Second Commission

And this one was a double subject. So while I am supposed to charge $80 for 2 subjects, since the customer was my mother, I only charged $60. (I REALLY needed the money, folks.)

So I asked the customer, my mom, who she wanted a portrait of, and she said she wanted me to draw my dad, with his favorite dog, Rags. How old should Dad be? Around 50. (He's now 87.) Rags was an apricot-colored cockapoo who was very smart, very obedient, and very tuned in to my dad. So, okay. I'll go through the old photos and find what I need. Well, after going through what seemed like hundreds of photos, I found the perfect photo: my dad, at 50, holding Rags up to the camera. Say cheese, Rags.

So here's the original photo of my dad and his beloved Rags:

And my pencil version:

I like it. It captures his "my dad"-ness. And Rags' "rag-ness."

And, as always, if you want one of your own, just go to:
http://www.artfire.com/users/KatesPencilPortraits
Or just click here:

KatesPencilPortraits

Sell Handmade

Then I Got a Commission!!

Omygawd! I was very excited. A friend I used to work with decided he wanted a portrait of his niece, photographed as she was gazing through a telescope, with light streaming over her through a window. "Like Vermeer," my friend said. Well, I'm not quite up to that standard, so it'll be "like Kate," for better or worse.

I've recently refined my portrait technique, after years of hit-or-miss likenesses, off-kilter ratios and not quite right angles. Yes, I trace them first. I admit it. I get out my lightbox, print out the original photo from my computer at the appropriate size, and trace around the periphery of the face, with marks for placement of the eyes, nose, mouth, chin, and hairline. Then I turn off the lightbox, and fill in the features and the shading. So I'm confident that I can turn out a good portrait of anybody.

Here's the original of my friend's niece Alexandra:

And here's the pencil version:

What do you think? My friend is happy with it (he said he cherishes it, aww) so all is well. Plus I made $40!

Want a portrait of your own? Check out my BRAND-NEW shop on ArtFire at
http://www.artfire.com/users/KatesPencilPortraits

It's a sweet way to remember someone you love, and supports a worthy cottage industry (me.)

Long Time No See!

Hiya everybody! Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but I have been pretty busy doing pencil portraits. Since this blog was only supposed to be about my computer art, I've avoided posting about what I was doing. But now I've changed my mind (it's my blog, after all) so I'm going to upload all the pencil work I've done during the last couple of months.

 First off, here's a portrait of Yolo, the late dog belonging to some friends of mine. I thought it would be a nice thing to send them a drawing of the big puppy they'd loved so much, so I asked them to email me some photos. I chose the one they had titled "Goofymug," for the goofy expression on his face. So here's the original photo of Yolo:

And here's the pencil portrait I did:

So that's going in the mail in time for Christmas. Hope it makes my friend's holiday a little brighter.