It has been a long time coming, but I finally finished the family portrait! Which means it is time to celebrate, and what better way to do that, than with a giveaway!
But my goodness, that was quite the journey!
Back in December, I started sketching out the beginnings of what would become this finished family portrait. I had no idea it would take this long, and it taught me many things along the way. Specifically about how long it would take, the logistics of taking on a project with so many people, and how to stay motivated.
The process started when I was working on a drawing while waiting for a child to finish dance rehearsal one evening. I figured, I have at least an hour of drawing with no distractions, I might as well be productive. This is also a favorite time for me to work on my blog articles. It’s a great way to be productive while sitting and just waiting.
So, I was drawing this image when another parent stopped to look at what I was working on. He asked if I ever draw people, and of course I said I do. He asked if I would make his family portrait, so we exchanged contact info and over the course of the next few weeks talked about the process. He had to have a portrait photographed first, but he wanted to have something unique for the living room, rather than just having a portrait printed. We then talked about size- it ended up being 24x36in. before framing. So- HUGE! And then we discussed price. Initially, I was going to look into framing it too, but we discovered that his idea of what he would want for a frame was different than mine, and therefore I suggested that when it is finished I would give him some suggestions for where to take it for framing, and that I would not include a frame in the price. I think this is something that is personal to the style of the client, and they need to be involved so that it works in their home. Now, for works that I frame for a show, I generally stick with the gallery black frame with crisp white matting. In those cases, you need a cohesive way to tie everything together, and keeping it standard is helpful in that regard. Especially if you are planning a show where you want to feature many different pieces.
Now. If you are not used to working with huge paper, let me tell you, it is not easy to find! Why did that dimension stand out in my head??? I was the one that offered up the dimensions! I think we must have made canvasses this size in college, because anywhere I went to find a good quality drawing paper in that size, they just did not carry it. But, I did find that you can purchase huge rolls of paper, so I took a trip to a local art supply store and bought a good roll of mixed media drawing paper. Mixed media paper is thicker than regular drawing paper, which means that it is good for drawing on, or painting on and the paper will not fall apart.
A roll of paper that size has its own challenges. Like, when you unroll it, it is still tightly wound up. So, that requires stretching the paper out on a tabletop or the floor. In my case, I wanted to make sure that I could move the image off of my workspace, so I taped it down to a large Masonite board. Luckily, I had such a board available, in that size! Now, I had to tape it down and get the right dimensions perfectly square. I must have looked like I was wrestling an octopus. But, I got the tape out, and got the corners down, and managed to then get some straight lines on the page; but, the image I was given was not the exact same scale as the paper, so I had to adjust- basically zoom in a bit more on the people, and less on the background. And I had to do a few basic sketches to get the sizes correct on everyone in relation to one another. I think this took much of the time at the beginning. On such a huge image, it is hard to move from looking at one part of the blank page, then over to your original image, and then transfer the image in the right spot as you draw; it might be easier next time if I can figure out how to get a projection of the image onto the paper. Might be a good investment if I get the inspiration to do another of these huge drawings! But, we got a sketch down, in the correct size. This took some time, but along the way, I would send pictures to the customer to get feedback and show progress. Not only at the beginning, but even as I wa getting into the details. We have done that the entire time that we have worked together, and it is fun to hear the feedback as he shares in the progress.
Over the course of the last 7 months (wow!) I would work on this drawing in the mornings before work, and I would keep track of the time spent on the image. I wrote the date and the amount of time spent in a running list down the side of the drawings, and on the tape and in the margins on the sketches. Anyone want to guess how many hours it took?
Here are some of the dates, others are on the sketched pages…. it should give you the start of how long this took.
I will send out a set of 12 colored pencils like the ones I used to make this drawing- Prismacolors- to the person that guesses the closest amount before I call the end of the contest at the end of this week- Saturday August 11th, 2018 will be the deadline. To enter, Share, like, and comment about this blog post- but you must do all 3 to be entered, as described below
Share this post on their social media feed from wherever you are reading this (Facebook, Instagram.
Like this post!
Comment in here that you shared and liked this post, and make a guess as to how many hours this took to draw this portrait!
The winner will be the person that has shared, liked and commented, and that has picked a number that is the closest in terms of hours for completion of this project. Get ready….. and go!
Here is the exact pencils I will send- unopened, of course.
And this is NOT an affiliate post. I get no compensation from anyone if you buy any products from this page, but if you don’t win, and want some pencils, you can find some here….
I am lucky, this is probably the most supportive client. He has been nothing but fun to work with, and I hope that his family also enjoys the picture when it gets hung up in their new home!
As my kids would say…. Comment down below, lol!