Portrait Delivery Before and After

Me with the portrait at "the drop"

I thought you'd enjoy a glimpse into the surreptitious activities of surprise portrait commission delivery. Last week, right before Christmas, I met my client (Sally) in the parking lot of the McLean Community Library (McLean, VA) to hand off the still wet portrait of her parents -- a surprise Christmas gift for them. Sally used the going-to-CVS excuse to get out of the house... alone. Anything more interesting would have brought along a guest or two, perhaps.

We both got a kick out of the activity. So much so, that she snapped a photo of me next to the delivery vehicle (my car). By the way, my car never looks like this. It's usually piled high with painting/drawing supplies, cardboard to separate paintings, still life objects, rotting fruit, lots of trash, etc. Son Sam and daughter-in-law Michelle's Christmas present to me was sifting their way through the piles until I can now actually see carpet and leather. And accept passengers.

Sally's parents loved the portrait ... And to that, I say, a major yea!!!

After realizing that I "had" the portrait, i.e., Sally and her parents would love it, I celebrated by painting the goat and starting the painting of my parents playing gin rummy.

I do kick up my heels sometimes.

There were lots of great moments today ... that I think I'll reserve for another day.

Sally's parents with the portrait

 Current Exhibitions
Mainly ... my home is filled with lots of art from my December Home Studio Open House. Want a tour? (Ends January 2.)

Sign up for Winter classes. Now, my Still Life class is full (but you could join a wait list) and the Portrait class has one spot left. See my web site: www.JillBanks.com, click on the classes page.

Richeson 75 Animals, Birds and Wildlife Online Exhibition, November 7- December 15, 2011. "Pretty Girl Hen" was selected as one of 75 finalists viewable online at www.richeson75.com/wildlife/index.html and in a full-color catalog.

To read more about the 100 Faces in 100 Days project on my web site (www.jillbanks.com), go to the 100 Faces Project Pages 1 and 2 where you can see all 100 of my volunteers. Click on the paintings, and go to my blog post for that person's sitting.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
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Patil Portrait Delivered: Now on the Mantel

I've been storing up blog posts ... lots to come. Assuming I get them written. It's been a busy week. I'll show you later.

Yesterday evening, Randy and I delivered the portrait to the Patils and it finally is resting on their mantel. It looks BEAUTIFUL there. And, they are truly thrilled with it.

I feel tremendous about having met such a tremendous challenge, having satisfied my clients and myself. It's just awesome.

This is the largest canvas I've painted. I was thinking that it was the greatest number of subjects with four people and two dogs -- but I did paint six grandkids on the beach last year. Since only one of those was facing the viewer... this qualifies as the greatest number of faces painted in a commission.

I will be helping with frame selection next week.

Thought you'd enjoy this view of the portrait in its new home. That's (my husband) Randy on the left and Sangita Patil taking a closer look at the portrait. Read more about it in earlier posts: "The Patil Portrait Finished: Some Close-Ups" and "The Patil Portrait Unveiled".

Now, on to some new chapters in my life as an artist.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

The Patil Portrait: "Unveiled"

The Patil family came over to take their first look at their portrait ... the one I've been secretly working on over the past 10 months. All went very well!!!

I have a few tweaks ... nothing major ... and then it will be theirs.

I truly enjoyed working on this portrait from beginning to end. It's my greatest challenge to date ... four people, two dogs, largest canvas I've painted, etc. What I particularly loved about it is that this is the kind of painting I'd want to do on my own. The Patil's had seen my restaurant series ... particularly the painting I did of "Randy and Me" and decided that's the kind of portrait they would like of their family. Amazing!

The painting depicts real life in the Patil family ... right before daughter Radhika was going off to college. I did a series of photo shoots during their dinner hour and drew the concept ... a combination of bits and pieces from hundreds of photos. There's a lot of life there.

I wondered about pleasing everyone in the family. Was that possible? Yes, and yea!

Raj (the dad) made two comments that made me very happy. He said he felt like he was right there sitting with them. He also said that they looked real ... or alive ... so much different than a photo. I've been in awe of when that happens right before your eyes as you paint. It's truly magical. I'm glad he saw it, too.

I'm showing some pretty poor photos at the moment. The three tripods I have in the garage are all missing the part that screws into the bottom of my camera ... so I took the photos without that. I move. Constantly. Add to that the room's light is pretty yellow. Add to that I was so anxious to post this I didn't bother to move the chair.

I'll finish this up and take better photos soon.

Find out more about commissioning a portrait on my web site. See the gallery pages for a look at other portraits and the commissions page for pricing and process information.

So, this is post #3 for today. Be sure to read post #2 about special news about son Sam and Michelle ... and post #1 about this afternoon's alla prima portrait.

Tonight I'm painting an interior of my dining room. Such a wonderful day.

"The Patil Portrait" almost done, oil on Angel linen, approx. 44"h x 59"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435