This is a portrait of Ken who is about to retire from his job. His co-workers decided to commission a painting of him and his horse as a retirement present. The painting is 30 x 40 cm in size painted with acrylics on stretched canvas. I had one photograph to work from with a couple of additional photos for Ken’s face which was hard to see in the reference. The photo was not too detailed which lended itself to a looser painterly portrait.
The clients were very happy with the finished painting. I thought the background worked very well with the portrait, adding some bright colour. I toned down the yellows as the photo was quite saturated. I also painted the sky a little darker to emphasize the shape of the horse’s head. I took some photos of the progress and the finished painting.
Initial sketch 
Colour blocking 
Reference photo