Every now and then an email falls into my inbox and I smile. My niece sent me a note with a photo of her two children on a beach in New England. Would I be willing to paint it as an anniversary gift for her parents? Oh, my…yes!
What I do with a photograph like this first is to just absorb it. It may sound odd, but I want to think of the sea, the breeze, and the birds before I even put the brush to paper.
Next I crop the image, making the children the focal point and deleting anything that would distract from them. I wanted to give the children a more natural element to look at such as seagulls and I moved them closer to the water. Or did I raise the tide?
I liked the plaid of the little boy’s pants, but the dots on the little girl’s dress were just too distracting. The blue of the sky and water is lovely, but I wanted more colors in the whole image so I washed a rainbow of colors through the water and sand.
Here is the final result:
It’s a wonderful gift!
lovely work!
Thanks so much! It turned out perfect and we love it!
It’s beautiful Suzie !!! How sweet they look…Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Martha! You are always so encouraging.
Candyce, it was a joy to see your response. I was so blessed that you would ask.
Thanks, Greg!
Thanks!