I finished on this painting only a couple of weeks ago. It is a 40 x 30 cm sized acrylic painting of a very happy jockey sitting on her horse with her partner and pet bichon frise dog Peanut at her side.
This painting was commissioned by a client in county Kilkenny. I simplified the background taking away some other horses and horse boxes. Peanut, the very cute bichon frise dog, was added at a later stage as the client felt he should play a part in the family painting. It was commissioned as a gift for the couple in the portrait.
I worked with acrylics on fine grained stretched canvas. It was necessary to use a fine grained surface for this painting due to the amount of detail that was required to be captured. It took a while to complete, but I got there at the end 🙂
I had one reference photograph to work from that I received by email from the client. I suggested removing some of the detail from the background to create a more focused painting of the couple and pets. I replaced the clutter in the background with some greenery and the client was happy with that.
I created a line sketch with yellow ochre to begin with. After mixing a few colour mixtures for the skin tones, clothes and greenery, I started on colour blocking the entire surface of the portrait. Once fully covered in paint, I moved on to adding some details to the clothes and a lot of detail to the faces, the horse and the dog Peanut.
I took some photographs of the progress and then again when finished. The painting is painted on a stretched canvas with a thin edge. This means it can be displayed on the wall framed or unframed. I posted the portrait unframed giving the client an option to make that decision.
I put initials on every work I finished, usually on the bottom right corner. I fully sign and date a painting on the bottom edge of the painting and if I have details of the people or place I just painted, I also add a name on the bottom edge.
Commission your own painting or a gift for a family member or friend by emailing your photos to info@trueimage.ie and we can discuss your requirements.