I haven’t posted in so long I’ve almost forgotten how to do it! But I figured it out. Time to catch up on some of the paintings I’ve done recently. This was so much fun, a darling little boy who held on to the cute toy airplane. (The toy airplane even has a name, Dusty Crophopper, from a movie . . . I think by the same name. Anyway, my kids are too big for me to know this stuff.) Back to what I do know . . . I loved painting his blonde hair, lots of chunky paint that I just left alone. And see all that green in his hair? Lots of reflected light from the green background. Blonde hair is mostly green anyway, sounds crazy but it’s true.
This portrait was commissioned by this cuties grandmother who always gives me lots of artistic freedom. Pretty much a dream client. We let her grandchildren have fun and do what they want and it always works, I always get a photo that captures their personality. My client, and now friend, let’s me make paintings full of energy and color. This child is happy so I used a bright happy background to go with his smile.
Below is a close up, you can see the thick paint I used for the hair. And one of my favorite things about this portrait is how the light shines through the upper part of his ear on our right. That somehow gives the shadow side of his face a touch of life. The shirt was a lot of fun to paint too. It was fun using thick paint and not just plain old “brown” but greens and oranges in that shirt. And last but not least that airplane was a blast to paint. Painting the little details of an airplane is when I can really get into the zone. It’s meditative. It’s the bigger picture, basically ALL the other stuff, that takes work! I have to balance not getting too detailed with showing enough information, especially in a portrait.
Pure joy painting this one!
