Monday, March 22, 2010

A Couple of Commissions

Mini
6x8 inches
Coloured pencils on drafting film
Boscoe
2.5 x 3.5 inches
Coloured pencils on drafting film
I find it quite interesting, as I was keen to try some more pet portraits in pastel, and so reduced the prices on these so that they are cheaper than the pencil pet portraits, and yet people seem to have a preference for the pencil work. It is impossible to anticipate what customers will prefer. It can be challenging to do a background when working on drafting film, and so I usually opt for no background at all. I would have thought that people would prefer a portrait with some kind of colour in the background, but actually this isn't what I've experienced. I am happy if the commissions come my way, no matter what medium, but on the laws of average, for me, coloured pencil pet portraits far outway those done in either graphite pencil, or pastel. Yet, for people portraits, graphite wins hands down.



11 comments:

jsicignano2.blogspot.com said...

Hi Karen, Mini and Bosco come alive against the white. I can understand why the pencil portraits are favored over the pastels. They are great. Thank you for all the info you gave me, tomorrow more pencils. You have a great day.

Unknown said...

My pleasure Joan and I look forward to hearing how you go, and thank you for your lovely comments!!! :)

Unknown said...

Love them both and superb work as always.
I still have the pastel to try..when the art shop sends them. they have been on order for 6 weeks.

I still favour the graphite but I am getting there slowly with the CP technique.

Your work is so outstanding.

Anonymous said...

Got to say that I totally agree with what you say Karen, and these two little beauties are superb.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much Dors - your wonderful comments are very much appreciated. 6 weeks!!! - My goodness that's a long time - you will be excited when they finally come, and look forward to seeing your work with pastels.
Thank you so much Vic - I know you do a lot of CP pet portraits too, so they definitely are popular.

Autumn Leaves said...

Both of these are beautiful portraits, Karen. I have to say that Boscoe is a favorite of mine now. I just want to pet him and cuddle with him and play with him. He is adorable! No clue as pastels or c/p on drafting film. I haven't used pastels since grade school and I've never used drafting film or mylar for any work.

Unknown said...

Boscoe does look like a gorgeous pup, doesn't he Sherry - I had three referene photos to work from and he looked cheeky and adorable in every one. Thank you for your lovely comments!!! :)

Artoholic said...

Havig bought both mediums frm you Karen, I can honestly say I love them both equally. When I show people the pastel though, all they want to do is "pat" the cat, to see if it feels as soft as it looks.

That pup is the spitting image of our wee dog Bonnie, who we sadly lost to epilepsy.

Off to clean up the immense damage left by the hail storm......

Cheers,

Cindy

Unknown said...

Thank you Cindy - I've thought of you so many times in the last couple of days, every time I watch the news, wondering if you were affected by the storm. Did you suffer a lot of damage to your house?

Unknown said...

I love these two, especially Boscoe WOW!

Unknown said...

Thank you for your wonderful feedback Sam - much appreciated!!! :)