Starting a Commission | Tess W.'s Magnolia, part 1
How a stormy day and dramatic clouds shaped the first sketches for a commission
Hello Tess
After my solo show of Magnolias, earlier this year, your sister Liz told me you might like to commission a painting of your own magnolia.
This is the first email (of four) about what happened next,
for others who may want to commission something.
Liz gave me your details, and we exchanged some messages. I agreed to come and look at the tree in your garden as soon as it started to flower.
And the time came: that time of year when most flowering plants were still only in bud, but a handful of your magnolia flowers had opened already.
That day, it was sunny in the morning but suddenly storm clouds moved in and, as I drove to you, clouds burst all over the North Circular Road. Parts of the road were actually flooded. Strangely, the storm missed your street. But the purple, bruised clouds hung dramatically overhead and I took photos quickly, worried that rain might fall any time.
Beforehand, I’d assumed that clear sunshine would be best for a painting but when I arrived I realised the clouds were quite impressive. You may remember me taking, as well as photos of your magnolia and the garden generally, quite a lot of sky photos. I mention this for a reason (please bear with me!)
Back home, I used all those photos as a reference, as proceeded with your commission.
The first picture I made was created on my iPad:
I don’t think I sent that to you, not straight away. I used it first as a reference for a work on paper:
Biro, ink and acrylic sketch on A4 Khadi paper._
And that A4 work on paper became a model for the next step: painting on canvas.
I’ll share that tomorrow.