Day 9 - A Graduation

"A Graduation" (conte and pastel pencils, 10x8 inches, from client photo) sold

Another commission from last month. One of my favorite challenges. Her photo was actually printed on a metal diploma, in one of those dot matrix prints that are used in newspapers. I took a photo of the photo so you could see what I mean...

Your monitor or device screen might play havoc with the patterns on this image, but click it and zoom in! Weird!

My client was super happy to have this portrait more clearly drawn. It was the only photo she had of herself at that age.

See more of my pencil portraits at RitaKirkmanDrawings.com.

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A portrait commission and a New Goal for a New Year

"Bible Study" (16x12, conte and pastel pencils, from client photo) sold

Well, another year is gone and a new year begins again.

I was thrown off my usual rhythm in November when my schedule had me in Montreal for a workshop and various other things kept me away from doing my annual 30-in-30 November challenge. Then I was largely offline most of December, immersed in portrait commissions at a Holiday craft show that I've been doing for decades.

It's strange and powerful this hold that the creative urge has over an artist. It's too easy to let it all slide and get caught up in other daily routines, errands, paperwork, dinner chores, and then another day is gone and nothing new has been created. But the urge is still there, like a craving.

Commission work is wonderful and is awesome for paying the bills, but when 99% of it is from client photos, it's not creation, it's copywork. It takes skill, yes, and occasionally one gets to copy a lovely image with exciting light and a decent composition, like the one above, but what the client still wants in the end is an accurate copy of their photo.

After a month of commissions (and more yet on my schedule) I'm dying to dive back into my own ideas. The distractions and excuses are still loud: my database broke, the paperwork is overflowing, one of my hard drives is glitching, and the master closet is scary. But I have decided that the only way I'll be able to really get back to work is to tell someone I'm going to do it! (Because I'm a woman of my word.)

So here it is: I'm going to jump start my 2020 with a 31-in-31 month of posts!

Fine print: I will be using the Leslie Saeta set of rules for my 31-in-31, so if I don't paint a new painting every day, I'll be able to fill in with some of the portraits I did last month (starting with this one.) But I will be posting something that has not been posted before, every day this month!

Thanks for following along with my journey, stay tuned for more, and let me know what you think!

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PS: see more Detailed Pencil Portraits on my drawings site RitaKirkmanDrawings.com.

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A Tender Moment

"A Tender Moment" (conte and pastel pencil, 16x13 inches)  sold

One of my favorites from the Christmas Season.  It's not too soon to be thinking of Valentine's Day!

See more samples and ordering information at ritakirkmandrawings.com.

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A Family Portrait Commission

A Family Portrait Commission (conte pencil and pastel pencil on paper, 24x36 inches)

I know I haven't posted in a while. December was my annual Christmas craft show at my local mall, which I've been doing wherever I happen to live, every year since 1988. It's kinda hard to give up! The bulk of my business is detailed pencil portraits like this one (only usually smaller, with one or two or three faces.) This client wanted one "as big as you can make it, Rita!" So I hunted down my full sheets of the paper I ordered in bulk years ago, and turns out it was 26x40! Wow! I was able to draw these faces just about life size. Fitting in the drawing time between the other, smaller, faster orders, it look me nearly the entire craft show to complete.

Now that Christmas is over (and I've had my few short days of 'rest') I can start posting some of this year's results.

Here are a few shots of my progress on this huge portrait. It barely fit on my easel! In order to hang my iPad nearby, and rest my hand to the right, I had to cover the immediate areas with paper to protect what I had already done.

Daughter & Mother - a portrait commission - day 25

"Daughter & Mother"  (conte pencil and pastel pencil, 8x10 inches)  sold

'Tis the Season! As Christmas approaches, my commissioned portraits will be taking precedence over my daily paintings. As I complete one, I'll post one from an earlier year, to protect the current Christmas surprises!

To inquire about commissioning a portrait for a Christmas gift (there's still time!) visit my Drawings Site: www.ritakirkmandrawings.com.