pastel on pastelmat
private collection
actual size 19"X26"
http://www,djfitzgerald.com
Moving right along! I will go back and "clean" things up a bit later... but I do like the contrast between the softness of Susie's face and the coarseness of her shirt. And as I am looking at it now... I think I need to take her shirt in a little. It is a bit blousie and I have a good feeling that she will not be happy. Susie is a professional rider and is definitely not fat. In my 25 years of doing portraits it is always a good idea to make everyone a little thinner... men too! And almost everyone requests it. And interestingly enough, its the thinnest people that usually request it up front! I have actually had people bring back portraits months after they had received them, to make them look thinner! One women actually lost weight a year after the portrait was completed and requested that I change the portrait to make her even thinner! Had the portrait shipped all the way from Puerto Rico just to have it changed. On pastels it really depends on the piece as to whether I can do it or not. In that case I could, and did. I did not charge her... I want people to be happy with their portraits. In the end, they are going to be living with them hopefully for the rest of their lives. I want them to be a remembrance of a wonderful time in their lives.
I had exactly the same scenario. Clients commissioned separate portraits of husband and wife (friends) as birthday gifts (they were both 40 in the same week).
ReplyDeletePortraits were approved, framed and shipped. 'Hers' came back 2 weeks later saying she'd lost weight after dieting so please slim the face down. Like you, I did manage to do this, although the portraits were in coloured pencil which had been 'fixed' so it was no easy task!