Bucolic PA Farmland

I had a request, a commission so to speak (oh ok, it was

from my brother) to paint a pastoral scene such as 

he had come to love driving to work in PA.  

"I want a painting of bucolic farmland," he stated, "with

trucks and tractors, sheep, cows, barns, crops,

grass and mountains." 

Commissions are, at best, an opportunity to paint something new; at worst they are a nightmare of micro-managed ideas not easily translated to the canvas.  I sighed thinking that the number of requested ingredients did not add up to "bucolic."  But exercising artistic license (I have one you know) I made some edits, some additions and peeled my eyes for ideas.  I think we got it!

I decided to suggest some crop fields in the foreground.

the middle ground got a barn, silo and some things we will call sheep grazing

as a Florida transplant to PA my bro loves fall as much as I do, so I decided that

the bucolic scene would be in the fall, the mountains are a backdrop

here it is all together, so far he has approved but I am letting it "marinate" 

before framing in case I decide to make some tweaks 

I also want to thank my painting friend Carmen Beecher who generously gave me permission to use a photograph of hers for inspiration; her daughter lives in one of the houses at the bottom of the road and when I saw Carmen's "vacation photo" I knew it held many of the elements I needed 

for my painting.

Bucolically Yours,

Cindy

Lisa's Lilies

The word "commission" gives many of us the shakes!  After the initial compliment of someone wanting to pay you (me?!) to paint something specific for them comes the dread that they won't like the final product, or the fear that they will micro-manage the process, or even the pain of not being able to understand exactly what they want.  It can turn into a very stressful experience for all sides.

But sometimes it is well worth the challenge because you know you are entrusted with something that the buyer obviously wants and will cherish for a long, long time.  Much of the skill lies in knowing when the match will work....in other words: when to say yes.

Lisa's Lilies

24" x 36"  acrylic and oil on board

 

Here's a "yes."  OK, I'll admit I hestiated because Lisa is a pond expert and her lilies are really precious to her and jokes about Monet notwithstanding I had told her the art world already had enough water lilies in it!  But this is her front yard...and honestly it was all up to me as long as I included the rocks and the lily pads and the blooms and the grasses and the white flowers on the grasses and....

See? it's the "as long as" they gets an artist into trouble every darn time!!

 

But I love a challenge and took some photos and began to play with the idea and slowly it began to fall into place.  It is almost finished; it needs some "warming up" and a few other tweaks but so far it has the approval of it's soon-to-be owner.  But do you see the white flowers?  Me neither.  I can't accomodate her on this one as I think it would detract from the pink blooms and the light cast across the scene from the sun.  I scratched my head on this and decided if white spider flowers were a deal breaker that artistic integrity was worth breaking the deal over...that or start all over again.

See why "commisions" are fraught with concerns?  Anyway, I just thought I'd share this and attempt to explain that when you commission anyone to do anything (creative or artistic) for you, it is my opinion that you will get more than your money's worth if you give them a broad description of what you want and then step way back and let their muse take over.  This holds when ordering flowers, hiring a carpenter or commissioning a piece of art.  The more they know about the use (I knew the size needed and the location it would hang) and your desire for a result (to capture their front yard pond in all its glory), the more exciting the results will be. 

And for the record (in case she reads this) may I state publically that Lisa and her lilies were the perfect clients!!