This is a very special painting I created for a client’s girlfriend. She is the baby in the picture and her father sadly passed away last year. This was a birthday present commissioned for her by her boyfriend. The painting is smaller in size at 25 x 25 cm. I worked with acrylics on stretched canvas. I stretched this one myself. It is an enjoyable process to create it from scratch. I used pre-cut stretcher bars and a fine grained unprimed canvas. I used three coats of gesso sanding the surface before after each coat to create a fine surface.
The photo I worked from was a photo of an older photo. The background was very dark which created some interesting shadows on the subjects’ skin. I worked in layers as always creating subtle tones of brownes, oranges and pinks. Some purple was used in the background to create warm deep tones that contrasted with the bright highlights of the camera lights.
The client was really happy with the finished painting and sent me an email when he gave it to his girlfriend:
Hey Ivana, I love it, you have done an amazing job. Really well done, it’s magnificent…Tanya adored it…. You have done a really terrific job with this piece, thank you very much
Morgan, Dublin, Ireland
Reference photo 
Detail of the canvas 
Close up view of the father and baby painting