Daughter pencil portrait

[Mike Theuer]

A father commissioned this 11×14 pencil portrait of his daughter. I used a Blackwing pencil which is 4B on Canson pure-white paper.


larger version here


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[Julie Deane]

Very nice, Mike! Those Blackwing pencils are very nice, aren't they?

[Mike McCarty]

Mike,

Do you ever turn down photos produced by prospective clients, either for poor lighting or pose? If so, would you then try and create a photo reference yourself? If so, would you charge more for the photography effort?

Thanks

[Richard Budig]

Mike . . . How do you photograph, or other wise copy your work for presentation here? To my mind/eye, they all seem quite well done. I ask because photographing art for this kind of presentation is usually difficult, and often makes me think driving my car off of a bridge a delightful thing to do. Your work is great.

[Mike Theuer]

Thanks everyone!

Julie, I dig Blackwing pencils!

Mike, I rarely turn a photo down. Instead I offer to draw/paint a photo to look differently. I might draw/paint brighter than the photo for example with a customer's permission. I might join subjects together from separate photos or move around subjects within a photo even remove subjects. I don't charge extra. I only charge extra if I have to fabricate a subject, like a police sketch-artist might do by using imagination, descriptions, and incomplete photo references.

Richard, I don't photograph! (Except for large works like the 4'x2' watercolor painting below which I felt compelled to insert as a change up from always posting human faces!) Instead, I use a Canon LiDE flatbed scanner from which I removed the lid hinges. I scan my work as large as 3' across section by section. Then I stitch the sections together using PhotoStudio (like PhotoShop).

[Richard Budig]

Mike . . . YIKES and WOW. Thanks. Richard . . .