Thursday, May 13, 2010

Day 13: Draw What You Had For Dinner

We drove out to Kelowna for Mom's birthday tonight.  I came home a bit early, thinking I would drop Yogi off, then go out and pick up her gift.  When I got home, I saw the line drawing for the portrait of her and dad I was thinking of doing.  It was about 3:30.  We had to leave at about 5.  I thought, well, why not just paint for a bit, and if it's coming together fast, I'll give her that instead of a stack of books to read.

Not having much time I think can actually help a painting.  No time to muddle and overpaint.  I got the painting to a point I could at lease show her.  Her feet weren't visible in the reference photo, so I left them out, took the painting up as her present, looked through old pictures to see what kind of shoes she wore then, and brought it home so I can add her feet.  I haven't done it yet, but you'll find the footless version below.  My dad lit up when he saw it.  Turns out the car is a Martin, it was tan, and they drove it for their honeymoon.  He may be struggling with his memory now, but his memory for 1953 is perfectly intact.

I'm glad I did this in time for her birthday. The nieces bought her just about the same stack of books I was going to pick up.  That's one good thing about painting presents - I never have to worry that I'm giving a duplicate!

2 comments:

prettyartybuildings said...

I like the "before" line sketch and the "after" results too. Great tones.

Serena Lewis said...

What a lovely gift for your Mum's birthday!