Instagram challenge - 100 portraits

So, a couple of friends managed to persuade me that I need an Instagram account 😅 and I gave in...

Once on Instagram, I started following @ajalper who at that time announced a 100 portraits in 100 days. I was not painting for months at that time, but decided to give it a try.

Here are some. To see more please search and follow @ritma_grizane on Instagram

Painting Jesus

When I just started painting I saw my granny in the dream. I used to spend my summer school holidays at her house. She passed when I was 14. I still remember that I was washing dishes when my parents told me. In the dream I asked my granny if she needs anything. She said "No. But I would love you to paint Jesus for me".

Since then about 7 years have passed. And I finally have courage to fulfill my granny's wish. It's not that I have not thought about it before. I just couldnt decide on the reference photo.

Then one day new were full with Leanardo da Vinci painting Salvator Mundi. I also heard somewhere that it's the painting on which all the other artists based their Jesus paintings on. So I decided to do it as well.

I have adjusted some details, but kept the general look of the Da Vinci painting.

The frame was made by my dad out of an old oak tree. My grandparents house now belongs to a local municipality and I hope they will agree to display this painting in it.

Difficult beauty

I was commissioned to do a portrait. When I saw the photo  I thought it will be an easy one--single person, block colors and clear lines. Oh, how wrong I was.

Portrait was of a beautiful girl. I love painting beautiful woman. The mistake turned out to be that I didnt ask for more photos of the subject.  As every girl and woman today she likes playing with the makeup and photos, thus looks different in different photos. I should have asked for more photos!

Also, the client wanted the portrait to be sent by currier, which I didn't expect to be an issue, but turned out to be one. I have the price from the web, but when I wanted to ship the painting, the currier company advised that they don't handle paintings as they can't establish the cost of the item and replace the value if something happens. Luckily a relative came to help and delivered the painting.

Race horse paintings

It's getting to the crazy time of the year here.

One of the events I would like to attend is the Western Cape Equine Trust fund raising. WCET is a non profit organisation's who restrains former race horses and find them homes after the racing career. Most of the horses are still young - 3, 4 years old as only a few make it in the demanding industry. These youngsters then need to find a new home--that's where WCET comes in. I used to volunteer at WCET  but since they have moved their location, we're unable to participate.

Here are my 2 last babies:

Two young race horses from April yearling sale

Double portraits and pricing

My latest commissions were 2 double portraits - beautiful twins (from the previous post) and a stunning couple.

People often ask why is the double portrait so much more expensive than a single, even though it is the same or similar size.  Double (and multiple) portraits more challenging than singles. Yes, I would not be using much more canvas and paint for double portrait compared to single, but...

- I still need to paint another portrait that would take me the same time as the single- so doubled time and attention.
- in the double the portrait is a bit smaller and its harder to get the details in it to achieve likeliness;
- the colors need to match. With that I mean that colors should not only be life like for one person, but also if looked between two people. For example in the couple portrait, it was easier to choose the colors as the skin tones are fairly distinct.
- if the portrait is combined from a different photos / positions, it involves extra planning to make the portrait look natural.

All in all, this was a fabulous commission. I am happy with the result, so are the clients :)

PS. Both portraits are oil on 14x18 inch stretched canvas.

Start of a double portrait Ritmart

Here is basically finished product of the twins :)

Twins
14x18 inch, oil on canvas

African card

Here is another small African card that I did

And a lion just for fun :) 

I am currently working on 2 commission paintings for a client and can hopefully post those on here too. With clients permission of course:)