I began the year 2026 with a really interesting project: a colourful portrait painting of a couple – I know I created many of these before – but this time was very different. The photo I was given as a reference was taken at a music festival. It was commissioned by a client I painted a dog portrait before, one of George, the lovely jack russell terrier. The couple took a selfie after being covered in splashes of paint during an outdoor festival. This was the fun bit. There is so much colour and chaos in the picture for me to use in the portrait painting process. I wanted to capture the moment in its full colourful glory in the commission.
About the couple
The painting was a commission from a friend of the couple. The couple got married back in January and this was their wedding gift. They live in New Zealand, the bride being originally from Ireland marrying a local man. The finished painting travelled all the way to New Zealand, which is where the couple live. My client was attending the wedding. I have created many wedding portraits to date, some of the couple on the day, some from weddings abroad, some of the venues themeselves. Many were gifted as wedding gifts, others were commissioned as anniversary gifts or other.
The Reference Photos for the Portrait
The Main Photo
Sinead, my client, had a few photos of her friend and her fiancee. We considered all, but we both thought the festival image is an unusual one for a commission. Therefore it would create such a meaningfull and unique painting for the couple.
They look so happy and in tune here in the image. I knew it would be a great pleasure capturing this moment on canvas.
I had a good few other photographs to use for the portrait. These were to make sure I capture both the girl and the boy’s likeness under all the paint! The groom to be is very fond of his sunglasses and we just couldn’t find a photo of him without them, so I decided it would be good to capture them in the painting as part of his personality.
About the painting
It was took quite a bit of time to try and capture all the colours and shapes in the photo, but I enjoyed every minute of it. I blurred the crowd in the background further to bring all the focus to the bride and groom to be. The painting is medium in size at 30 x 30 cm. I used professional grade acrylic paints by Winsor & Newton and Old Holland on fine grain stretched canvas made by Belle Arti in Italy.
Client Response to the Finished Painting
Sinead, my client, was very happy with the painting. I communicated with her mostly throug WhatsApp and when she received the scanned image, she texted me a lovely response:
Wow Ivana! Thats unbelievable. You are excellent, my god ?????
Sinead upon seeing the scanned image of the finished painting, Dublin, January 2026
Sinead texted me when she met with her friend in New Zealand before the wedding saying “she loved the painting”. She also sent me a photo of them two together:
The painting process
I painted the portrait in stages. Starting with an initial sketch in yellow ochre hue I moved on to colour blocking and then detailing. Colour blocking is me applying thin base layers of colour to the portrait. These provide me with a good undercoat for adding details. Areas in the background I leave with two or so layers at best. However, areas in focus, as the faces are in this painting, I detail in as many layers as required. I never know how long I am going to spend on a portrait.
Adding final details to the almost finished painting
Here is a video I took when I was adding the last details to the painting. I used flat brushes for most of the portrait as I find them the most useful. I like to see the edge of my paint marks. Consequently I developed this over the many years painting portraits.
The painting took just under two weeks to complete due to the detail required to capture overall. Plus I was really enjoying the painting process.
The Finished Painting
I took some photographs of the painting when I was fully finished. The photos I took show some lovely texture of the canvas fine grain which I cannot capture when scanning. The scan is great for capturing the correct colours I used, but smooths out any cotton grain. I met with my client to give her the final painting to bring with her on her long journey from Ireland to New Zealand where she attended the wedding.
I am working on some very interesting projects and I have some in the pipeline too, so keep an eye on my website and art blog for updates. You can also subscribe to this updates blog or follow me on Instagram @true.image.portraits or Facebook.
I am accepting commissions from clients worldwide for portrait paintings and drawings. Besides people, I also create portrais of pets and animals, landscape art and building art. If you have something in mind, please feel free to contact me at info@trueimage.ie
