ORDERING A CHILD PENCIL PORTRAIT
Capturing the magic and innocence of a childs persona is what gives a child pencil portrait its true magic. The soft unblemished tones of their skin, their glistening eyes, reflects the true meaning of childhood innocence. With all children portraits capturing these key elements is the most important part of the whole drawing. That particular look, their cheeky smile is what gives the pencil drawings its entire reason for being.
Whenever I undertake a pencil portrait, whether that be of a child, adult(s) or animal(s), the photographic reference needs to be pin sharp and of good tonal quality. Although I can use my artistic licence to enhance certain aspects of the drawing from poor reference, if the fundamentals of the subjects form and shape are not present in the reference initially, the chances of the portrait having intense realism are dramatically reduced.
You may only have old photo prints as the reference for your pencil portrait? Thats ok, as long as there is enough detail, even in old prints, I can enlarge these digitally to get an enhanced reference which will allow me to see the detail of the imagery a lot better.
Although on my website you can order a child pencil portrait, pay a deposit and do everything needed to place an official order, the majority of people prefer to phone up and discuss their portrait on the phone. As it is quite a personal thing most people have individual things to add and discuss so they get exactly the right portrait. As mentioned above the detail of the finished drawing and size is all dependent on the reference quality. So before the finer details of the order are discussed I firstly like to make sure the reference is of high enough quality to use for the child portrait drawing. So if you are looking for a pencil portrait of your own child or a friend or relatives child, please send me over the reference with the initial order contact. Once this is addressed the rest of the order process is plain sailing.
MULTIPLE SUBJECT CHILD PENCIL PORTRAIT
Looking for a child portrait with more than one child in the drawing? This is a regular request, a lot of customers prefer to have 3-4 poses of the same child in there group portrait composition. It usually consists of a child head and shoulders portrait central in the drawing, surrounded by 2-3 other poses of the same child, almost like a ‘through the years’ portrait composition, which tells its own great story. In cases like this I will created a digital proof from the reference provided of how the overall composition will look and which poses will be used in the overall piece. This helps a lot of customers visualise how the overall child portrait will look when done.
Obviously if you would like to have your child portrait to feature a few different children or maybe a family pet, thats also possible. Creating a hand drawn pencil portrait, with multiple children and the added fun factor of an animal can make for a fantastic portrait.
CHILD PENCIL PORTRAIT IN COLOUR
A pencil portrait of a child in full colour has an element of realism and purity like nothing else. Unlike black and white, a colour pencil portrait can capture the delicate skin tones and unblemished complexion of a child to give an extremely realistic finish. Within any portrait the subject of a child naturally oozes fun and happiness due to the personality each individual child evokes. This is captured to a hyperrealistic level in all my child pencil portrait that I do, but even more so in colour.
CHILD PENCIL PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE
There is a certain mood and emotion that a black and white pencil portrait evokes. Being monotone it forces the viewer to focus more on the subject(s) pose and atmosphere, immediately gaining a deeper perspective into the child portrait drawing. Coloured child portraits as beautiful as they can be don’t immediately offer this element to the viewer, although offering an extremely vivid projection of the child, the portrait can still remain surface level in terms of the atmosphere the piece projects.
Whether you are looking for a black and white child portrait or colour child pencil drawing, the level of realism and detail will be second to none. As with all my commissions, once the piece is finished if you are not entirely happy I will continue to work on the portrait until you are happy at no extra charge.
GETTING THE PERFECT CHILD PORTRAIT
As we are all aware, capturing the perfect pose of any child, looking tidy without remnants of food about their person, can sometimes be like trying to platt fog. That said, I personally prefer reference photos of children to be in their natural state, maybe sat amongst a pile of toys, slightly dishevelled, in their own little zone. This can make for a fantastic portrait, it can evoke such an expression of their true personality, rather than a formal, almost sterile pose. With any child portrait you want it to make the viewer smile, and be a true representation of the child in both looks, but more so reflecting their mischievous personality. To me when undertaking the portrait, these are the key elements which make the portrait go from a good portrait to a spectacular portrait.
In terms of trying to photograph the child, the best advice I can give is to just snap away, when they are playing alone, with the family pet or just playing with friends, you will probably get some photo that you will love and make for the perfect child portrait. If you are wanting something more formal and are struggling to photograph the child, just let me know, I have two professional photographers who will happily come to the venue of your choice and do a photoshoot to help you capture that perfect photo.
HOW CAN I PAY FOR MY CHILD PORTRAIT?
As with all my orders, I take an initial deposit of the customer to make the order official. I then require full payment prior to me despatching the finished portrait to the customer.
If you order in advance, for instance, if you require a drawing for Christmas, if you order it June/July, you can pay in monthly instalments at no extra cost if that helps. However you would like to pay I will always do my best to accommodate and make the process as easy as possible.
CAN YOU TAILOR MY CHILD PORTRAIT TO MY BUDGET?
As mentioned above I will always do my best to get a customer what they want at the best price and with the least amount of stress. In answer to the question ‘can I tailor a child portrait to a specific budget?’ the answer is yes I can. My child portrait drawings can range from £150 right through to £2000, so whatever your budget I can always accommodate and complete a beautiful hand crafted child portrait that is exactly what you are looking for. Please drop me an email or give me a quick call on 0777 999 3163 and I will be happy to discuss things with you.
I WANT MORE THAN ONE PENCIL PORTRAIT, DO I GET A DISCOUNT?
For customers who have already ordered a pencil portrait from me, each additional portrait that they order, they will get a 10% loyalty discount. If you are ordering more than one portrait from me at any one time you will receive a 10% discount on all order values over £500. Please get in touch if you are looking to order more than one portrait so they can be scheduled in enough time to complete the works ready for you.
WILL MY CHILD PORTRAIT BE INSURED WHEN SENT BY POST?
All artwork is sent insured and tracked. For all orders sent framed these are all insured to a minimum of the purchase value. If the child portrait drawing is sent rolled in a protective tube these are also insured to a value of £500. I send all portraits tracked and when despatched I will provide the tracking number. If you have a specific place you would like the artwork left, if you are not in at the time of delivery, please let me know when paying the final balance so I can arrange it with the postal service.
