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theancientofdays — Happy Family
Published: 2008-05-10 09:32:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 839; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 0
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This is a commissioned portrait, watercolour 11" by 14". I put it off for a long time because the reference photo was blurry and dark, so I knew it would be a difficult work. To make it up to the young lady who commissioned it, I'm throwing in a custom frame.I like this one a lot, actually. I think it stands pretty well as a painting rather than just a portrait if you understand what I mean. Hard to do, but an interesting piece. ^_^
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Comments: 77
Thanks! I don't know yet! 
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Excellent - I like the shine you have managed to get on their skin.
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Thanks very much! This one was a little more complicated than most, but I think it turned out okay.
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The baby is particularly well done. They're all cute. :*)
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Thank you so much! There's a lot of layering involved in watercolour and the young lady who commissioned this was very specific about not wanting distinct seperation between the colours, so the skin in this one is like ten layers of paint!
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The father seems so happy, having the baby in his arms while his wife is relieved to have a break 
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Thanks! The reference was really blurry, but in the photo I could tell that the wife was almost scowling, so I tried to soften her up just a bit. I'm so happy that you think I did well.
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You did well, especially when the photo ref looked like am impossible task. My hat's off to you
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boah, what a wonderful painting, dear. Really excellent! :claps:
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Thank you so much! I really appreciate the encouragement, particularly on the portraits. ^_^
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I thank you, for your great art.
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Great job!! I think it came out very nice! At first, I thought it was a photo but when I looked closer, I realized it was a painting. XD Nice work, as always!! Very realistic!
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Thank you so much! The reference photo was pretty bad for this one, so I had to really work overtime to give it the detail it needed.
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Well I think it's real great. 
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Thank you, Frouwke! Glad you noticed the skin - it took a lot of layering to make it look "smooth" and remove the blotchiness that's so common in watercolour. ^_^
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Thank you VERY much - the baby was only barely recognisable as a baby in the reference photo (it was very blurry) so I just kind of "winged it" to try to make it look like a baby. Glad you think it turned out okay.
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Turned out great! anytime.
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Hmm, but the woman doesn't look like happy here, but it is such a fine family portrait, great shading and colouring
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You're not going to believe this, but I actually "cheered her up" from the way she was in the photo. She was all kinds of sombre in that photo.
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... really??? I was thinking to add that to my first comment like put a bit of smile on her lips (but you did try already)... and still
Ah well, i hope they'll still like the result
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great picture !!! 
I'm sure they will love it !!! As HadaMorgana said you captured their happyness so very well
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Thank you so much! It was rather a difficult effort - I believe the young lady who commissioned it is coming to pick it up today - I hope she'll be pleased. 
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*keeping fingers crossed*
I know so well how you feel... it is always so difficult. Even if you feel that you did a good job (and I think you REALLY REALLY did with this pic) there is always a chance, the customer won't like it.
I had lots trouble once doing a bookcover. There were 2 authors, one loved my style, one really hated it. I will never forget how artisitcally I struggled with that piece. 
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That's kind of like the old saying that "too many cooks spoil the broth". The most frustrating work I do is when the person who commissions it insists on lots of specifics. It takes away the creativity, and I usually end up with a pretty "lifeless" painting.
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yeah, this is exactly the thing which happened to me then
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Hey man, they seem very happy... I love how you caugth the feelings!
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Thank you so much! This one was a real toughie, so I definitely appreciate the kind comment!
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Thank you very much!
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Thanks! I like this one, myself. Usually, I just feel like I'm just copying a photo when I paint, but for this one, the photo was so blurry that I had to give it a little extra imagination to make it look nice.
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OMG I thought this was a photo till I looked at the larger version!! Awesome!
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Wow! Thanks very much! I really appreciate the kind comment, particularly with the portraits (they usually don't get much attention...)
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You're welcome! n-n
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It was hard to tell from the photo. Might have been a cookie, could be a pacifier. I thought that from the position of the hand that it was a pacifier, so that's more or less how I painted it. You'd really be surprised if you saw the reference photo...if I had any sense, I never would have attempted this one in the first place.
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xD You could have just asked them, you know?
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Ah. But that would involve using a telephone.
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>:l Mr Ramona, I'm surprised at you!
Being frightened of a plastic talk machine?
For shame!
You bring shame upon all pretend vikings that walk the land.
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I really don't know quite how that happened. Maybe it's just that for a couple of years, every time someone called, they were yelling at me about something. My clients called yelling at me to get them money and other lawyers called to yell about how unreasonable I was to want money from the poor innocent insurance companies. That's a lot of yelling. So now if I get on the phone, priority number one is getting off again. XD
And I imagine that if you handed a telephone to a viking, he'd probably have been pretty terrified of it as well. XD
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VIKINGS FEAR NOTHING.
I hate talking on phones. End of story. xD
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I think you're probably right. In the movie "The Vikings", Ernest Borgnine lept into a pit of snarling half-starved wolves. If Vikings can do that, then they have no fear.
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I bet he got eaten, either way. xD
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