Commissioned Portrait

Commissioned Portrait

Maya, 2011

Maya and her mum Linda are regular customers in the shop I work in, Twenty Six

Maya is probably the cutest thing since Hello Kitty, with her trendy little outfits and quirky pink glasses!

Just a little bit before Christmas I agreed to do a portrait of her for her lovely Mummy Linda, which I presented to them both in the New Year, just in time for Maya's 4th birthday!

I worked from this photo, which was a favourite of Linda's.

I chose to do the portrait in pencil, as it is one of my favourite mediums for this kind of work.
For portraiture, I also enjoy working with charcoal and chalk pastels, but due to the photo being quite dark and contrasted, I decided pencil would be best to capture the soft features and finer details.

Here's a quick snap I took when I had finished

This is what the portrait looked like when it was mounted.

It was then set into a thick wooden bevelled style frame.

When I presented Linda with the piece, she was so thrilled and delighted, it made my day!

She exclaimed, "Oh my God. It's so her, it's brilliant."

I was delighted that I had achieved such a great likeness to Maya and that I had captured her character.

Linda later told me that she had it out on the table at Maya's

birthday party and that all of her guests were admiring it.

This was my first portrait in a little over a year, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

It made me remember why I love portraiture so much and I'm looking forward to the next one, which I already have lined up!

Will keep y'all posted :)