Adventure Portrait
LeTexier Family Portrait: Part 3
Jun 01
The LeTexier family portrait is finally here. I had such a fantastic time with this piece. I feel like I had a good vision from the beginning, as was able to execute it while staying true to the concept in my head. The sky was probably the craziest part of this piece, because it was off the beaten path of clean watercolor for me. Contrary to popular belief, watercolor can certainly be controlled. However, with the sky I just let the water do it’s magic. Thus, I believe it created great results that contrast the cleaner watercolor approach in the rest of the piece. Hurray for intentional blooms. Blooms are what happens in watercolor when too much water is used. These spots or blooms can be rather troublesome if not wanted. In a situation like this, I welcomed them as they gave the piece a rather different feel.
These family portraits are a real treat for me to create. If you are interested in having your family, or a family you know, be put in an adventure, please contact me.
LeTexier Family Portrait: Part 2
May 30
Here is the continuation of my second Adventure Family Portrait, the LeTexier family. I have enjoyed not only coming up with the idea, but the drawing phase of this project has been quite enjoyable. I’m very excited to see how the painting will turn out for this piece. Stay tuned!
LeTexier Family Portrait: Part 1
May 25
I have had another opportunity to paint an Adventure Family Portrait. The LeTexier family was kind enough to commission this painting of them enjoying a fire together. The LeTexier’s enjoy camping and being out doors together, so what better way to capture them as a family, than having a fire. Above is my rough sketch and color comp to have an idea of the final piece. For the color comp I simply scan in a pencil sketch and paint over it in Photoshop. This is a brilliantly fast way to lay out value and color. I have found that if I skip this step I’m always fighting the painting in the fundamentals such as value, composition, and color.
Hensel Family Portrait: Part 4
May 04
And here is the final 13″x19″ archival (arches watercolor paper) print. It has been so much fun to see the transformation from sketches to final print. I can’t wait to see how this looks hanging in the Hensel home.
Hensel Family Portrait: Part 3
Apr 27
My first installment of the “Adventure Family Portraits” is finally here. After much struggle with watercolor and a bad taping job, I present to you the Hensel Family Portrait.
I had a rather unfortunate issue with transparent brown, which left my painting looking rather drab. I don’t blame the transparent brown pigment, however, it had me in a headlock. For some unknown reason, I decided to paint brown all over this wonderful painting, resulting in me nearly throwing it out the window. Luckily, the learning process is part of the joy of this whole art thing.
I hope you enjoy.
Hensel Family Portrait: Part 2
Apr 25
I have had such a brilliant time painting the Hensel family portrait. Graham was kind enough to indulge me with creating an adventure portrait of his family. Rather than have the family staring at the “camera” we put them in an activity that they enjoy together. Graham chose an activity that they have recently enjoyed, and that certainly has had an impact on his family. Hurray for Split Rock Lighthouse.
Above is the line drawing stage of the piece.
Hensel Family Portrait: Part 1
Apr 19
I have the pleasure of illustrating a portrait for Graham Hensel and family. The idea here was not to focus on likeness, but rather on capturing the family interacting and participating in something memorable. This idea is what I call “adventure portraits.” Rather than trying to compete with the photographer with the classic, “everyone lookat the camera”, I wanted to tell a story about this family. The Hensels enjoyed a trip out to Split Rock Lighthouse. Judging from the photos given to me for reference of their trip, this is a great family time. The sketch above is my initial sketch for the piece, followed by my in progress drawing.