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The art of making an endearing motherly canvas when mom looks like a deadly weapon.

The art of making this:

from this:

 

What happens when your client looks like a deadly weapon but wants an innocent family painting?

One of the challenges I have is often get clients who are drop dead gorgeous with “looks that kill - sex appeal”. Seems like a great challenge to have however it can be slightly problematic. Whenever I get hired to create a group, especially when working remotely, I usually request 10-20 photos of each person to see what works best in a group setting. When creating a beautiful warm family portrait art that conveys a mother's love for her children, these these glamorous women send me adorable happy photos of their kids as reference, but when it comes to her own reference photos, they often send sultry and sexy pics of what they think would work. The juxtaposition of sexy mom with innocent children leads to an odd visual and final product.

 

Long time friend and supporter and all around amazing woman, Amandita commissioned me to create a canvas portrait of her and her two beautiful kids. Since Amandita is quite the bombshell in real life, the majority of her modeling portfolio photos did not work well when posing with her kids in the pre production collage draft phase. Being the mad perfectionist and not resting until I found the right imagery, I ended up doing way more research and choosing a candid photo from her social media account that conveyed a loving and innocent facial expression for the final inspiration. It lead to a more cohesive connected loving vibe to the final art. What do you think?

Click link below to see the animated process.

A year in portraits.

A look into 90% of the portraits commissions  made for my clients through 2011. Happy New Year.

Featuring

Ana, Fadila, Yoli, Samara, Jane, Alyson, Sivan, Jennifer, Christina, Jane, Miss Feeny, Lucia, Ana, Jae, Carmen, Zoila, Elda, Tush, Bebe, Lola, Ela Family, Kelin, Tina, Shownine, Jessica, Vintage Vandalizm, Tessa, Jamie Principle, Frankie Knuckles, Eric Kupper, Betty Chantel, Brittany Kaye, Tonya Thomas, Carmen B, Tabatha, Michelle, Chena, Anki, Charlotte, Miranda, Lauren, Samantha, Nicole, Myrna, Lily, Marilyn, Boos Bakes, Charity, Delancie, Sol, Rene, Brooklyn, & Melanie.

 

 

WORLD LUPUS DAY PORTRAIT OF JENNIFER PAVIA

Portrait of Jennifer for World Lupus Day. See real life version of Jennifer ----> HERE

Jennifer explains: The symbols of Lupus. Purple represents courage and endurance things all lupus patients must have. Butterfly - Traditionally the butterfly represents freedom, transformation and recovery. Also, one of the more common symptoms of Lupus is called a butterfly rash. Wolf - The word lupus in Latin means wolf. This word was used for this disease due to the rash that many patients get a rash across their face that was said to resemble the markings on wolves' faces. Also, the rashes caused by Lupus can look like bite and scratches made by an attacking wolf.

80% of those with Lupus develop it between the ages of 15-45 & Almost 37% of SLE deaths are among people between 15 and 44. Currently 80-90% of Lupus patients survive10 years or more after diagnosis. In a nationwide poll of 1,000 adults conducted for the Lupus Foundation of America, 61% said they knew little to nothing about Lupus. This is a disease that afflicts people of color more so than the caucasian population, however with that being said... what people see of me is not this disease, for I don't look sick ... a little WARPAINT & ATTITUDE goes a long way! ahahaha ;) I have had this disease for 10 yrs. If you understand some of these stats you may have a better understanding of me.

- Jennifer Pavia

Portrait of Elda Garcia - Owens

See real life Elda ---> Here

I transformed Elda into a classic Pin-up while honoring her heritage giving her an indigenous tattoo of the native "Taino" indians of Puerto Rico. The symbol is known as the "Sol of Jayuya" a town on the island still possessing many ancient petroglyph carvings, as well as adding urban "graff" stylings I love mashing together.

Curios about getting one made? =)