When I received a call from Kelly and Brett to do an oil portrait painting of their two young children, I was pleased to hear that they had seen my recently received portrait of their friends’ two children. Kelly invited me to their home to show me just where they wanted to hang it. It was a focal point on the side of their living room that was big enough to accommodate a large painting. With the neutral color scheme of the room, their request for one of my brown and white monochrome jobs was decidedly savvy. (I told you how they had become popular, didn’t I? That was a technique that developed into a salable item while I was painting the Mother and Baby portrait reported in the blog “Custom Oil Portrait: Mother & Child.”)
Kelly then showed me another very visible spot in their house that she would like to make utilize for another portrait—one of her 17-year-old son . She warned me that it might not be easy to corner him to sit for me (thank goodness it would only be for photographic references—imagine if he had to come over every afternoon for 2-3 hours for a couple of weeks!), because he might have other ideas, but I took the challenge.
We decided to go formal for the children, and polo shirt it for the teen. The little boy, 7, and little girl, 5, came to our photo studio in their Easter best. They listened well and the photoshoot was painless, if not fun. Grant, 17, came over at a different time when he could fit us into his busy schedule. He turned out to be quite the gentleman, even though it appeared that he thought the whole procedure a little weird.
I planned my painting schedule so that the two portraits would be finished at the same time. The parents and young kids came over for the unveiling in my studio. Everybody loved them. I heard Kelly say: “That’s beautiful! I love the way you do the eyes. They have a twinkle—just like in real life. Time has stopped—we have them captured now. I am so thrilled.” Even the children thought seeing themselves portrayed in the painting medium was cool.
Later on, after the portraits were hung, Kelly called to say, “My son
gave the ultimate compliment for a 17-year-old—he said, ‘Can I have that for my room?’” Of course it was a case of “Request Denied!”
Now, Fathers’ Day is coming up in about six weeks. In the oil portrait universe, this can be tight. But I have some creative ideas, so call, write, email—there’s always room for a little more beauty in this world, don’t you think? Till next time … here’s smiling at you.
Related Posts:
- Custom Oil Portrait: Mother & Child
- Children Oil Portraits: Beach Buddies
- Children Oil Portraits: The Skater
- Children Oil Portraits: The Trampoline Twins
- Portrait Oil Painting Technique Salutes Masters
- Children Oil Portraits: Two Little Angels
- Children Oil Portraits: Is there a best age to portrait children?
- Children Oil Portraits for Mother’s Day
- Portrait Oil Painting in Brown and White Tones
