A month or so ago, I was contacted via email by a young woman asking if I would be interested in doing a commission painting of her. She was initially confused that I was the “other” Steve Hanks, a well known painter in Arizona. I explained this and she realized her mistake, but even so, she asked if I would consider doing the commission. I told her I would, and explained how we might manage it… trading photographs in a variety of poses and discussing possible backgrounds. So after a week of such communications, she sent me pictures of herself… and much to my pleasant surprise… in the nude… and so pretty! In the past, I’d done both drawings and paintings of nudes before, usually in a classroom setting, but never a commission piece. So I was quite enthusiastic about the idea and so was Michelle (the young woman in the photo). So, I selected one of the photos she had sent and did a large drawing of the figure. I also realized that I needed to have a different background than the original photo… something that would be a nice contrast to the warm flesh tones of her skin. I had an old quilt that my mother had sewn many years before and I thought it would make a nice light background with colorful patterns and soft textures. So I draped the quilt over my own couch at home and took a few photos of it from a similar viewpoint as the original photo of Michelle. I then added the quilt to the large drawing that I had already done of the figure. I thought the combination worked well and started the painting. Now a few weeks later, I’ve finished it. Michelle has seen it and seems pleased with it… and has given me permission to show it here. If you like, you may post comments here, or you may send comments directly to Michelle at mwilkes333@netscape.net to tell her what you think.
