Painting project...

One nice thing about college- sometimes a person in the public contacts the school to have a student do a project for them. The art department has given me a couple of paid projects as a result of this.

The latest project is a woman who contacted the campus because she wants two large paintings of cowboy boots. She likes the art of artist Kathleen Lack, but didn't want just a print of hers, she wants a real painting. So, she requested to have a student create the paintings for her, similar to Lack's style.

Here is the first one that I did for her living room:

She wants the paintings to have a "loose brushstrokes" style to them, rather than be realistic looking. Hard to tell from the photo, but this is more of a looser Impressionist type of painting. I thought I'd title it "Meeting Place."

Something different about this project, is that she gave me a bunch of decorating color swatches to use as a palette. This way I know exactly which colors to use to match the colors in her house. Seems like a good idea, and has worked well. I'll have to get a color wheel or something to use with future customers who want specific colors used in paintings.

Anyway, luckily she loves it. I have a few minor alterations to make, but then I start on the second boots painting for her dining room. After that, I should be sick of painting boots for a while!

Another thing I learned from this- thrift stores are a good place to pick up items to use as still-life models. I ventured to one in our town and bought several pairs of cowboy boots for $3 each! Unbelievable price. One pair is Justin boots, nearly brand new. So now I know where to pick up things to paint for class, on the cheap. If only they sold art supplies!