Painting from a client photo

[Linda Nelson]

A client wanted to give an anniversary painting to her husband. She had a few photos in mind to paint, but was accommodating when I asked if I could suggest which photo to paint from, and she gave me four photo albums worth of their wedding day.

I picked this one as is is flattering, romantic, and transitions well into a painting. Although it was from there wedding, I find the pose a great general analogy for the "dance" of life together.

I kept a painting of Richard Schmidt's nearby as a texture guide for paint strokes.

The painting colors here are a little off - making her look more palid and ghostly than in the real life - sorry not to have adjusted that.

[Kimberly Dow]

Linda,

I really like this and it shows your skills in several areas. Her teeth were handled wonderfully, much better than the photo - and that dark shadow on the tip of her nose you downplayed - which really helped. You took the good parts of the photo and downplayed the less-than-good - great job.

[Debra Norton]

Linda, great painting! I'm sure they love it.

[Linda Nelson]

Thanks Kim , Thanks Debra - As you know I would imagine, it's difficult to accept doing a project starting from a client photograph, especially when it's not for posthumous reasons. So I really was encouraged to know there could exist a win-win solution. i just finished a posthumous portrait as well, and for both projects it really made all the difference in the world to have clients that allowed me to choose which photo to paint.

[Richard Huante]

Very nice painting, Linda, client photo or not. I really like those edges. Your strokes are, dare I say, Schmid-esque!

Sincerely,

[Linda Nelson]

Thanks Richard. Sorry it took a while to write back here. I'm so happy you like the Schmid-esque brush strokes. I'm amazed how much you can learn from another artist by just engrossing yourself in their art. You still never look just like them, it's unavoidable to have your own signature, so I have found it so fun to delve into the styles of others as it only refines your own (in an ironic way).

[Carol Morimoto]

What a lovely job you did and such a treasure for this couple's coming years.

[John Crowther]

Lovely job! I'm always delighted to see portraits that depart from the conventional and capture a genuine moment of real life.