This was my last commission of 2024. They are two acrylic paintings commissioned by a client in the United Kingdom, Manchester, to be specific. Harry wanted me to paint his wife Antonia in her wedding dress in the first photo. This was a birthday gift for her. Antonia’s birthday is a few days before Christmas. Harry emailed me his favourite wedding photo of Antonia. She is subtly smiling in the photo and it was very important to him for me to capture this in the painting. The painting is 50 x 40 cm in size.
The second painting if of Antonia leaning over their newborn baby girl Jolie. This is such a beautiful and soft image of a mother lovingly holding her baby. Jolie’s name is embroidered on the cushion in the photo too and this was a lovely addition to the portrait. This painting is 60 x 40 cm in size, slightly longer in height than a standard size.
I painted both paintings with acrylics on stretched canvas.
I had one reference photograph to work from for each painting. I didn’t need to make many adjustments to the photos as the client wanted me to represent them in a painting. I removed the busy background in the wedding painting of his wife to keep it simple and focused on her face.
Thank you Ivana – they are both beautiful works
Harry on seeing the scanned images of the finished paintings in December 2024, Manchester, UK
I took some photographs of the finished paintings beside each other. I usually use a simple shelf I have in my office to photograph my work before posting. I try to take some photos of while I am painting especially to show the scale of the painting in comparision to my hand and paint brush.
I used mostly flat brushes for the background and for the main areas of the paintings. I painted the finer details in the faces with a selection of round brushes of different thickness. I used acrylic paints on fine stretched canvas as always. This was a lovely commission for me. I really enjoyed the process capturing one person, Antonia, in different situations and angles.
