(click for larger view of the original)

In 7th grade my mother, the eccentric woman that she is, bought me a pair of cow printed Capri pants. Now, c’mon don’t look at me all crazy, it was a time when I didn’t know any better. And while most people might fright over my “cow print capri’ combo, I rocked them every chance I got…

…uh, well, at least I think I did.

But while shootin the breeze in home ec class my friend Danielle would crown me with the most imaginative of nicknames, Moo Moo Mel. And for probably no other reason then to share in the buffoonery she became, “Ding Ding Danni.” It’s one of those things that you would never give license to anyone else to say and for no other reason then to laugh at yourself…

…oh and if you haven’t figured it out already that’s the point of the story, so go ahead–it’s okay, laugh at yourself.

It’s funny, throughout my lifetime of being an artist, I’ve gotten so many requests to draw people but never really got to them. I’ve probably been promising Danielle a drawing for at least 6 years and now that I’m really loving this world of digital painting I thought I’d give it a try.

20 or so hours later…

(Before and After)

I’ve always loved the original photo of Danielle, it’s got a certain dreamy quality to it and was perfect for the final selection. I was especially excited to paint her gorgeous eyes. Ya know, eyes are so telling when it comes to emotive portraits that it’s essential to get them across well.

Painting Steps

It took somethin over 20 hours to complete this. At first, I played with the color balance in Photoshop, but BIG MISTAKE. That’s probably why for the first 6 hours everything was really red until I decided to go back to the original unedited photo for color references.

Every painting is a lesson…

…from the skin to the hair I become so fascinated about what I learn from each piece. Hair, for instance, has so many values and sometimes picking an unexpected color results in the best effect.

[activate nitpicking phase]

There are, of course, plenty of things I’d go back and tweak, but I’m learning to drop my stylus and finally walk away.

Thanks Danielle…

…for being my muse for two weeks and for all the love and support I’ve received from my friends, new and old!