ORDERING A COLOUR PENCIL PORTRAIT
When it comes to ordering a colour pencil portrait, it may puzzle you where to start, you see ads all over social media, all stating they will create you the perfect portrait for only X…oh yeah and there’s that friend of my uncle etc etc etc…..What you need is someone who is completely professional, charges the normal going rate, and someone who gives a full guarantee you will be happy with the colour portrait you order.
All colour pencil portraits I undertake are fully guaranteed to give 100% customer satisfaction. Once I start a portrait drawing I will send the customer regular updates to ensure they are happy with the progress of the piece at every stage. Then once completely finished, the final drawing is photographed and sent to the customer for final approval prior to final payment and the drawing being posted.
THAT SPECIAL PHOTOGRAPH
The ordering of a colour portrait normally stems from having that one photo you love, you have had for years, and one day you think, “Ill have a professional drawing commissioned of that photo it will make a superb drawing”
It could be the only photo you have of a lost relative, or someone close to you. It could be a photo of a pet you had while growing up that triggers beautiful memories of your younger years. Whatever it is of, you can be assured when ordering a colour portrait from Personal Artworks UK you will receive a drawing that will become more precious to you than your favourite photo.
Obviously some older photos are not of the best quality, maybe they are a little blurred or very small, don’t automatically think they will be no good to use as reference for a pencil portrait, send them over to me and I will have a look. Over they years I have had some very old and very poor photos to use as reference, but with technology nowadays I can enlarge the photos and retouch them, adjusting colour and light levels on the computer. This allows me to get far more enhanced photo reference in order to achieve the perfect colour pencil portrait.
WANTING NEW PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE TAKEN?
Maybe you’re thinking you would like a family pencil portrait drawing and are happy to have new photographs taken? in cases like this its a relatively straight forward process, with phone cameras and SLR digital cameras of today, achieving great photos is quite easy, even for an amatuer. One thing some customers like to do is merge old and new photographic reference to create the ultimate reference for a perfect colour portrait drawing. For instance, you may want a group colour portrait of three or four generations from the same family, and you have them on four or five different photographs, thats fine, I can digitally photograph them and create a complete composition on the computer.
I will discuss with you which people you would like to be more prominent in the composition and any ideas you have on the overall layout. I will then create a composition of it all together for your approval, prior to starting to use it as reference for you perfect colour pencil portrait.
COLOUR PORTRAITS USING THE FINEST MATERIALS
When creating anything in life, whether that be the perfect meal, or, a pencil portrait, using the best materials possible will always give you the best chance of producing something spectacular.
With all my pencil portraits, I use the finest oil based lightfast coloured pencils, these give a highly vivid appearance, have amazing blending qualities and have a great level of precision. I have tried various brands and types of pencil over the years, from wax to oil based pencils, colour soft to lightfast, but the lightfast pencil I currently use are the best all rounder by far.
Amongst my arsenal of materials I use to create my pencil portraits, I also use a variety of blending tools to create an astounding level of realism. As with all images, not all areas are pin sharp, some have softer edges, some are a little blurred and some so blurred the’re hardly recognisable, this is where blending tools come into their own. I have a range of paper blending sticks, which are great for precise smaller areas of blending and smudging, firmer more rubber based smudge tools, and also the slightly unorthodox, eyeliner brush, which is the perfect blending tool for more delicate areas, particularly when using softer leads. But to be honest artists across the globe devise weird and wonderful methods of smudging and blending so theres no right or wrong way, its simply the results that count.
COLOUR PORTRAITS PICTURE FRAMING
The perfect finish for a colour pencil portrait is to make it stand out from the crowd with a beautiful mount and frame. Choosing the right colour and tone of both mount and picture frame can excel the portrait drawing from looking good to looking spectacular. When a customer requests for their colour portrait to be mounted and framed, they more often than not, leave the colour and style up to me. When I choose the colour and style I only bare in mind one thing….What will work best with the artwork. I don’t take into account the room it’s going in or position of the drawing. I only choose colours that will enhance the colour portrait to the next level. That said I won’t ever go crazy and choose colours like bright red, bright green, I always keep a certain amount of neutrality to the colour palette of both the mount and frame, so the portrait drawing can be positioned anywhere and not look out of place.
SHOULD I HAVE A BACKGROUND ON MY COLOUR PORTRAIT?
This really comes down to personal preference, and also depends on the background setting, does it detract or add to the overall colour pencil portrait drawing composition? I find a lot of customers prefer to have the subject(s) isolated so the focus is solely on the subjects in the colour portrait. But if the colour portrait is of a small child sat in a cost crib or playing with soft toys, this can add a dramatic element to the overall drawing and give a lot more reason and understanding to the composition. In addition to this if the background is quite complex but doesn’t really add a great deal to the overall pencil portrait drawing, it is worth really considering if its worth having, as the cost will increase considerably due to the complexity of the background.
COLOUR PORTRAIT – THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY GIFT
As you would imagine a lot of my colour pencil portrait orders are for birthday gifts, the most unique birthday gift, a handcrafted portrait of someone special in your life. If you are wanting to order a colour portrait for a birthday gift please try to order well in advance as there are quite a few busy periods throughout the year, and I would hate to not be able to meet your timeframes. Just to give you a rough idea on timeframes to complete a colour portrait, an A3 colour portrait will take approx 2-3 weeks, then going up in size to A2, this size can take 6-10 weeks, depending how many subjects are in the colour pencil portrait. In any case please get in touch sooner rather than later and we can discuss ho best to achieve your required timeframes.
