This is a portrait commission I finished in early December for a family living in North Carolina. It was a Christmas gift from the boy’s grandparents.

It’s a tough job painting such a beautiful child but someone has to do it….

Closeup of vintage handwriting:

I remembered to take a few photos of the process this time. I am a very messy painter. I paint the image, then paint layers over it. Then sand it down….

…..repaint the image in different shades of dark and light, then paint more layers on top….and repeat about 30 times.

To see more of my commission work click here for recent work or visit my painting website here.