Yesterday we visited Colby Sanford at his home/studio
to see our finished commissioned painting.
He wanted us to see it in person to give our final okay
before he varnished it.
I've been following him on Instagram and was floored when I realized an artist
can "erase." What? Last summer he showed a painting with four children crossing a log
(I'm pretty sure we were the inspiration!)
and then he removed one of the children because he preferred the composition with only three.
I'm glad I saw that so I understood he can actually make tweaks.
And he's talented but also humble, so I knew his ego wouldn't get involved.
First off, it's beautiful, We love it!
Secondly, Courtney's face was a little off and so was Marty's hair.
I couldn't put my finger on it exactly, but when he pulled out the inspiration pics,
I could see how he'd painted it perfectly, and also the picture captured those details differently from real life.
I asked if we could make the tweaks in person and he preferred it that way rather than
trying to communicate via e-mail.
So we all sat in his dining room (me, Dan, Jason and Sue) and watched him work.
Courtney's cheek was rounder than I thought it should be and her nose a little pointier.
With one flick of the brush, the nose was changed and he fixed her cheek.
Although we couldn't see her lips, I felt like she wasn't smiling.
He said the ears change a bit with a smile and he made that adjustment.
With Marty, I wanted his head a little rounder than Chris' and more hair.
And then someone made a comment that it's a testament to how well our moms know us
when the smallest details aren't quite right.
I was so glad he was open and willing to easily make changes,
because I want to look at the picture and see my kids rather than think, "kind of my kids."
Then we wanted a little more sunlight on the grasses near the kids,
and in the water and one spot on the rocks.
His little rendering showed the brightness, but the bigger size hadn't captured it
as strong as I wanted.
He literally just swiped his brush "randomly" across the grass, and voila, Light!