Ellie
 

Not sure if I'm worthy of this seasoned professional category with all the unbelievably talented artists who post here, although I am a full time artist now, but I'll give it a try and see if I get booted off. Here is Ellie , my latest, and my two year old niece, 16x20 oil on linen.

I was trying to post two images on the same post but mistakenly ended up with two separate posts. I would like to delete one but I dont think it will let me.

I am also kind of surprised at the poor quality of my images that were posted of Ellie. The image on my computer is very good, so I must lose the quality when I lower the size and resolution to upload into this software. Other artists seem to get better quality images posted successfully, so I must be doing something wrong, but I dont know what it is.

Moment in Time
 

Mark, this is so lovely. Thank you for sharing it. I love the natural moment that it portrays-just that fleeting instant in time. Blink and it is gone. You captured it forever.
Carol Norton

Mark,

If you are a professional, why not? I think the trouble with people posting in this section is not believing that they are really professional. When I first posted here I spent days debating with myself over whether I was a "seasoned" professional, though I have been pro for 25+ years!

Anyway, your portrait is lovely. Is it a commission? Your daughter? I would love to know more about the creation of this because the moment you've captured has an unusual feeling to it.

Alex

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your comments and questions. At this early stage in my career, I usually am working on paintings that are not commissioned such as this one. However, when completed, if I have created something desirable, someone usually steps up to the plate and buys it. In a way it is kind of nice because I just follow my heart and paint exactly what I want, and if I touch someone else enough they buy it.

My wife gathered up a few of my brothers young daughters, dressed them nicely and we took them outside to a beautiful area and I took about 200 pictures experimenting with wide aperture settings with dappling sunlight through the shade.

After about 4 hours of going through the photos, tweaking and cropping in Photo shop etc...I came up with a few inspiring compositions that I wanted to paint. I chose several scenes that may be desirable to a gallery in case I need to go that route, and I was careful to get an accurate likeness in case my brother would want it. I would love to be able to gift it to my brother but this is all I am doing for a living right now and I have a family to support.