In the case of the Blue Goddess, the model wasn’t available to me as she lived in another country.  In an effort to try to make the painting possible and to have a picture of the model that met my particular requirements, I sent her some tips so she could have someone helping her in taking her pictures. This ended up being a great test market to understand the potential complications of creating a commissioned portrait painting from a distance, without model availability.

This model (my brilliant niece) was skillful enough to take the pictures herself… one handed!

When the commissioned portrait was requested, she sent me a large number of images (saved in tiff format which is the format I recommend). From the pictures she sent me, I selected the one that I felt looked best for a commissioned painting – from a painter’s point of view, some angles look more interesting than others.

One thing to keep in mind is that a picture for a commissioned painting would not necessarily work as a picture to be printed or framed; as an artist, I look for contrast, unusual poses and artistic arrangements and, for now, I prefer empty backgrounds to emphasize the face.

I manipulated the image in Photoshop, enhanced contrast and saved it in both color and black and white. I printed the color and black and white images to look for tones, contrasts and other nuances of the subject - the black and white image is typically the most useful to me (Figure 1).

 

 

 

On an acetate sheet (transparency), I drew the lines from the picture that would serve as the basis for the painting (Figure 2).

 

 

 

Once the canvas was primed, a few coats of paint were applied to create a rough background. The paint used was diluted in gloss varnish to provide a transparent quality.  Brushes and painting knives were used to apply the paint on the canvas. The piece was allowed to dry.

I projected the lines from the acetate sheet onto the canvas with an overhead projector. This technique I learned some years ago from Velda Newman - Contemporary Quilt Artist (this is one of the many ways Velda Newman's books have inspired and helped me).  Using this method to transfer the drawing onto to canvas helps you be more accurate with the details.

With the projector on, I traced the lines on the canvas with thin paint and a fine brush. After the lines where dry, I started working with the colors (Figure 3).

 

 

 

Sometimes I leave the projector in the exact location (turned off) so I can re-hash the lines, if needed.

Creation of the commissioned portrait continues by adding colors to the face and other sections of the piece. Using transparent colors, the original rough background always shows through and I find that very interesting and attractive. I apply several transparent coats of paint to give the piece dimension and depth (Figure 4).

 

 

 

Throughout the creative process, I will ask myself the following questions:

• Does it look like the model?
• Are the colors working well together?
• Is there a particular spot that needs retouching or redoing?
• How much can I accentuate the contrast? (Figure 5).

 

 

 

I also take notes on the pictures printed on regular paper, draw on them, use whiteout to correct mistakes and add new lines if necessary.  All these corrections I do later on the canvas with paint.

If in my painting frenzy I deviate from the likeness (which is possible), I go back to the projection and see what has happened to the base idea. Sometimes I “delete” entire sections with gesso and start all over – this is not fun to do but the achieving a very close likeness is very important to me.

Every now and then I unify the painting with a coat of gloss varnish lightly tinted with a particular color.  It’s amazing how much this thin coat adds to the whole piece.

Once I feel the piece is completed, I sign it with a marker – black, gold, silver or white.  Note that I always add a heart in my signature and sometimes I hide one on the actual painting (can you find the heart on this goddess’ hair?)

After the painting and the signature dry, I apply a generous coat of gloss varnish and let it dry very well. God bless acrylics, they dry quite fast.  If you applied sections with thick paint (impasto) you should allow for extra drying time before varnishing.

So, the painting is done… I turn the piece facing down on a comforter on the floor so the painting doesn’t get damaged. My husband and I remove the staples…and so the Blue Goddess can be shipped to her final destination.

 

 

 

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