Leaving the making of a big painting

Hello!  You might be entertained with the behind the scenes goings on of my latest "big commission."  It's a 36"x24" figurative painting...  The buyer is a collector of my work.  When he initially asked me to do the painting I declined.  Figurative oil painting was territory I hadn't explored in 20 years.  Also, as a painter who learned to paint (again) by making small daily paintings the required dimensions seemed giant.  But my (dear, intrepid, oh-so-wonderful) buyer was persistent and truth be told I wanted to do it - I just needed to work up the courage. 

Jack Vettriano
"The Singing Butler"

He was very specific about what he wanted the painting to be:  A Jack Vettriano inspired glamorous couple.  "The Singing Butler" actually hangs in my house-- Since I paint from photographs, the first step was setting up a photo session with models.  Who to paint?  My good looking husband, of course! I put an ad on Cleveland Craigslist for the female. The 20 year old who replied had a beautiful online portfolio and agreed to a date for the shoot.  She was a size 4. 

Clothes for the photo shoot--much fun was had shopping for these.

Next:  Props!  This part of the process was way more fun than I anticipated.  I go antiquing all the time but I had never taken an interest in vintage clothes.  Suddenly I couldn't get enough.  Ball gowns, military suits, sundresses, pantsuits, aprons, silk and tweed:  All captured my imagination! My husband came with me and he modeled jackets and fedoras.   The buyer wanted to be included during the process, so I sent him photos of the outfits. 
The night before the photo session:  The Craigslist model emailed to tell me her car was having "issues" (her word.) I offered to drive...  she accepted and then she promptly disappeared.  Doh!  So, the first photo session had to be cancelled and I was stuck with a bunch of size 4 clothes and no model.    
Then I remembered Facebook!  My FB friend Tim Herron was a participant in a life drawing workshop I took a while back.  He runs a Cleveland group called The Pretentious Tremont Artists and he helped me find Carli Cichoki!   Not only was Carli a size 4 and able to fit the clothes, she was tall too!  Perfect as my Husband is 6' 6"

Positions for reference during the shoot.

Finally, we had a date and two reliable models ready to go!  I printed a series of poses and put them in eye shot for easy reference.  Was it weird for me to photograph my husband with a beautiful model?  A little, especially when he looked as if he was having fun.  LOL, but I digress.  Carli was great.  Though I'd probably hire a male model next time.  Anyway, hind site is 20-20, right?  I will say my husband looks amazing in a suit coat and tie.

I took hundreds of photos and will revisit them for future paintings.

I forwarded pictures from the shoot to the client and we chose a combination of photos to use as reference for the final painting. A selection of photoshopped backgrounds was also offered.  He chose the interior of the Musee D'Orsay.  I did a half size study first which was approved. 
So, without further ado, here is the final painting.

Leaving  Oil on canvas  36" x 24"  SOLD

The buyer is happy with it and so am I.  --  Thank you, TS!!!