Reproduction Portraits in A Modern Frame

A Joseph Davis' Style Painting with Modern Day Portraits

This painting was a lot of fun.  I had a customer that wanted an anniversary piece, customized with their faces.  She wanted it to look like an old family heirloom antique  but with my style of painting.  I wish now that I had taken pictures of the different steps that were taken to achieve the finished product. I started with the highly decorated rug and worked my way up.    

The customer had a lot of beautiful pastels mixed with antiques and fun patterns.  Incorporating these colors into the painting was important to achieve a final piece that blended well with her home.  After the rug, I painted the man and then the woman.  The table and its contents were also quite deliberate, as we wanted the painting to be about what each of them enjoyed.  Because her husband's daily ritual included reading several newspapers,  I chose to have him holding a newspaper rather than a book.  The fine lady is holding a needlepoint.   Her dog was painted in after I was certain I could place her somewhere that she would stand out.  If you have a chance, google "Joseph Davis."  He painted in another time and for what it's worth, he was a left-handed painter.  He even includes this little fact on many of his paintings.  

Where I have written information about the sitter, Joseph Davis would have included the left-handed painter info. 

The frame was carefully selected by the customer and it is new.    Although, I mostly try to use antique frames, This newer frame really works because the bed is a repurposed antique with brand spanking new white paint and a lovely contemporary fabric.  My customer felt that having an old frame on this piece would make it too serious and "heavy."  I think she is right! 

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