Recreating Art For Private Commission Last Part

Here we are in the final phase of recreating art for a private commission. First, I had to show the client what I decided to do with the sky and overall background. Their overall feeling was that it would not work with the style of décor that they had put together in their home. With the realization that this painting was going to pull the room together, we decided to go back the original dark sky colors of "American White Pelican."  

Along with that change, it was time to add additional layers of color to the foreground and pelican. Making small strokes of gray in the head and neck of the pelican helps break up the white. My hope was to add another layer of detail and realism. You will also notice black lines in the bill and feet.

Once all was said and done, the client gave me the go-ahead to add a layer of glaze to the painting. For that, I used a 2-inch brush and Golden polymer medium "Gloss". Then the medium was mixed with water to make a milky solution. To be sure this would do what I needed it to do, I decided to test this glaze out on an old canvas.



 The glaze worked as well as I felt it should. With that information, I slowly started making long strokes across the canvas. When the first coat was dry, I repeated this step but in the opposite direction. I used three coats of glaze and allowed for proper drying time. With that, "Also American White Pelican" was finished.

I would like to thank my friends Lyric Prince (http://www.lyricprince.com/) and Don Stephens (www.facebook.com/deesteezepro). Without the help of these two fantastic artists, I may have not gotten through this project with any kind of confidence.

So I present to you "Also American White Pelican". Thanks for reading!!







Recreating Art For Private Commissions Part 3

So it's been some time since I posted about the Audubon commission I was asked to do. I'm pleased to announce I'm in the final stages of painting. I also hope the client will be pleased with the changes that were made. More on that in part 4! For now let's go over what's been happening since December 2nd. 

The first thing was to lay down the first layers of paint in the foreground and background. If you look close, you can see how the warm gray paint coat is still showing through.

 

 Next was the same step with pelican. I hoped to get the colors and lines well enough established to not have to change too much later on. 

It seems silly now, but I decided to be a little drastic with this background. The client had not wanted the same dark colors as the original painting. So through some thinking we decided it would be interesting to try something new. As it turns out the client felt it was better to go back to the original style colors after all. More on that in part 4!

New Commissions

Here is a 11in x 14in pencil portrait I was commissioned to do it before the start of the year. It is always fun to do new portraits. Estimates for commissions are available upon request.

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Recreating Art For Private Commissions Part 2

So now I move on with part two of my Audubon re-creation commission. The client was pleased with my charcoal mock up of the pelican and the new tree lines. So with that I went out and purchased a 4ft x 4ft canvas and paints to begin the process.

Step one was to create a warm gray color to help set a specific tone on the canvas. I used white gesso, bone black, and burnt umber. Then I painted the canvas and allowed it to dry.

After an appropriate drying time I was able to start work again. The next stage was to outline the pelican, foreground, and background. This was done with my Prisma projector, 2 H pencil, and small photo copy of the original painting. The original picture was centered in the middle of the canvas and outlined. Then I drew in the newly created areas by hand. 

Then with 2H, 4H, and 8H pencils I filled in the the tonal value needed for this picture. This took a few days and many adjustments to get to where I needed to be. 

After all the tonal value was added and I was happy, then I took the canvas outside to use a clear coat to seal the drawing to the canvas. In my next installment I will show you the painting process. Thanks for reading! 

Recreating Art For Private Commissions

Recently I was asked to make a painting based on John James Audubon's (April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) American White Pelican. The original plate was CCCXI part of The Birds of America. The original is pictured below. I took this commission up as a challenge and an opportunity to try something new. It is fair to note this would not be a exact copy of the original. For instance, it will be a 4ft x 4ft painting in acrylic paint, instead of an oil painting in a rectangle shape. You may notice that in the original painting, the style of the pelican and the background are different. Audubon painted his own birds while another artist painted his backgrounds. Just another challenge. 

First challenge was to make a rough mock up drawing. I had to make a 3ft x 3ft charcoal drawing. In this drawing I had to create tree lines, shore line, and sky lines that connect to the lines in the original painting. Then make approximate rendering of the pelican. After that was done, I took the mock up to the client for approval to start the painting.

So Close I Can Taste It!

Hello again followers! I am very close to being done with this project. As you can see I able to layer hair with 4b and 6b pencils, then smooth and reapply pencil to create a layered affect. After that I erased to create highlights in the hair. Also I darkened areas between the bodies with 4b pencils. Now I will show the client and make a few minor adjustments!