Working Solo

   I usually try to take photographs for my portrait commissions just near sunset. On this particular day, an unfortunate cloud happened by just as my
subject started to relax and cooperate with me. I got a great shot of the little girl, but the overall  temperature of the photograph felt more like October than July.
   No worries, for this is the wonderful part about oil painting. I can turn up the heat on the canvas by using warm highlights and cool shadows. I pushed the color here a little more than usual, but I love how it turned out.  Happily, so did my clients!

Reflection on Double Trouble

This commission is an oldie but a goodie. I met with this little family very early on a Saturday morning, before the beach crowd could overwhelm us. The quiet and the stillness of the morning was magical. You can see how still it was by noticing how clearly the children are reflected in the water.

At first I wasn't sure how to handle the reflection in the painting. I didn't want to paint it so accurately, that it competed with the actual subject of the painting, but at the same time, it was an important element of the composition. In the end, I loved the freedom involved with painting the reflection, enjoying the abstract quality it lent to an otherwise realistic portrait.