Commissioned swimming portrait: Clara & friends

My swimming drawings – over on my Cat-of-the-day website – have led to a number of ‘swimming portraits that I’ve been asked to do – here is another one, Clara & Friends, in Portugal – a reminder of many happy swims together. This is a digital drawing, like (so far) all the swimming drawings. This was an entertaining drawing to do, but tricky: involving a certain amount of cheating with perspective. Fortunately, unlike the camera, the pencil, or stylus, can lie quite effectively. I have a little collection of swimming commissions here: https://nancyfarmer.wordpress.com/portfolio/swimming-commissions/ And meanwhile, my solo exhibition continues –…

Jude & Al’s portrait

From my blog you’d think I haven’t done much work lately and only post sketches to cat-of-the-day, but this impression is partly because I’ve completed two commissioned portraits this year which had to remain sectet. One of them can now be revealed! THis is Jude and Al, and their dog Star. In pencil and gold leaf, and the composition designed for an oval frame. As you might expect, people don’t generally ask me to draw or paint their portrait unless they have something special in mind.

A last-minute riot of Bridesmaids

All other work went on hold from Wednesday to Saturday this week as I did a rather last minute commission for a friend. Not that it had been last-minute from the outset, but I hadn’t been the artist commissioned to do it to begin with, the other one ran away, reasons unknown! This is the blushing bride, surrounded by her hen party all as imaginary bridesmaids, all in fantastically awful pudding bridesmaids dresses (there was a back story here but I think the idea stands on its own without it). I had a photo of each of the girls, and…

Arthur in Egypt

This is not the sort of painting you’ve come to expect of me, I know, but here’s a commission I did a couple of months ago. It was as a present for the father of a friend, the father having his 80th birthday party, and having been in Egypt in the armed services a very long time ago.There were shenanigans, and unproven accusations of syphoning off the British Army’s fuel and selling it to the Arabs. It was just before the Suez crisis… perhaps he even caused the Suez crisis, I am hazy on the details! My job was to…

Vincent: portrait of a Retired Demon

…and his familiar, of course. There comes a time in a Demons life, when he is wont to retire from mischief-making and the persecution of the damned, hang up his pitchforks and grow runner-beans up them… This is a portrait I painted for someone’s Christmas present. So I can post it here now, present having been received and, I believe, appreciated! It’s Indian Ink and pencil over a wash of watercolour, with white watercolour applied with a dip-pen on the highlights.  Always open to suggestions for commissioned portraits, but this one was particuarly in my line of business: demons and…

A most peculiar portrait commission

Last summer I was asked to paint a portrait of Karen, not by Karen herself, because she has been dead for quite a long time. I was asked to paint this portrait by the man she has been haunting for many years… This was, I think, the most unusual portrait request I have had to date. Because of the nature of my ‘ordinary’ paintings, people generally ask me to paint portraits of them, their family, girlfriend and so on, only if they want to be depicted, or have someone else depicted, as some kind of supernatural creature. And then I…

I can make you look like a fairy!

Here’s the painting I recently completed. This is Sherrie-jane – she sells lingerie in Somerset, including specialist bra-fitting, her business is called ‘Orchid’ – http://www.orchidlangport.co.uk/ – and she likes champagne. Quite a lot to get into 4 x 8 inches… but her daughter wanted a special present for her, for the re-launch of her new business, so in went the bras and the orchids and it all came together with quite a nice oriental feel, which was something of a happy accident. People do occasionally ask me ‘do you do commissions?’, and I say yes… occasionally… but I don’t usually…