Commissions and reference material
Fun day today! I delivered a pet portrait commission. It’s very heartwarming for an artist to see a positive reception! It reminds me that this is what I want my art to ultimately do: add to people’s lives. I have my (loooonng) list of paintings and drawings that I want to do and have things about them I hope to say and express. With commissions, I need to understand what the client wants specifically. When it comes to their pet, it is important to figure out that animal a bit by listening to them talk about it, as well as the reference material. I can’t just make adjustments as I would a standard piece. I can’t change anything that would make the animal not look like him or herself. Reference photos become very important.
Usually, we will pick a main photo but I am learning to request more. This last piece required a better look at fur color but also another view to help clarify markings. There are ways to meld photos together but then it becomes even more important to be sure that the “conformation” of the animal is accurate. Changing backgrounds and adjusting lighting is not too difficult. Adjusting the actual structure of the critter, much harder!
I want to eventually be known as a top wildlife artist. I’m going to put this out there: I have a dream to be in the Jackson Hole Museum of Wildlife Art. To be at that level, it’s vital to be correct in animal structure and anatomy. A piece will never look lifelike if it’s not correct. While I want my paintings to look like paintings, I still want the animals and places depicted in them to be “right”.
Which brings me to my newest commission. I have a client with a new home in the mountains of North Carolina. She had a vision of a black bear painting. Because painting bears from life is not realistic, lol, we said a big thank you to generous photographers and scoured reference sources. We found a position we liked but the bear was actually a grizzly. Then we found a black bear face we liked (much sweeter expression!). So now I’ve begun the initial drawing of putting them together. I have started doing drawings before every painting to sort out values and possible issues before I begin delving into the actual painting. Sometimes they are a quick “thumbnails” but sometimes they have to be more detailed. For this one, I’m finding I need to compare paws and shapes of these different species to make sure the final product is correct. Then I also want to make sure some personality gets in there. I’m LOVING the challenge!
So if you are thinking about a commission of your pet or favorite animal, the reference material I would need are ones that include expression, lighting, markings and the pose that you like. They don’t have to be all in one! Sometimes, with long lost pets, this is difficult but I’ll always do the best that I can with what I have.