Anatomy of a commission: Part 3 and Final Stage

Hard to believe we are almost into March. Winter has gone by quickly and all of my plans to spend quiet nights by the fly-tying vise didn’t seem to materialize. I’ve been busy painting seven days a week. A number of my 9” x 12” plein air oils were sold in the last few weeks and so I need to work on new scenes. I also completed two still life paintings, which I’m hoping to offer in a few weeks. And the work on the commission for Mel in Colorado is finally completed. Even though I thought I had finished the oil about 3 weeks ago, I found myself constantly going back over it to add minor touches that I felt it needed. In the meantime, a custom-made 23k golf leaf frame was selected and ordered. It will require about 4 weeks to get delivered and that will give the oil time to dry so that I can give it a coat of retouch varnish before shipping.

This painting was an interesting challenge. The composition, colors, and overall feel of it were something that required much thought and attention on my part from beginning to end. But all of the hard work, at the end paid off. When I felt completely satisfied with the results, I shot a digital photo of the finished painting and sent it off to Mel for approval. I felt much relieved when his enthusiastic answer came back. Mel was excited about the final painting and was anxious to receive it. Over the past weekend I invited a few friends over to see the oil before it is shipped out. Three of these four friends are avid sportsmen and excellent upland game bird hunters. The best comment I received about the oil was when one of them said that he felt as he could just walk into the scene. I think that was all I needed to hear.

So after months at my studio in just a few weeks “A Good Day” will be shipped off to its new home. Time to say good-bye to it and start painting a brand new scene.

 

 

Thanks for following this commission process from beginning to end. I hope you have found it of interest and have gained some appreciation for the amount of work required in creating a painting.