Commissions
These paintings are all commissioned portraits. Naturally I tend not to be asked to paint portraits except by people wishing to be depicted as demons, fairies, mermaids and so on. If you're interested in commissioning a painting please email me, and please see below for few details which may answer some questions.
Click on the thumbnails below, and see the links above for more themes...
Commissioned Portraits:
To paint a 'portrait' I need at least a single good photograph of you (or whoever is to be the subject). A digital image is easiest, but not necessary.
Obviously the photo needs to show your face, but I do not necessarily need it to show the rest of you, as I can make that up. However, I must stress that it needs to be a good, clear, fairly large / high resolution photograph, with a facial expression that is suitable for the painting - I cannot make up a facial expression that is not there. For instance, if I work from a photograph with a big grin on it, the portrait will have a big grin, I can't magically transform it into a sultry smouldering look - if that's what you want you need to supply me with a sultry shouldering photo!
Similarly, the angle of the face will be as seen in the photo, though I don't have to have a straight-on shot. For the portrait of 'Stacey', for instance, she is in profile and that worked very well, too. The angle and expression will tend to suggest certain compositions, so I need the photo you want me to use before I can do a sketch. I will always do a pencil sketch first - which is subject to your approval - before starting a painting.
One other thing to bear in mind about photographs is the lighting - that will also be fairly unchanged in the final painting. Photographs taken straight on with a flash are usually not suitable - natural daylight is much better, or artificial lighting which is not directly from the front generally works well. If you switch off the flash on your camera and take a photo indoors you will generally get a yellow tinge from artificial lighting, but as long as the image itself is clear and sharp that should not be a problem.
Obviously there is no problem if you want to supply me with a range of photos to chose from.
As to subject, I'm happy to discuss and suggest ideas. These are just a few pointers to what I would need to work from. If you are interested in commissioning a painting please email me and tell me what you have in mind. I can give you an estimate of price at the time, and a firm price once the sketch is agreed. Price depends on the complexity of the painting.
I work in pencil (graphite and coloured pencils) and gouache (water-based) paint, and can undertake commissioned artwork in any or all of these media. All my work is on heavy paper - usually watercolour paper, or very high quality cartridge paper if I am only using pencils, and the materials I use mean that the final artwork must be framed with glass in front to protect it. Sorry, I do not use any media suitable for working on canvas.
Two more things I should mention are that I will only take on a commission that I feel is suitable to my work and style, and that I'm often quite busy, so can't generally complete a commission at short notice, though I will be able to let you know at the time when I expect to be able to complete a painting. So, I hope this helps, if you're interested, send me an email at mail@nancyfarmer.net and I'll be happy to discuss it with you.
All images © Nancy Farmer. Please email me if you wish to reproduce any of these images, or see my permissions page in the 'info' section. Paintings & drawings by Nancy Farmer, UK artist - Myth and fact, fairies and monsters, fetish and fantasy, with a little reality thrown in for good measure. And always art with humour.