Recently, I had someone reach out to me about doing a commissioned painting that she would give to her older sister for her birthday. She shared some photos with me from her childhood and she wanted to capture this moment in time from when they were children. She had fond memories of her older sister draping both of them in fabrics to play "dress up." This photo was the only remnant that she had from that memory. She also gave me some clearer photos to work from to capture their likeness so I combined the photos to make the finished product.
In the radial design around the older sister I used her name, "Charlotte" to form the design. I have done this before with my art students but have never done it in my own work before. Her name is flipped and mirrored in every other section. Look directly under the peacock, start at the gold "C" and read the name all the way to across to the purple "E." It was fun to make the name into a hidden element in the painting and it was really fun to watch my client and her sister try to find it!
"Shining Out of the Darkness", 20X20
When I drew out the design, the tails of the "E" letters linked up together to form a star! I couldn't believe it! I used the negative space around the letters to paint the gold to reveal the star. I love that it was around Charlotte's face since she was supposed to be the star of this painting! Capturing the light on these sisters was really fun and I am inspired to paint some more portraits with unique lighting. To accentuate the sun's light, I used shaded letters on their dresses, heads, and bodies. If you have a memory that you would like to capture in a unique painting designed custom for you, email me at taratories@gmail.com and we can start the conversation...
