Mermaids Here, There and Everywhere

I have recently received a commission to do a painting of a woman's two daughters as mermaids. She actually doesn't really care for the mermaids to look exactly like her daughters. She's more interested in them having the same characteristics as her daughters. (one has black hair, one brown, one has freckles, etc.)

I have been itching to do a mermaid painting for quite awhile so I am eager to get started on this piece. I went to my client's house and saw the girl's rooms and saw the sorts of things that make them different from each other. One is a bit of a tomboy while the other is a little more girly. My client also  showed me some pictures of her daughters including one where her youngest daughter is at the beach making a sand castle and one where her eldest daughter has a butterfly on her nose. I always try to include personal touches in my commissioned pieces, so I decided to incorporate the butterfly, possibly the sand castle and even the eldest daughter's pet corn snake wherever possible.

I usually begin creating as many different concept sketches as I can. Various angles, poses, even themes until I find the three that I like the best. Here are the concept sketches that I have developed so far for this painting. After I choose the final three that I like best, I will move on to choosing color schemes and then I will present the final three concepts to the client so that she can decide on which painting she would like me to complete for her. I find it best to limit the number of choices that you give a client. More than three choices can easily become overwhelming.

My first concept sketch for this commission was done while at work. I used whatever I had around me, which ended up being a blue pen and yellow and blue highlighters on a scrap piece of ruled paper

  The girls like to be together, but they don't necessarily like playing together. As such, having one brushing the other's hair isn't really in keeping with their personality's, but I really like the idea anyway as it's more in keeping with what mermaids would do.

 

            I fit the eldest girl's pet corn snake in this one, though I will
probably fit him in whichever design my client finally chooses.

 

In this one I was playing around with the idea of the girls being on different rocks and therefore at different levels in the painting. I also like the idea of one girl lying down.

 

       In this sketch I fit in the youngest daughter's sand castle.

I'm still trying to decide which three I like best. Which are your favorites? I'm excited to start cleaning up these designs and adding colors. It's always a lot of fun to come up with new paintings though it's a bit stressful when you have a client to please.

Latest Painting and Exhibition!

My latest painting consisted of many firsts. Despite my close proximity to the ocean, this was my first and only time painting it. This was also my first time trying to paint with a palette knife. Lastly, it was my first time entering and being accepted into a professional exhibition. I have participated in school/alumni based shows in the past, but somehow this one felt more 'official' since I didn't know any of the judges or participants.

The theme of this exhibition was simply "Landscapes 2012".  As the gallery was specifically looking for Florida based landscapes this sort of narrowed things down for me a bit. I realized that I would have to paint something specifically for this show as I don't really have any Florida based landscapes that I've already painted. (Yes I do recognize the irony in this since I've lived here most of my life.) I just tend to find inspiration more easily in other locations, specifically North Carolina, but also Oregon, England, France, etc. As I began to peruse local artist hangouts for inspiration I inevitably came to the ocean and began to take lots of photographs. I took some pictures of the beaches, and the people and the vegetation and it wasn't really until I took everything home that I realized that I had taken more pictures of the people than anything else. Clearly, Florida landscapes (by themselves) weren't as interesting to me as the Florida landscape used as a background to the people who enjoy them.  Once I came to this realization, creating the painting itself came much easier.

                           My Florida "backdrop" in it's early stages.

                         Making waves with a palette knife.

                       Adding in some of the 'main characters'

12" x 24" Acrylic on Canvas

 

 

My painting "Conversations" is on exhibit at the Lighthouse Art Gallery in Tequesta, FL from now through Jan. 4th, 2013.

 

I'm working on many new things right now and will be sharing them with you very soon! Have a wonderful week!!