Avocado Leaves
My single photo of avocado leaves was inadequate, so I stopped by the largest avocado tree I’ve ever seen in my life and took these photos.
I didn’t copy any of the leaves or branches exactly. These are all too thick and overlapping for me to untangle. So, I just studied them awhile until I thought I could make up my own that would look convincing.
Blueberries
I also tightened up the blueberries.
I sent this to the customer (there are 2 partners in the business but I am now just dealing with one—hence, the switch from plural to singular) to say that I wanted to do a bit more detailing on the fields and groves, and to verify if there was anything I missed.
A Little More Work
She agreed that some of the fields could use some tighter detailing and requested that I plant an orchard on the barren hillside on the right and add some avocados to the framing branches.
This one passed, so I photographed the entire painting again with the requested improvements and additions.
It is quite wet, but we are having a warm spell and I expect it to be dry enough to ship on Monday.
This has a been a thoroughly enjoyable commission, working with someone who communicates well, is open to suggestions, trusts my abilities, and provides me with a bit of artistic license (but not too much).
5 Comments
What a stunning scene, Jana! I’ll bet it’s a fine line between doing what you know looks good and pleasing the customer. I think it looks amazing!
Michelle, it can be tricky. In this case, I am completely unfamiliar with the view, so I rely on the customer’s instructions and the photos. Generally with commissions, it is more important to please the customer than to be factually accurate. Of course it helps if the customer is open to suggestions, because sometimes their ideas can be hideous, and I don’t want to put my name on anything hideous.
P.S. Michelle, I forgot to thank you for your kind compliment. THANK YOU!
Hmmmmmm. That added orchard on the hillside to the right looks to me like an added piece of new color mixes that don’t really look like orchards and seem to sit on top of the flow of the beautiful Jana Botkin painting surrounding it. I hope the real painting doesn’t project that!
Louise, I think you are right. I need to touch up the surrounding orchards to match the new one, because I know the new one is closer to reality than the fuzzy trees around its edges. Maybe. Sheesh, this is really hard! HOWEVER, the customer is happy, so maybe I’d best leave it alone. Sigh.