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!









  
                                                                                      
                                                                      
     

 

BLACK ROCK SANDS - step by step watercolour of landscape

Black Rock Sands, Wales
Transparent watercolour on archival paper
36 x 29.5 cm.
14 x 11.5 in.
Available for purchase

My value sketch

Masked lines of foam under rocks at right.  Painted blue sky first wet-in-wet with cobalt and phthalo. blue. Sand and rocks started w/w with quin. burnt orange, quin. pink and cobalt blue.

Clouds done w/w with mix of aureolin, quin. pink and cobalt blue. Initial washes on rocks using mixture of orange, violet and indanthrone.

Mostly done, but still looked somewhat bland ...

... so I deepened clouds, darkened rocks' shadows and did a w/w application of indanthrone, violet and orange. I think it adds some lovely depth to the work.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the painting evolve, and thank you for dropping by!

A VERY DRAMATIC SKY - watercolour step by step

I did a fairly detailed [for me] value sketch.

First wet-in-wet washes. Sky - a bit of aureolin. Beach - a mixture of quin. burnt orange and cobalt blue. 

A mixture of indanthrone, quin. burnt orange and quin. pink for the distant mountains.

Then the part that really makes the picture. I wet the sky twice, drying a bit in between, to keep the paper wetter for more time. I needed the extra time to play with the dark sky, adding more colour here, lifting there. The colours are again indanthrone, quin. burnt orange and quin. pink.

Finally I add the details of the waves to lead the eye to the focus on the lower right, and make the image actually look like a beach scene. I might have made the sky more imposing than it was in the photo, but then the painting IS about the sky. And the dark winter weather here has left me feeling somewhat "dark", too. I wish to thank Barb Thurgood for the use of here image of Black Rock Sands as reference. The painting is 8 1/2 x 14 inches framable.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

ARCHIE - WATERCOLOUR DOG PORTRAIT, STEP BY STEP

Drawing, bordered with some old mat board to give me an idea of how to format painting.

First thin w/w wash of quin. sienna.

More w/w washes, some dry brush with softening. Colours I used are my favourite animal colours - quin. burnt orange, quin. sienna, quin. violet and indanthrone - all Daniel Smith.

Just gradually building up layers of depth ...

Collar is a combination of phthalo. and cobalt blue. 

Archie is done, looking very adorable as do all dachshunds.

I am pleased with the painting but not with the circumstances surrounding it. I was commissioned to paint both the client's dogs in time for  them to be given to his wife-to-be as wedding gifts. Before I started, I made sure he knew the price, with and without framing, for both paintings. And I asked him several times before I started the painting whether he was SURE. Yes ... yes ...  I finished it, and asked if he would like it framed, and he asked the price. He felt framing was too expensive, and were there any alternatives. I explained prices for matting and/or putting in protective sleeve. And that was the last I heard from him! I am quite miffed, and consider his behaviour to be unprincipled, especially as he was one of the professionals working with me after my surgery. I would really like to be able to trust a client, but I think, in future, I must ask for a deposit before I start even a drawing. What are your thoughts on the matter?

Thank you for dropping by!

NINA [AKA - THE WEINER] - DOG PORTRAIT IN WATERCOLOUR - STEP BY STEP

Drawing of Miss Nina, my niece's dog

Spots on nose and eyes masked. First washes of yellow ochre and quin. burnt orange applied, some wet in wet, some wet on dry.

Collar painted in mix of phthalo. and cobalt blue. Starting eyes with usual w/w applications of quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone. 

Because she has such a shaggy coat, I decided to not paint her w/w, but rather by applying individual thin strokes of colour.

Tongue painted with quin. pink, and shaded in pink, quin. burnt orange and indanthrone. Continue to build up her coat with more thin applications of paint. 

... and more applications ...
Starting to look like Nina.

Here she is - finished. 

Photo I took of the Weiner when she was last out for a visit a few weeks ago.

My niece has had Nina for a year. She got her from a friend whose dog had pups, so they have been together from the beginning, and have formed a lovely relationship. As you can probably see from the photo, Nina is an exuberant dog, and has a beautiful nature. She is the only dog that Bruno [my horse] will tolerate. I think Nina feels Bruno is just a very big dog, and he appreciates it that she is quiet, and does not try to chase him. My dog, on the other hand, will try to stalk him like a border collie and nip at his feet. In her own weird way, I think my dog is trying to protect me. Anyway, that is the story of the portrait - I painted it as a gift for my niece's birthday.

Thank you for visiting!

A FEW ODDS AND ENDS IN WHICH I AM WORKING ...

No, I have not escaped to another planet, though with the way this one is heading, I am sorely tempted.

However, I am still drawing and painting and teaching a delightful watercolour class.

Meet Archie. He belongs to my kinesiologist who is helping me recuperate after hip replacement surgery. [Still doing well - even rode Bruno on Monday!!!] With Archie, I think I will do a bit more shadowing, then decide on format and background colours.

This is Archie's best friend, Brody. He also needs more shading ... then onto painting.

Quickie sketch for Thursday's class. The ladies wanted trees, rocky shore and colourful sky. 

This was all done wet-in-wet.

I also surprised myself, drawing and painting this image of Howe Sound ... in under 10 minutes!!! I am a notoriously slow and fussy painter, and I must admit I was quite pleased with how this turned out. The water has a bit too much pink, but other than that, I am happy.

And I am still plodding along with 2 poured watercolours. This is my model - Griswold, the Gargoyle. One of my riding buddies gave him to me years ago. I have a feeling it may be a reflection of how she saw me most of the time!

That's it for now. I have the two dog portraits to get finished, and another of my niece's sweet and exuberant dog, Nina. She is the only dog that has been here that gets along with Bruno, and he accepts her. It's lovely to see them together.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME - a step-by-step watercolour and some odds and sods

I thought, at the time, a botanical would be nice to do ...

... so I started working on a hydrangea.

Little did I appreciate what a stinker it would be to draw and paint! Mostly done wet-in-wet with some wet-on-dry with softening. Petals are quin. pink, cobalt blue, leaf green and phthalo. green. Leaves are leaf green, phthalo. green, quin. gold, quin. burnt orange and indanthrone.

Had fun doing the leaves though.

The blossoms just seem to be overwhelmed by the foliage. I thought of putting a loose greenish wash around the flowers, but I reached the point where I just wanted it done. No more nit-picking!

DONE
8.5 x 10.5 in.

Hmmm ... didn't realize this was sideways till it was on the page here, and I can't change it. However, it is just some fooling around, trying out techniques to create some credible-looking fog for a future painting.

From a recent class - we were painting birds, and I demonstrated some techniques to create different impressions of texture.

More playing with texture. I wanted  a faster, easier way to give the look of feathers. These above look much too contrived.

Pardon the vignette appearance - I was playing around with modes   in the photo-edit. It turned out that the wet-in-wet technique gave me the best results. It gave me a realistic impression of feathers without looking like I'd had my nose on the board painting each and every feather. This is not finished yet.

So I've been doing a bit of painting. But mostly I have been loving being able to MOVE again! It's been just over 11 weeks since my hip replacement, and I feel good. I can walk with the dogs for about an hour [hiking will come soon]. I am taking care of Bruno again - feeding, mucking out, grooming, and started lungeing him over the past week. I try to pace myself, as my endurance is still not fully recovered, but it's hard when I see all those weeds in the field needing to be removed, the electric fence needing re-wiring, eaves troughs ... neverending. But I love it - I feel alive again!!!

I appreciate your visit!