Portrait of Maggie

[blackmare]

Portrait of Maggie, 24 x 24" oil on canvas. Finished 12/23/10. Maggie's owner utterly adores her, and so the owner's daughter commissioned this portrait as a Christmas gift. I can't wait to hear back after he sees it tomorrow.

And this is the photo I was working from:

I've sized down both images for DW use, so it wasn't THAT tiny, but the diffuse cloudy-day light and the lack of detail were still challenging. The line of wind-break trees in the painting was the client's idea; it's a common feature on farms in this area. I'm very glad she suggested it, because once I figured out how to make it work, it added so much to the painting.

I had a really TIGHT deadline on this, so drying time was a big issue. I used pure Liquin for my medium, but also was forced to resort to desperate measures. Involving an oven set to 170º (its lowest setting), with the door left wide open and the painting put in for about 5 minutes at a time. Very very effective, but dangerous and requiring close attention.

 

Comments

[foxfirefey]

Aw, you did such a nice job with this. They're going to love it.