For the Love of Cats

"Let's Play" Portrait of Elvira

Fellow cat lover, Lori Ericsson, has adopted a new kitten.  She had shown me pictures of her pride and joy when I asked if I could have a copy for reference for a new cat painting. Norm and I brainstormed on what creative liberties we would take. Here is the result.

Here is your Elvira, Lori. She's "purrrfectly"cute and steals your heart.

The Love of a Child, A Gift of Christmas

The Prize

‘Time it was and what a time it was it was, a time of innocence, a time of confidences…’

These simple lyrics by Simon & Garfunkel describe life as a time of innocence when Marc was just a small boy. His eyes do appear to be focused on the prize, and his confidences have guided him through all he has accomplished thus far in his life.

It seemed like only yesterday when this photo was taken at Patterson’s Fruit Farm in Chesterland, Ohio.  A ‘yesterday’ that has led us to today, where Marc is now a fourth year Pharmacy student at Duquesne University.  You will never meet prouder parents! 

These are the words of Marc's father.  He commissioned a painting of his son from a small photo he treasured as a gift. We wish him and his family a very Merry Christmas and a very Blessed and Happy New Year!

Adding a Touch of Christmas

When Norman decided to do a painting of our friends horse he thought to take it one step further.  He added a wreath to the fence to add a touch of Christmas.

Here you can see the original photo on the side.  The painting was also done without the wreath. But the beauty of a painting is being able to take creative license and add or subtract elements to the painting.

Being digital it makes it easy to have more than one version and to be able to customize one version to a particular occasion as in this case adding a wreath gives the painting a holiday feel.

In this case the painting can make a great personal holiday card as well.

Autumn Journal

Photos taken by Norman Drake

The days are getting shorter. The the brilliant hues of Autumn's glory are fading fast as winter approaches. This year the colors were particularly brilliant. I was thankful that Norm was able to capture a few of some of Fall's most wondrous color palettes.

Portraits can Make Great Christmas Gifts

I hate to think that Christmas is around the corner. It is already the end of October. So often I panic when I think of Christmas presents. A painting might be a great solution!

The little girl in the above painting is the sister of the Bride in the picture below in the previous blog entry. Below is a photograph taken at the wedding that her sister gave us for the inspiration of a painting.

Many of us have great photos of loved ones tucked away in photo albums that would make a great portrait painting, let alone a great gift, especially for those that are hard to buy for.

What is nice about a digital painting is that copies can be made for other members in the family. Check out our website to get some ideas.

Here is Norm's Newest Painting

I asked Norman to start doing more bridal portraits since he has done only a few. I had seen some bridal photos of a friend of ours and asked her permission for Norm to work on doing a bridal series. This is the first one. Hopefully there will be a couple more.

Piano Man

I had written about attending a surprise birthday party of my childhood friend, Freddy, where I presented him with a painting that Norm did from our childhood days in the August entry. While at the party Norman was taking pictures of the guests and also the musical entertainment for the evening. The photograph below inspired the painting above.

Here is an example of how your photographs can be simplified into a painting with pizzaz!

Just think how your photo of a friend or a loved one can make a great gift when transformed into a painting. Now that September is fading fast, Christmas is not that far off and there is always that one person that is hard to shop for. Could you have found a possible solution?

Bouquet for the Bride

The above painting of a bridal bouquet was created for Karen Zawtocki as a gift to her sister who recently got married.

It all started at the beginning of summer when Norman and I did a show at the Bayarts in Bay Village, Ohio. This was our first show since we started yourpreciousportraits.com. It was here we met Karen who upon looking at Norm's work got the inspiration for a gift for not only her sister, but her step-mother as well.

Here are her words:

Having your baby sister get married is a once in a lifetime experience. Mine was made all the more festive by my daughter being the flower girl. After all the showers, I really wanted her wedding gift to be personal and lasting...no more china settings. I saw Norman's work displayed at the fair, and I knew this would be perfect. zit was a pleasure conceptualizing the painting to capture the beauty of her bouquet. Now she will have it tastefully and artfully displayed for years to come. I loved it so much, I got one for my step-mother as well.

Thank you Karen! It was a pleasure to work on your idea! Thank you again.

Painting Brings Back Memories

Norman painted this painting for me. The inspiration came from a photograph taken of me and my next door neighbor friend, Freddy, April of 1957.

We were five years old then. Both of our sixth birthdays would arrive during the summer. This summer Dr. Fred is having a surprise birthday party and we hope to surprise him this weekend.

When we get together, we go down memory lane a lot. Riding our bikes, ice skating, building tree forts, going to the "little store" and the movies on Saturday afternoons. I hope this painting brings back some more memories, Fred!

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y

To my long time buddy and friend!

God Bless!

Painting General Grant

A dear friend of ours, Ken Bach, is a civil war re-enactor.

Ken portrays General Ulysses S. Grant.

He has spent two years researching Grant's life in order to portray the part of the General at many festivals and historical Civil War re-enactments throughout Ohio.

He recently showed us a photo taken of him in character.

Unfortunately the photo brings his character to the 21st century.

So Norman took on the task of putting Grant back into his own century. Norm illustrated Ken's Grant with a look of a nineteenth century painting. Norm researched painting techniques and color palettes used during that time period and came up with the painting below.

Norm also took the liberty of redesigning the photo for a more historical flavor with that aged looked of being stored in someone's attic after being passed down from one generation to another.

It was fun to do as well as a different kind of challenge. Ken's Grant is now back in the nineteenth century where he belongs.