Well, that's never happened before
I just finished a commissioned painting today that I've been working on for entirely too long. I've written before about my issues with commissioned artwork. Even though the "patron" said to enjoy myself, it still stressed me out, hence why it took me a while to complete.
So this particular lady found a very large canvas (62 x 42" to be exact) at a thrift store and decided she wanted me to paint the lyrics to You are My Sunshine on it. She has sung the song to her daughter every night for, I'm guessing the past decade, and she wanted to give the painting to her daughter for her birthday.
I found some images online of other paintings I've seen with the same lyrics. We discussed colors and style. Basically, she wanted it to be "old timey" looking with greys, blues, and maybe greens. She also wanted the text to look hand-written. Got it.
I found a couple of fonts online to use and decided to interchange them and also make certain words larger than others. I spent several days drawing out the letters with charcoal, referencing my computer in the very beginning and then making it up the rest of the way.
I took the painting to the lady today, and cringed as I waited for her reaction. I didn't have to cringe long before she exclaimed, "I LOVE IT!" and gave me a huge hug.
But that's not all. She actually began to tear up, and then proceeded to hug me several more times. Granted, she's been having to deal with some difficult things in her life recently, which probably explains the response, but hands down, the most surprising and best reaction to date.
And now I expect nothing less from future clients. I'm gonna need tears, people.
And to give you an idea of the size:
So this particular lady found a very large canvas (62 x 42" to be exact) at a thrift store and decided she wanted me to paint the lyrics to You are My Sunshine on it. She has sung the song to her daughter every night for, I'm guessing the past decade, and she wanted to give the painting to her daughter for her birthday.
I found some images online of other paintings I've seen with the same lyrics. We discussed colors and style. Basically, she wanted it to be "old timey" looking with greys, blues, and maybe greens. She also wanted the text to look hand-written. Got it.
I found a couple of fonts online to use and decided to interchange them and also make certain words larger than others. I spent several days drawing out the letters with charcoal, referencing my computer in the very beginning and then making it up the rest of the way.
I took the painting to the lady today, and cringed as I waited for her reaction. I didn't have to cringe long before she exclaimed, "I LOVE IT!" and gave me a huge hug.
But that's not all. She actually began to tear up, and then proceeded to hug me several more times. Granted, she's been having to deal with some difficult things in her life recently, which probably explains the response, but hands down, the most surprising and best reaction to date.
And now I expect nothing less from future clients. I'm gonna need tears, people.
And to give you an idea of the size: