Introducing Norah Grace and Sophie Mae.

I’ve had the pleasure of being commissioned by Jody Dorris to paint these beautiful girls’ portrait for a Christmas present to their father Logan Dorris. I began with a photo shoot back in August, which was basically 3 and a half hours of following them around with a camera. For the setting, we first visited the Belmont mansion on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, which had several courtyards, gazebos, gardens, and tall, stately white pillars.

From there, we went to the atriums of the Opryland Hotel, which feature amazing gardens, waterways, and walkways.

Two tired kids, 450 pictures, and three and a half hours later, we wrapped it up with some great photos to choose from. After a review of the photos with Jody and Logan, they decided upon a double portrait of the girls on the stairs of the Belmont Mansion.

Now, it is rarely as simple as just selecting the photo and running with it. There are several decisions to be made about color, lighting, shadows, composition, body position, expression, etc…enter photoshop. With photoshop, I am able to make a composite image that is much closer to what I have in mind for the finished painting. This is not so much for the sake of artistic purposes, for the eye is always better than any software or camera, but rather for the sake of replacing mistakes in the photography (closed eyes, awkward hand positions, etc.) There is no need to get carried away with details and fancy photoshop techniques at this point. These details are easier and more appropriately attended to during the drawing and painting stages. Below is the loose composite photo I used to begin the painting. Further posts will follow…

*see part 2 here*

I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve been feverishly working on a few projects – a couple fiction book cover illustrations and a top secret portrait painting! Ok, not exactly top secret, but it was a surprise Christmas gift. So, now that Christmas is over, I’ll be posting all about it.

Stay tuned…I’ll be back soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Last weekend, I went out with a small group from Plein Air Nashville to paint the landscapes of Bells Bend, in Scottsboro Tennessee. The fall weather was crisp and perfect, and the fall color ready for painting.

here’s the finished sketch:

Below is a video of painters Jeremy Lipking and Tony Pro who had more awe-inspiring vistas to paint, and and a heap more adventure. What an experience this must have been.

For my readers in the Nashville area, you’ll want to seize this opportunity, because unfortunately, it doesn’t come too often in this area. Richland Fine Art, one of the leading traditional fine art outlets in middle Tennessee, is hosting the 2008 Oil Painters of America Eastern US Juried Exhibition, featuring over 100 paintings chosen out of approximately 1000 entrants from across the US. The opening reception is Friday, October 17th, 5p – 8p. Visit Richland’s website for details and small preview of some of the works. 

I’m looking forward to seeing more work from Kevin Beilfuss at the show. Below are a couple of his works.

Painted alla prima…

detail…