relaxed, casual. Like a real person. The color harmony is awesome.
One would never guess you're a "beginner" at portraiture! ;-)
Thanks for the great comments everyone. I'm actually looking forward to doing some more portraits.
I'll try and put up a few pics of the whole room in the future.
I would love to see them all together, as well. This is a fabulous portrait. I particularly like the cactus in the background which is also very well done.
This is really beautiful. A timeless piece of work!
I love Buddy and Chico's painting. I'm sure they love it, too. ;-)
Paz
plus look at that setting, how wonderful
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