This post is going to have everyone thinking of the holidays and it's much to early for that however here is a pet portrait I just finished of a cute little West Highland Terrier named Frasier. The drawing is 11x14" done in colored pencil on charcoal gray Canson Mi Tientes paper. It is exactly the pose my customer wanted, she also chose the winter or holiday themed scarf and wanted pine trees in the background. Fortunately she gave me several good photos to work from, although this pose wouldn't have been my first choice. Commission work can be tricky because the artist is drawing or painting the customer's ideas and impressions and not the artist's own. It can often take me a while to mentally get into the drawing I've been asked to do and to put it down on paper as the owner sees her dog. I find that it always helps to talk in length to a customer about his/her dog and also to meet the dog in person and understand a little about the dog's personality. I feel as if I did okay with this piece but I do see a few areas that could be improved upon. Of course I'm not going to point them out to my readers!
4 comments:
Frasier looks very cute (and warm in his Christmas scarf)!!
Know just what you mean about trying to portray the dog as seen/remembered by the owner. It would be nice to think we (as artists) had been selected because the client likes the way we interpret photos and our style of working (but all too often experience has proved this isn't the case) LOL.
Your client will be delighted with Frasier, his personality shines through. I can see why she wanted the scarf, it is lovely. Looks like a difficult pose to render. Lucky you! Sue's comment made me smile. Glad you could accommodate with the required pine trees. :-)
Thank you both for the comments. Frasier's owner loved the framed piece, she's going to hang it in her bedroom where she can see it every morning when she wakes up, along with the real Frasier!
What a beautiful portrait.
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