Joshua and Penelope
"Tom was happy to incorporate our ideas and the children’s toys into the paintings, which is a really special touch. The paintings are gorgeous, and the personalities really shine through.
The customer service was also great - he promptly replied to emails and sent us updates throughout the process."
These portraits of Joshua and Penelope were commissioned as a surprise gift for their grandfather’s birthday. The concept that their aunt Amanda and I decided upon was to capture their childish nature.
Since the piece was a surprise gift, I used a variety of Amanda’s photos and even her descriptions of the children’s personalities: unusually I didn’t meet them during the process as she was worried they would accidentally tell their grandfather!
From the discussion I had with Amanda, Joshua was energetic and cheeky, whereas his younger sister Penelope had the innocence characteristic of a child so young.
I therefore combined different source photographs to create compositions reflecting this, ensuring to include the children’s favourite toys as mementos of this point in their childhood.
For the portrait of Joshua I chose a composition where he was playing, mid-movement, with a lively expression, and I accentuated this with brighter colours and more obvious brush strokes. I also ensured to include his favourite things: I added his fire engine toy and changed his top to a Fireman Sam jumper.
For Penelope, I chose a calmer, more relaxed composition where she was resting and had a calm, sweet expression. In contrast to her brother’s portrait, I painted less well-defined lines and smoother strokes to make the piece more gentle. Finally, I included her favourite toy rabbit & blanket to add further context to the portrait.