Luki at a Neighbour's House
Ding, dong, dang it anyway, that white fluffy stuff is falling out of the belligerent sky again - the weatherman is calling for an additional 10" over night. The snow was almost 3' deep and with the snow plow traveling down the road in front of the pasture on a regular basis, it is now 4' deep on either side of the road. Luki and the goat, until I tethered them were just walking over the fence and wandering all over the place, so with the extra snow fall, it's going to be awhile before we even see the top of the fence posts. The photo of Luki was taken about half a mile away; Great Pyrenees are noted for their roaming and from the way Luki is looking at the picnic table, I'm thinking he's wondering...when will the grub be served - not till summer time Luki old boy.
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| Portrait in Progress |
I've been painting this portrait off and on for awhile; seem to be having a little trouble with the elderly woman. Although, anyone who has dropped by the studio, says she looks a lot like the photos I'm working from. However, the customer doesn't think she looks like her mother and I guess she should know. I just emailed her this photo of the painting, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will approve the changes I made - if not - there's a very good chance this portrait has pretty much come to an end. I don't know if there are any portrait painters reading this blog, but for me, working from small 4"x6" photographs that someone took with a flash, the details and the skin tones can be on a whole different level, plus, a lot of the detail is lost when it's blown up.
I've always found painting portraits real challenging, perhaps that's why I enjoy doing them. I've painted a lot of them over the years and as much as I hate to admit it, they have not always been successful. I'm not overly concerned about this one; I just don't want to spend too much additional time on it since the price I gave was on the real low side and I've got several other paintings on the go,which I would like to complete before winter finally blows itself out and stops filling New Brunswick with great heaps of snow.
I don't know what's wrong with me lately; my get up and go seems to have got up and left - ambitious, I'm not. Perhaps I burnt myself out with all my building projects during last summer - my old body just doesn't seem as energetic as it used to be. Also, when I think about adding a 12'x30' addition to the house to expand Sarah's little summer coffee shop, I can't help thinking how painful it'll be, not to mention the expense. Sarah doesn't want me climbing any ladders either but with about a 12' ceiling in the centre of the addition, unless I can stretch these 2 bony, lily white legs of mine, I don't see that I have any choice. Plus, I'll no sooner get that finished and it will be almost time to start renovating the upstairs bathroom and enlarging Jessica's room with a closet and shelving. Jeesh, no wonder my ambition has gone south with whats remaining of my physique. However, I guess I have to look at my projects logically, the longer I put them off, the older this old man will be and the weaker I'll become as well. Should have been doing this sort of stuff when I was an energetic 60 year old. I'm thinking with all the projects just over the horizon, I'd better go grab me a cold bottle of beer and relax - just thinking about all the work has just plumb wore me out - cheers, eh!
I'm tired just reading what all you've done and have to do! I'm thinking Jean and I had better get to more of our projects before we add too many more birthdays!
ReplyDeleteCan't imagine the challenge of portrait painting, we all have such skewered views of ourselves and the people we love I'd think it be hard to please us :-) This ones wonderful hope you resolve it with your client.
Hi Bren - thanks for the comment - always good to hear from you. Yeah, the b-days take their toll as one ages; no doubt about that. Projects are like anything else, the longer they're put off, the more unlikely they'll be accomplished, so don't wait too long. Painting portraits can certainly be difficult, but since I worked a little more on the woman's mother, my client is much happier; she just mentioned the mouth wasn't quite right and to proceed with the painting, so I think I can fix that little glitch, at least I hope so - would be nice to get paid after all the time I've put into this painting. It'll be nice to get this one out of the way and get on with some of my own stuff - the only critic being me and I'm pretty easy to please. As a matter of fact, once this up-tight painting is completed, I just might grab me a chunk of canvas and just heave some paint at it from over my shoulder and then just grin and say, "Looks great to me!" Cheers, eh!
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