One Little Pony

No, I failed utterly to make a post about the Blog's birthday. I would say I'm rubbish (but you already know that), but instead I'll point to the slightly hectic couple of weeks I've had with dental work and surprise birthday parties and Mother's Day (which we did bugger all for, as usual), and my Son's best friends planned move to Canada (and his sister's utter terror of my very presence)and my wife's car breaking down, and her entrance exam things for College in the Autumn, and so on and so on... What do you mean that sounds like an average week in your household? You need to lay off the caffeine dearies.

Anyway, so I got a bit swamped, but I also got a commission. Have I mentioned this before? No, I have not, if I mentioned anything it was an entirely different commission that I've not started yet (I need to schedule a photo session).

Now I think anyone who commissions me has got to be a bit bonkers, but lucky for me I know a lot of people who are ever so slightly off their rockers. After the last commission I sort of decided that I wouldn't do any more for a while (because it was hard), and so of course I've taken on another two (because I am thick, or at least a soft touch). So, I present to you the first commission I've ever done for which I will get paid (actual job work not withstanding).

And there we go. OK, until the next time!





You didn't really think you'd get off so easily did you? Of course not! on with the pointlessly detailed breakdown of my ineptitude.  As usual you can click the images for larger ones.

I needed to use the fax machine, and despite once having been a technician and my current job involving heinously complex computer things I am utterly useless at using the 131 year old technology (yes, really, although they didn't take off until Xerox made them in the 60's - the more you know...).

So our receptionist gave me a helping hand with it in order to get me out of her face since the Fax machine is right by her desk. When we were getting done she asked if I would do her a portrait as she needed cheering up (I thought she was asking the wrong artist if she wanted cheering up, but since I work with about 100 of them they're not in short supply, so I must be doing something right).

Naturally I said "Yes, if you pay me a THOUSAND DOLLARS! Muahahahah!" And then I told her the real price, and she said sure. I won't mention the sum, but as it turned out I spent longer on it than had planned, so she got a bargain (she helped me with that fax though, so I guess we're even :)). It was significantly less than a thousand dollars.

I got her to sign a contract on the Friday. I know, what a bast right? I have read that the hardest things to get used to doing is to charge friends money and get them to sign contracts, but if you're to work as an artist without going bonkers then it must be done. It's a horrible experience. If you've ever grabbed a warm water pipe in one hand and a cold one in the other you'll know it's a decidedly peculiar experience (If you haven't then just visualise peeing in your pants). Imagine that, but in your brain, yuk. So, with the contract signed I told her I'd get something to her in two weeks, and then I got it finished by Tuesday, having started it that very evensong (I don't actually pray, I just like the word evensong).

Pretty early into it and I'm actually pretty pleased with the likeness. It's not on the money, but it's pretty close. I almost wish I'd just tightened this up a bit because I like how I painted her eyes and mouth here, and I kinda love how her hair just sort of bleeds into the background. Incidentally, I nabbed the reference picture from her Friendface account (with her permission of course) but in the reference picture she was resting her hand on her cheek and wearing glasses. I had to do a fair bit of filling in the blanks on this one. This was close to the time I sent her an in progress shot, but it turned out she'd gone away for a few days so I didn't get any feedback until it was almost done - ah well, I was on a roll and I wasn't going to wait for her to come back.

Here I've added in her top and a bit of cleavage (it was in the photo, but I swear this is not why I chose it). I actually look some visual measurements here (I really need to write a post about that, I've mentioned it before to do with tracing). Up to this point I'd just been going by eye, but I finally held up my stylus (that's a fancy word for a digital pen BTW) in that classic artists pose with the arm extended and one eye all squinty. I discovered that I'd made her chest to small. I know, this doesn't seem possible, but it actually happened. I only mention this so you don't think I'm just making things bigger all willy nilly when you see the animated image down below, I really had just misjudged and corrected. I've also made a start on her right eye, and other than some minor tweaking it pretty much remains like this for the rest of the painting.

Jumping from that last step to this one makes it look easy, but I actually spend ages on her left eye. First I messed it up so it didn't look like her any more, then I got it right but made it to small, and then finally I got to this point, which I decided was pretty close (I still prefer the rough one I did right at the start though). I've also cleaned up her nose and the shadows on the left side of her face (that's her left, not yours).

Cleaned up the right side of her face, started detailing her shirt (the bit where the creases stop at the bottom is where her arm was obscuring the picture, so I had to guess the rest), boosted the colour a bit and OH MY GOSH! Where'd that hand come from? OK, I just felt it needed a little something there, and a hand was a logical choice. It's not her hand - it's a hand from an entirely different photograph that was all small and blurry and lit from the opposite direction - I feel I actually did a reasonable job of relighting and detailing it. Except the Thumb, which I change later.

Almost done. Really started on her hair, detailed the rest of her top and left arm, tweaked the thumb. Still not happy with it. Oh, and painted her mouth and added a hint of freckles too.

Lots of general fixes, fixed her thumb and I was ready to call it done. I wanted something else though - something else to make it more about her. She had a perfectly good hand doing nothing there, she could be holding a necklace or something (possibly a small effigy of me in a noose, I mean she might hate it). Then I realised that she loved horse riding. Horse on a chain it is then. I decided on a silver chain because I'm not a big fan of gold and it would just disappear into the background. Not having any silver chains handy at the time I just winged it. I don't think I did a great job, but it's fairly obvious what it's supposed to be, and I wanted to go to bed. The horse isn't in this picture, but it is in the final one at the top.

Here's a step by step GIF of the process(happy birthday animated GIF by the way):

And finally a recolored version I came up with diddling about with Photoshop afterwards. I sort of like it, it has a bit more drama.

So there we go, another post another portrait. I may get another post up over the weekend if all goes according to plan, but no promises - they're far to easy to break when it comes to blogging. Until then... go read another blog?