DEMONSTRATION
Meeting with the Client
I was first notified of the client's interest in having a portrait commissioned through my gallery in Fort Wayne. I called and spoke with the client, Deb Lebamoff, to discuss the vision that she had for the portrait. At first we discussed the issue of size and number of figures to be included. She informed me that it was to be a portrait of her two daughters and that she wished to hang it in the great room over the mantle. The approximate size was to be between 18 and 24 inches. The pose that we decided on would determine the exact dimensions and whether it would be horizontal, vertical, or square.
I met Deb at her home to get a feel for the room into which the painting would be placed. The stained wood fireplace mantle was accented by the wood-toned baby grand piano in the corner. The room was elegant and muted in its upholstery colors. Deb wanted the painting to blend with these greyed tones, fit into the elegance of the room, and yet not be a stiff, formal portrait. She had seen my romantic figurative paintings and was more interested in a landscape into which her daughters might be placed.
We proceeded to schedule a photo shoot in a nearby park. I tend to work from photos because most people do not have the time to sit for a portrait and also because photography allows for more spontaneous poses. Since Deb liked the way I had painted denim in the painting A Quiet Place, she bought her daughters matching denim dresses for the picture. It rained that morning, but I told her that I still wanted to try the photo shoot. It was still misting slightly when we began, but this gave us the muted tones that we wanted for the painting. We did end up shooting again on a sunny day, but came back to the original set of reference pictures because of the color.
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