Children with their dogs Portrait

Being commissioned to paint an outdoor scene with a sister and brother, each with their dogs, excited me when I got the call a few months ago.  Who knew how much work this would turn out to be!

"Family Portrait", pastel on Wallis paper, 21x31", ©Kim Werfel

The first challenge was the photo shoot....choosing where and getting the dogs to look at the camera and the kids to try and have a natural smile.  They were all pretty cooperative...so was the weather thank goodness!

(original photo)



Didn't like the tree growing in between them...or the house in the background, so I removed them but pretty much kept the rest of the composition the same.  Loved the rock and the natural feel of the landscape. 

Older dog

The boy's dog was elderly and deaf...very sweet but hard to get her attention... the kids were troupers and very polite...lovely to work with.

Girl with younger dog

The girl's dress seemed to have lavender shadows, so I went with it.  The tiny toes and fingers were really tricky to get just right...sometimes just suggesting instead of putting it all in.

The biggest problem I had was doing their portraits so very, very small....their faces were less than two inches long so all the details and nuances had to be done with specs of pastel pencil!  Very challenging...I don't recommend it.

While making this I heard in my head the wise words of my teacher years ago saying that you don't want to paint portraits too small or larger than life......now I know why.

All in all this was a learning experience...this portrait combined landscape painting, dog portraits, children's portraits, photography skills and figure drawing all in one. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Kim Werfel

http://www.kimwerfel.com

Little Calf & Goat Paintings Sold!

A pair of 6x6 wraparound canvas acrylic paintings sold at yesterday's Art in the Park event at Fearrington Village yesterday!

"Fearrington Goat", 6x6, acrylic on wraparound canvas ©Kim Werfel

This was the first time I exhibited with the Fearrington Artists, it was an outside event and the weather cooperated beautifully.  The same woman who bought my little goat snapped up a small calf that I had done years ago...they went together like bookends :)

"Fearrington Calf", 6x6, acrylic on wraparound canvas ©Kim Werfel

Forgive me, this little calf was painted so long ago, I only found this poor photo out of focus, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

The customer was visiting Fearrington from Wisconsin and wanted to take home a bit of charm from the place.  I was happy to oblige, but confess that I was holding onto them myself as they always made me smile :)

Need to paint more small acrylics of these sweet animals...so much fun!

Have some dog portrait commission leads from the show as well - and had a blast catching up with friends who stopped by. 

Thanks to all who made this show a success!

Kim

http/www.kimwerfel.com



Art In The Village

An Outdoor Art Exhibit and Sale at my homestead, Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, NC 27312 is taking place on Sunday May 20th from 10-4pm (rain date next Sunday 5/27)

Fearrington Village is such a nice place...great restaurants, bookstore and I love the cows and goats!  It's located just 8 miles south of Chapel Hill - off 15-501. 

Seems Fearrington has attracted an eclectic group of artists who live and work here.  We've gathered together to form a group that will show a couple of times a year here.  Don't miss this....great people...wonderful ambiance....great places to eat lunch....and pick up some one-of-a-kind lovely artwork, art prints and cards!

See our facebook page (just starting out, we would love it if you'd "like" us!)
Click here

Join our blog to keep current with our events:  http://fearringtonartists.blogspot.com

Thank you...

Kim Werfel