THE HOW AND WHY OF A COMMISSION

I thought you might like to read about how a portrait commission comes to be - at least, my version of it. I love animals, and feel honoured to accept the work of creating a loving painting or drawing of your furry, hairy or feathered friend.

I am going to take you through the process of a commission I completed about a year ago. It was for a friend, and for me, a special request as it evolved into two paintings. She couldn't decide which one she loved the most. Also, I had asked Jess if she would write a testimonial for my art work. Her commentary was beautiful, and I am including it in this post. That largely answers the WHY part of the title.

I am going to digress a bit, and post some images. Jess' comments after the pictures gives more of an explanation.

Indy and Buddy

My sketch, often done with a grid if the image is complex and requires precision.

reference photo - Indy on the left, Buddy on the right

Buddy and Indy

sketch

The kids out in their paddock.

Hope

Hope's sketch

The beautiful mare herself.

Mocha

 

Misty


When starting, I collect visual and personal information. Generally, I work from photos - yours or mine. If possible, I like to visit the model. And I love to get the owner's input on personality, behaviour, quirks.

Always, throughout the process, I appreciate conversations with the person commissioning the work as to their expectations and wishes.

I do sketches in graphite, and then a more refined drawing of the image the client prefers.

With the painting itself, I like to take time and care.

The portrait is then shown to the client for approval. If they so desire, I arrange for the framing and shipping.

Here are the verbatim testimonials Jess sent to me ...

"Misty [the flea- bitten grey wonder pony/ unicorn/ angel]: Kathryn has such amazing talent. The painting of Misty is the first of many she has done for me. She brought Misty to life for me in watercolour and it amazes me every time I look at it! I hung it beside my bed so I can have Misty with me every day when I am away from home at work. Kathryn managed to capture the softness and love in Misty's eye perfectly.
[An aside - Jess lives in Alberta, but has been working in the Northwest Territories with the emergency services as a fire"man" or firewoman, if you prefer.]

"Mocha [the dark bay thoroughbred]: Kathryn did a painting of Mocha for me after she passed away. She has such an amazing ability to put the horse's personality and essence into her paintings. Mocha was a beautiful horse, but she wasn't very photogenic. There was always something missing in photographs, but Kathryn managed to capture her true nature in the painting. She puts so much effort into making sure she understands the horse and owner before starting, and it really shows in the final product!

"Hope [the orange chestnut mare]: I commissioned Kathryn to do a painting of my mom's horse after she passed away as a tribute, and Kathryn definitely delivered. I had very few pictures of Hope for her to work with, and she managed to take a couple of photos and make something stunning. My mom cried when she opened the painting and was so thankful.

"Buddy and Indy [the goofball gelding and the spitfire mare]: I asked Kathryn to do a painting of my two horses because she has always done such fantastic work for me in the past! She definitely delivered with not one, but two paintings that capture everything I love about the two goofballs. The detail and personality shine through and the colours are comforting and soft, but somehow vibrant at the same time. I can easily tell from the paintings which is my little spitfire mare and which is the big loveable oaf. It was impossible to choose which painting I loved most because they each showed such unique aspects of Indy and Buddy's personality and bond."

So there you have it ... a brief summary of how I create a commission, and the BIG WHY. I love to make people happy, and if I can do so with my art, I am most fortunate! I will often create a portrait simply for the joy of it, and give the work away. Though I must admit, the financial pressures of being retired in these times is becoming somewhat overwhelming.

If you or someone you know would love to commission a realistic and heartfelt portrait, please feel free to contact me for a chat.

Thank you all very much for your visit!









  
                                                                                      
                                                                      
     

 

GOING BATTY ... LITERALLY AND FIGURATIVELY

 This is the "figuratively" batty part of the title. Two weeks ago, I was outside in the dark, stumbled, and fell backward. Of course I tried to cushion my landing with my arm. Wrongo ... right now I'm thinking I would have been better off trying to land on my head. But then, I'm just really frustrated with the whole episode! But, onward ...

This is the first stage. I made bodies with crumpled newspaper [hard to find these days]. They were held together with masking tape, as were the wings. The wings were constructed of metal coat hangers [also hard to come by] and some used electric wire from the barn - usually run across the tops of fences to prevent the horses from nibbling on them.

Here's the smaller bat with the supporting armature completed. I started with a smaller model as I was unsure how well it would turn out. As it seemed to be going well, I started Big Bat.

Baby Bat had a 40 cm wingspan, Big Bat a bit over 80 cm.

This was the FUN part, getting all gloppy and messy, wetting strips of newspaper with flour/water glue, applying that to the armature, and starting to model the shape of the bat.

Standing on his head, drying. The paper mache was done, and I was staring to apply acrylic paint.

The hoary bats [a species widespread in North America] were pretty much finished, just waiting for some wire to hold them up for display.

The eyes were ball-shaped pin heads.

Here I was delivering  the boys to my friend. All those balls hanging above were paper mache lanterns, also made for the display.

All of this was for an event Christine was arranging. Until retiring, she had been an environmentalist with Environment Canada.  The event was organized to promote awareness and appreciation for the ecology of our area. The event was held at Campbell Valley Park, and under the auspices of the Little Campbell Watershed Society. 

The event was very well-received. It was so beautiful to see all the displays, pathways through the park lit by lanterns. The paper mache bats were much appreciated by the lovely couple manning the "bat booth". I decided to donate the bats to them, as they travel all over the province, educating the public about bats.

As for me, I really enjoyed getting back into paper mache again. Now back to painting, and being VERY thankful I did not break my painting hand!

Thank you very much for dropping by. I hope you enjoyed the post! Next time, maybe something about horses or paintings I'm working on ...