Commission Work Finished !!

Several weeks ago I was asked if I would make a couple of paintings for a co-workers two daughters for Christmas. I was so excited because I feel like I'm still "finding my way" artistically, yet in the midst of this journey I'm creating things people really like!

The goal was to create a representation of each daughter incorporating their likes, hair/eye color, some personality, favorite color etc ...

I asked questions, looked at pictures and well ... started.  I had to crawl in to my childhood self and see the world through those eyes. THAT was the hardest part. I'm 32, an only child and have no kids. I had to look at pictures of myself as a kid, to get into that mentality again. :)

Here is the first one I did. She is a flute player, loves the out-doors, likes teal and lime green, is very smart and loves to read and does gymnastics/circus activities with a local group.

The buttons are only (very strong) magnets

not part of the picture.

This is the second one. Just turned 4, loves vibrant colors you'll see in a rainbow, knows that when it snows it will be her birthday. Loves lolly pops and cake ... and is currently loving her hair in big curly pony tails and her favorite color right now is purple.  I actually had to RE-DO this one ... so this is take two!! I just didn't like the first one, and starting over was the easiest thing to do.

Again the buttons are magnets

For Kira's I made things more realistic in that the grass is green and the sky is blue ... I think once you get to that age you start to see things for what they are and are trying to make sense out of everything. The books are stacked on the grass because that makes sense ... the letter's of her name are stacked one on top of another and the flute is sitting on top. 

At the age of 4, things are just FUN! So for Lily's, I was thinking about my favorite cartoon when I was a kid "Rainbow Bright".  She had fun stripped socks and crazy clothes, there were stars that talked and she rode a unicorn etc. I thought about what it would be like to be at the start of a rainbow and imagined that  the colors all collide into one another and are not in a straight line.  I had these cup cake and candy papers and random flowers that were really fun ... PERFECT!  And when you are 4, lolly pops are like magic wands that make it snow in the middle of a rainbow. THAT is what went through my head :)

I've learned a few things while working on these two mixed-media "commission" pieces ... one of which is that I'm not willing to experiment and take risks. I had artistic freedom, but I didn't want to test the waters for fear of messing up. I used to believe that Canvas work was scary because it seemed so permanent, where as now I believe that canvas work is very forgiving especially compared to water color paper.  

In January I will be taking Juliette Crane's, "How to Paint a Girl" e-course ... so I'm hoping that will allow me to loosen up and try more things should I do commission work in the future :)

I get to deliver these fun things tomorrow morning!!! Ahhhh!! :)