"Footprints" commission... complete!

Hi folks! So here's the final result of the "Footprints" poem I was commissioned to do by a friend. Finished it two weeks ago now I think, & took me [all in all, counting the hours] roughly 2-3 days to complete. Enjoyed working on this & as always, learnt a lot... Aside from a few niggly things that [I feel] I didn't quite nail, I'd say it's pretty close to what I originally envisioned reading the poem... so I'm happy!

Thanks to those who dropped feedback on the first WIP post I made; Nathan, Ant, Dawn & Shaun. Thanks especially to Shaun for taking the time to put together the image breakdown directly below. Shaun was kind enough to take a few minutes out to do a rough paint-over on my WIP to help break up some of the symmetry with subtle shape/ compositional shifts... Thanks again dude, it definitely helped. Hop over to Shaun's site to check out some of his amazing work & say, "hi".

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And here's my lovely friend [& pleased to say, "happy customer"] Tanya, sat next to the super high resolution artwork I emailed her just before she headed out to get it printed, framed & wrapped as a Christmas gift for her friend ; )

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*** If interested & would like to make an inquiry on personalised/ custom artwork, feel free to drop me a line at max@maximajination.com Should hopefully have an online store up & running soon [just working out the business end] so you'll also be able to purchase my artwork from there*** ;)


Thanks for stoping by folks!

-M-

A Merry Christmas card!

1 down... 1000x more to go...! Here's a fun lil' Christmas card I just did for a friend & fellow artist. Hop over to his blog & check out his stuff ; ) Happy Holiday's Mike!

... and a little time lapse recording of it in progress... Enjoy!


-M-

Footprints [painting commission]

Hi guys! So it looks like 2011's just about done eh? Man, I remember January- February, but what happened after that...? Anyways, bring on 2012 I say! Lots I'm praying- expecting- preparing for, so very much looking forward to the new year; & I hope you guys are too?

OK, so I was recently commissioned by a good friend to do a painting on my own rendition of a well known poem written in 1936 by Mary Stevenson* titled "Footprints". The poem basically is about a person having gone through many tribulations in life; thinking God absent to them; but questioning Him, only to discover He was there all along, & in fact the sole reason they were able to get through it...

I actually remember having this poem framed in the house as a kid, & always loved the imagery... Typically, since the poem paints a picture of a beech & footsteps in the sand, every presentation of it generally has the same scenic photo/ beech composition, with the seashore to the side... I wanted to change this up a bit, making it a little more personal to her [or rather, the the friend she explained she's giving it to as a framed gift]. Did quite a bit of research on the many photo/ illustrated variations there are of this poem just so I had a sort-of cliché guide [so to speak] of what I didn't want it to look like. Here's the one we had in the living room growing up [still love the image].

Below is a WIP of my own version... The two directly below are the line work/ layout guide [left], then a 1st rough colour mood [right]...

... & where I'm at so far.

I hope you guys like how it's coming along, & as always, feel free to drop me a comment & let me know what you think ; )

-M-