I painted this portrait last month in July for Barry’s 70th birthday. It was a surprise present from his friend, who commissioned this painting. Barry is a keen collector of paintings and this gave his friend Jim, my client, the idea to ask me to create a portrait of him to have in his home. Jim himself took the photograph he wanted me to recreate.
Jim was meeting his friend for a dinner at the end of July and gifted this painting to him as a surprise. And it sounds like it was quite a surprise. I received a lovely message from Barry himself a couple of days later:
Ivana! For my 70th birthday my friends got you to paint my portrait. I collect paintings and have at least 5 other portraits, not of myself!!! The only way I can describe it is “I was stunned” – absollute shock. The photo is quirky enough. The portrait if fabulous – if a little bit generous!!! Huge thank you. It took me until after lunch the day after to recover from the shock. I have it hanging in an important spot below a painting my deceased sister left me that has lots of meaning. Well done and thank you again…
Barry, whose portrait I painted in July from a photo his friend took, Dublin 2024
The photo I used for reference was taken by my client Jim on the 11th May 2022. He asked me to write the date discretely on the side of the canvas when finished. I also framed the painting in a limed wood canvas tray frame. I posted the painting to Greystones in county Wicklow.
Jim was too delighted with the resulting painting when he emailed me in response to receiving a scanned image of the canvas:
Ivana! Have to say , this looks terrific, you have done an amazing job…………..thank you!
Jim, who commissioned a painting of his friend as a 70th birthday gift, Dublin July 2024
The painting is 30 x 30 cm in size and painted with acrylics which is my preferred medium when it comes to paintings. My work began by creating a painted line sketch in yellow ochre to capture Barry’s likeness. I simplified the background removing some drinking glasses and a table and painting in just the sea. It created a sea of blue, with Barry wearing a blue shirt too. His hair is grey which again worked very well in harmony with the blue tones. His skin is tanned and just popped from the blue. I was very fond of the photograph Jim provided me. It is quite unusual as it is a profile and captures a moment in time. I had such a great time capturing this on canvas.
After the initial sketch I moved onto colour blocking, mixing my blues, greys and skin tones and layering them in thin washes at first. I then kept on adding until I was happy with the result. I didn’t want to overdo the process as it can muddy the hues. I wanted them to stay fresh and immediate as the reference image itself.
Commission your own portrait by emailing your photos to info@trueimage.ie.
