Commission Completed

Hunt and Peck, 24x24, oil on linen

I finished up this commissioned painting this week. It is a larger version of a painting I did a few years ago after a trip to the Gulf Coast of Florida. That painting can be seen here and is still available. (a side note: pulling in the link it was posted almost exactly 2 years ago to the date!)  The client had seen the original painting posted on The Cherry Creek Art Gallery website and loved everything about it but its size. She really wanted a bigger painting for the space she had in mind. It has been fun to enlarge and revise it. This is the first time I have ever done a larger version of a studio painting by request. Much easier on me than a commission when you are doing a specific request for a client.

For a commissioned work I ask half the fee up front and then the rest upon completion. This client has approved the painting so it is now awaiting varnish. White paint can take a few weeks to dry even in the dry winter conditions we are having.  

You can't really see it in this image but I did lots of layering of color in the water that should add depth and interest once it is varnished.

Stormy III or Stormy Napping - cat portrait

Stormy Napping, 9x12, oil

The comment I received from Stormy's owner when I sent him an image for final approval of #3 was:

Purrrrfect!!! She looks so "Stormy" like! That's our kitten who just had her 13th birthday You do such lovely work Victoria!

Can't get much better than that. It is nice to have satisfied customers. I stopped doing pet portraits years ago after one client had so many little tweaks. She was finally satisfied but I was done with that.

To keep with the other two portraits (https://victoriasart.blogspot.com/2019/10/stormy-ii-cat-portrait.html and https://victoriasart.blogspot.com/2019/10/pet-portrait-1-stormy-outside.html) I found an old 9x12 plein air painting from 2008 to paint over. It was a path leading into a dark grove of trees with some tall grasses catching the light. I turned it upside down to start this painting. I drew in white chalk a basic outline. I decided to paint in the background to get rid of distractions and start my building blocks. I liked the strong texture coming through from the path of the painting underneath for the background. Interestingly enough, the wall in the photo was an old textured plaster wall. I recognized it as I have the same in my house.

Blockin start

Next, I started with the bigger shapes of the cat and outlined the blanket folds. I did like the green coming through, as I own a green plaid blanket and it seemed apropos with it already laid in so nicely!

Alas, it was not a green plaid blanket Stormy slept on. Never having to paint plaid before I think that intimidated me more than anything else. So, go to the trusty shape thing and don't worry about what it actually is. The owner doesn't seem to mind that it isn't a perfect rendition of the blanket but is of Stormy. A man who has his priorities straight!

I did have fun doing these pet portraits. I like doing cats, I have decided. A shout out of thanks to The Whole Cat & Dogs too for the referral. They have been amazing in promoting me to their customers. Stop by and see them when you are on Old South Pearl Street

Pet Portrait #1 Stormy Outside

Stormy I, 8x8, oil on linen panel

I was recently commissioned to do three portraits of this lovely cat, Stormy. This particular painting Stormy was outside. I have not met this cat yet.

Starting out, I grabbed an old plein air painting, for which I do not have a photo, but I think you can tell it was in fall and the trees are reflected in the lake. This painting is from Washington Park, south lake facing south. Not one of my better paintings...ie no great loss and is now better used.

My initial block in. Starting with larger shapes and breaking down into smaller shapes.

The owner is very happy with this portrait, so that means a job well done.

Three Value Study

9x12, oil on panel

In preparation for doing a local tone painting, I did this study using three value groups. To do this you can have variety of color but only one light value, one medium value and one dark value. So my dark value is the black and the browns.There is a little glare on this painting so some of the darks don't look as dark as they are. The medium group is the largest group and it is the grass and the barn itself. I used yellow green at the top left side of the hill down to a blue green where it hits the fence, but it is all in one value if you squint down. On the barn, to keep it from feeling too flat, I add blues to gray the reds down on the "shadow" side, yet kept it in the same value as the front, which is a richer red. The light group would be the sky and the roof and the sheep in the field. The roof is a greener gray and the texture I used also helps to differentiate it from the sky, which has more blue in it. But again, if you squint you will see how they merge into one value. This was a fun exercise and has me primed for the next painting, which will be local tone. Stay tuned.

Gray-scale showing three value groups, light, medium and dark

This barn was a "drive by" as I was traveling with my aunt through North Carolina. We were leaving the Smokey Mountains and starting to head East towards Raleigh//Durham. The road was amazingly narrow, rolling and curvy. Luckily, I was not driving at the time so I was able to hang my head out of the window trying to snap some photos as we whizzed by.

Oliver the Cat

Here are two paintings I did last month of a cat named Oliver. The square one (12”x12”) was done as a commission and the seated Oliver (8”x10”) was done just because I wanted to. A realtor commissioned the portrait after seeing a painting I had done for a friend of her cat, Magpie, also a black and white cat. I don’t normally like doing commissions, but this one was fun. Unfortunetly, the photo I took last night of Oliver sitting has too much light glare on his face, but the general idea is still there. His face is just as rich as his body.