Very Personal Commission - Fini

Of course each commission we do is personal. 

This one is more so. 

Because of the relationship, the requests, the colors, the feeling ... the ease.

 

This is the painting at last post. The white-ish foreground too bright.

With the bright and green tones scaled down

and seen through a light grayish tint ... 

 the original background still resonates.

Why wasn't there a shadow by the nectarine painting? 

Ok, much better.

For Karen    oil on panel   12 x 8 inches

What does it mean, say the words, that the earth is so beautiful? 

And what shall I do about it? 

What is the gift that I should bring to the world? What is the life that I should live? 

 - Mary Oliver

(Thank you Karen!)

VPC - 3

The surprising thing (for me)

 was that the painting needed to have one of the books be a tall one. 

Different than my own painting that I was "copying" 

- this one:

The composition is a little different. So, the last book is taller, poppies now have some color:

A couple of petals fell.

This is how it looked on the easel. Notes everywhere. 

At this point I showed my patron the painting and she thought - and rightly so, 

that there was too much green in the back and foreground. So I began messing with it.

(But she loved the books!)

The photo below shows a piece of acetate film clipped to the panel -

 I tried a new color by painting over it, finding it was much too light in the foreground ...

... even when trying a shadow.

So, I tried a different color over the top 

and it seemed to work so I went for it. 

Next post will be the last, and I will have the frame finished as well.

 Thank you very much for hanging with me!

 

VPC - 2

Day 2 of my painting commission (VPC = very personal commission) -

This photo is where I sketched into a layer of beige-y paint. 

I liked the lines in the paint.

Adding color to those ghostly shapes. Oh and I must mention 

that one of the things the painting had to include, was the image 

(a kind of trompe l'oeil) of a painting 

already hanging on her kitchen wall -

- the nectarines from day 18 in my project

 "30 Paintings in 30 Days - Stuff in My Refrigerator, Sept 2014"

Click the link to go to that blog date ... or, here they are:

 

Can't believe I remembered to take progress shots. 

A surprising thing happened in the next stage.

Stay tuned!

and thank you for checking in!

VPC

I just finished a VPC - Very Personal Commission -

personal for my patron, and for me!

(the following several posts will be sharing my thoughts

 and photos of the painting progression)

 

It was such an honor to paint such a painting. I thought long and hard about it ... 

mostly after this initial sketch:

My patron 

(I am delighted to title her this because she has three! of my original oil paintings in her home!) wanted to round out 

a little gallery wall of paintings in her kitchen with this small painting.

We decided on 12 x 8 inches with a small, Matt Robus-handmade frame. 

She mentioned she did like this painting -

Still Life with Hopper   14 x 11  oil on canvas

(posted HERE on April 28)

 

because of the blue vase, and the books and the slightly trompe l'oeil card in front of the books. 

(I had set this up in my studio and mainly because I love Edward Hopper, I "needed" to paint it.)

More about this commission next post.

Thanks for viewing!!