"In Her Element" - A Monochrome Painting

Untitled 12" x 9" oil monochrome on stretched canvas

Sold

I had to put my horse painting aside in order to complete this recent commission painting. A sweet lady asked if I could do a painting of her grandmother. It will be a gift for her mother. "Of course"!, I said. I'm always eager for a challenge. 

I was really excited about this until I saw the actual photograph...there was next to no detail in the grandmother's face. She needed to be recognizable, otherwise I could have made it up as I went. I thought at this point the commission was over, but she had another photo that might work (she only had the two photo's of her grandmother), and that one really spoke to me. Her grandmother was a nurse in her day, and this was an old black and white photo of her tending to a baby. When I saw the photo I had an instant vision of doing it in a monochrome block-in style, keeping that vintage feeling. 

I completed it today, and I think I managed to capture the likeness, but more so, my vision came into fruition. It can be difficult to actually have a painting manifest into the original vision of it, and it's so thrilling when it does!