Friday, February 13, 2009

Portrait from Black and White Photo



Above is a portrait commission I recently presented to a client. The first image is the main reference photo, a scan of a black and white photograph. Since this is a posthumous portrait, I relied on more recent photographs of the subject and also working with the client in order to get the coloring correct. This was a challenging but very rewarding experience, and I am thrilled that the client was very happy with the result.

7 comments:

Kathy said...

Beautiful job, Holly. I love the subtle color palette. I'm sure this was difficult, but it looks like you nailed the image!

Chantell Van Erbe said...

Holly, I love how you successfully translated the subject's likeness to color yet stayed within the realm of keeping the look of the piece vintage.

Valerie Jones said...

This is lovely! I agree with how you were able to add color and still achieve the vintage look.

Artman2112 said...

once again, very nicely done Holly! is that straight pastel, or do you mix in CP with it as well?? i know doing a color piece from a b&w pic can be a challenge, but in certain situations i prefer it because it frees you up to try things with color without feeling like you're doing something "wrong", you know what i mean?

hbedrosian said...

Thanks, everyone. This is 100% pastel; pretty much all soft pastel.

CandynRA said...

You sure do have a way with pastels...wonderful detail...lovely work! Thank you, also, for being my first follower!

Marsha Robinett said...

Nicely done Holly...really enjoy the subtle use of color. I believe it interprets the time of the photo well. I'm sure they are pleased.