Collector Spotlight: Arabian Stallion Portrait
The piece in the spotlight today was commissioned to represent a beloved Arabian stallion as a Christmas gift for the horse’s owner.
I always approach a commission with a mixture of emotions. I feel honoured to rise to the challenge of creating a truly special piece of art that will be a continual reminder of someone’s precious animal companion or special place in the world. And I feel a thrill of anxiety that the piece may not measure up, despite having had happy customers for so many years.
The process requires a few photographs that will show the subject in true to life proportions. Photos taken from farther away that show the subject in the pose and angle that is desired to be sculpted is essential. Photos taken too close are too distorted to allow me to sculpt an accurate representation without a whole lot of guessing about details.
The wonderful thing about sculpting the animal is that photos don’t require accurate colour to be represented. Over the years that I painted animal portraits I had to do a lot of guessing about details and colour because sadly the photos were old or taken in poor light. Sculpting these tiny portraits takes a lot of those anxiety-inducing challenges out of the mix. It leaves me the delightful challenge of interpreting a flat photo into a three dimensional form.
I love capturing the the animal's personality, revealed in the flare of nostrils, set of the head and flowing mane. Or for other animals, their character is revealed in quirk of ears and curl of tail.
Commissions require special attention to detail, more time in the process and receive personal email communications in order for me to achieve the best results. I love this specialized process and interaction with my collectors! But this also mean I must limit how many I can take on in a given time frame.
If you are interested in Commissioning a custom portrait of your horse, dog, cat or other special animal please join my Studio Friend’s list to be first to know when I open my commission schedule again.
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