Elmer Painting / Commissions

"Elmer" - April 2010
11" x 14" Gallery Wrapped Canvas
Black & White Acrylic

My girlfriend and I have just celebrated our One Year Anniversary!

Without her, or anybody else, having any idea, I recently completed a painting of her dog, Elmer (Elmer passed away some months back and she is GREATLY remembered and missed). This past weekend I gave Toni the painting for our Anniversary. She absolutely LOVED it! I was so happy she loved the painting so much. It's now hung up and everything.

It has been an all over great experience painting this piece. I'm really happy with how every step of it went.

Of course I took some pictures of "Elmer" and I posted them online and texted them to friends and family. The feedback I've been getting is just AMAZING! Everybody seems to love it.

It really is great hearing such positive feedback about this painting, especially with how important it is and also with how nervous I always am about my artwork. I never know what's working, what's not working, what parts people really are drawn towards, or what they really just don't care for...and honestly, for the most part, I basically figure people mostly take the position of "Oh, that's nice. (Wouldn't want it, but look at what you're so proud of.)" What I'm hearing from friends, family, and even other Artists, really feels like genuine interest and congratulations on this piece. It's a pretty nice feeling. AND, some people have even asked about commissioning me to do a portrait of THEIR pet for them! How cool is THAT!?! I can't WAIT to get started on those! Of course I'm VERY nervous about it, but also SO excited!

It's definitely going to be a journey starting out on these commissions. It's also definitely one that NEEDS TO be done. I plan on taking a slow start, working mostly with people I know would be forgiving of any stumbles and hiccups along the way. And there are a TON of things that can go wrong on any one commission - the image the Client has in mind versus what the Artist understands is desired, pricing, timeframe, shipping, payment...anything could go wrong. But knowing that somebody actually wants ME to paint something for THEM...that's just an incredible feeling. So I'm looking forward to it!