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Lesson Plans


Re: My artwork update--thanks for the idea, Judy!

From: sharonbk
Date: Wed Jun 21 2000 - 18:10:06 PDT

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    <<Which one was the one that gave you "fits"? >>

    It was a pastel of a man (with June 2000) under it. This was my former principal and I was commissioned by the staff to do this for his retirement. (ssshhhh--don't tell, it's a secret until Saturday--ha)

    I was working from a 2x3" photo (!) that was approximately 10-15 years old (best picture they could find of him). They wanted it to look as he does now (with different hair style and different hair color). I was trying to work from some yearbook pictures, too.

    Doing commissioned portraiture is a lot like playing Dr. Frankenstein--I routinely lop off heads from group shots and add better views in their place, put people together from separate photos (craziest one was creating a family grouping of 5 people--all from separate photographs), and try to "match" colors in folks' living rooms!!

    I once had 2 sisters who each wanted an oil portrait of their mother who'd died the year before. One wanted her in pink, the other wanted her in blue--and they brought me pillows from their individual sofas so that I could get the "right" dress color! While this sort of artwork certainly can't be described as creative or expressive, I've learned to be a better technician over the years--working those 2 oil portraits, side by side, was quite a challenge!

    However, in defense of art for money, I've been a single mom since '87 (with sons now 16 & 13). My artwork (and a bunch of other things) allowed me to stay home with them until they were both in school. Commissions aren't really my favorite thing to do, but "survival art" has played a big role in my life! Now I mainly just do commissions for past clients and friends.

    Thanks for your nice words :-)

    Sharon
    WEBSITE: http://www.bigfoot.com/~artrageous
    Featuring art and art lesson plans, examples of my
    artwork, genealogy resources, information about
    contra dancing and Celtic music--and more!
    EMAIL: artrageous
    AIM: SKBK56, ArtrageousSBK, & others 

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