- In 2001 a gentleman asked me to paint his Sheltie who had just past away. All I had to work from was the photo in the picture. I couldn’t see the colour of his eyes which I needed to give him life. A friend of mine who had a retail store across from our gallery would bring his Sheltie to work with him everyday. So I went over and checked out Cooper’s eyes and used that information to complete the painting. Cooper had almost the identical markings as Toby, so he was a great help filling in more detail than I could get from the photo. The client was very pleased with the results. I’ve done quite a few pet portraits over the years and each one can be challenging, especially if the photos aren’t particularly clear. So it often takes much research checking out the breed (eg: colouring and size).
Category 30 Years of Paintings and Sketches
Pillars Commission
In 1992, Mr. Pillar senior of Pillars Sausages commissioned this painting of the Pillar family business in the old country, taken from an old photo he had. This was the original butcher shop and stables. I think the young boy in the middle in this painting may have been the same gentleman. I really enjoy portraying family histories like this!
Nova Scotia Commission
This commission was of a clients grandfather in Nova Scotia. I worked from old faded photos. Interesting subject, isn’t it?
Chapel Point
-
- This is a painting commissioned by a Christian summer camp organization near Huntsville, Ontario . They initially wanted to auction the original and for me to produce 250 limited edition prints to help raise funds at their 75th anniversary celebration. When I heard they had been at this for such a long time I suggested that they increase the edition to 1000. They were worried that they wouldn’t be able to sell so many at the event, but I assured them that they could still offer them after the event and to new families over the years. As it turned out they sold all of them at the event.
- I made a number of trips to the camp and wandered around taking photos and making sketches. I chose this view from the girls camp looking towards the boys camp. If you look through the trees just to the right of center, I used artistic license to indicate their open air chapel.
Brother/Sister Portrait
-
I don’t get many opportunities for portraiture, but here is a nice one…a brother and sister in 1992. Loved the dress!
Mennonite Bridge
- Years ago the Mennonites ask the township for a bridge across the Conestoga River. The Township priced the job at $20,000 at that time but was not in the budget. The mennonites offered to do the job themselves at no cost to the Township. The Township agreed of course and this bridge was built ( at the cost of $300.00 by the way). It was built in such a way as to allow the water to flow over the bridge during flooding so as not to create an obstruction. Ingenious!!
Maple Lane Dairy Commission
This client’s father was a milkman for Maple Lane Dairy in the 50’s. There were old photos of his horse and wagon and of him in uniform. From talking to the client I found out that he delivered to his own house on Buck’s Hill in Waterloo (only locals of my age would remember where that is). So I found out where he lived and painted the street scene viewed from his house. When I placed the horse and wagon in the picture I remembered to lean the horse forward to take up the drag of the wagon since it was on a steep hill. Many of these commissions require a bit of detective work to make them more personal to the client. This painting was done in 1991.
Greek Restaurant Mural Commission
In the early 80’s I was commissioned to paint 8 murals in a new Greek restaurant. I worked from postcards that the owner had….for some reason he wouldn’t send me to Greece for research. The owner fed me some of his delicious meals while I worked. Years later I went in for lunch and found they had moved to larger quarters….the old location was being rented by a travel agency who painted over the murals.
Child’s commission
An elderly client commissioned me to paint the family farm. The farm didn’t look like this anymore ,but he gave me a number of old photos to work from. I pieced together the images that were taken from different angles through the years past. I came across this family in the background of one of the images and took a chance and added them to the painting. The painting was a success and just what he remembered and more than they expected because the baby turned out to be the gentleman who commissioned the painting. I really love the challenge to evoke memories and emotions that resonate with the client like this.
Kerwin commission
Another commission in 1986 using clients’ archived photos of what the family farm looked like.The people in the painting were posed standing in line 3 feet apart across the front lawn at the bottom of the picture. I thought it too formal and stiff so moved them up to the porch in a more natural pose.
Roger Witmer Fine Art 