Art Commission.

More Painting on the Canvas

This has been a week filled with hours and hours in front of the canvas working on the Birds and Hibiscus flowers.

Underpainted the hibiscus flowers located in the bottom left of the canvas with the general color that will show in the finished painting.

After drying time, the flowers were painted again to lay in detail, shading, and more color intensity.

Next the upper right Hibiscus flower was underpainted.

These Hibiscus flowers are inspired by the state flower of Hawaii, Pua Aloalo, the yellow Hibiscus which was designated the official state flower in 1988.  

You will notice I also worked on plumage for the third bird in the upper part of the canvas.

Someone asked me the other day how much input I receive from the person or people who commission a painting.  Answer:  it varies, and their input can pertain to size, subject and palette, however when commissioning an artist to create a work, the customer realizes they are asking for a work from an artist with a particular style.  The customer must be comfortable and familiar with the artist's work before entering into a commission.  I like to involve the customer in the early stages of the work, and then keep them aware of the progress of the painting as it moves forward.

For instance, with this commission the buyer asked for a painting for a particular wall.  We discussed size, subject matter and jointly came up with the floral theme using Birds of Paradise and Hibiscus flowers, which are favorites of the buyer.  Now days, with the ability to use the immediacy of digital photos and computers, as well as our hand held devices that do almost everything, I am able to dialogue with the customer as well as send photos, in a timely way,  to make sure we are both working towards the completed painting with satisfaction for all.  After creating a small painting with a similar composition and the selected palette, I send a photo to the buyer for confirmation the commission is on the right track.   With this particular commission the customer asked for a change in the palette based on the desire to have the State Flower of Hawaii represented in the painting. If you research that flower you will find it is not always shown with the crimson center, but this was another detail requested, and because this is art....I can take artistic license....and create what I want on the canvas, or what the customer desires. It is still and always my painting, my creation, my style, with some input from the customer. 

It is back to the studio for me.  More Hibiscus painting over the next few days.

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