First Date - A Christmas gift commission 12 X 12 Colored Pencil on Cradled Hardboard

This is a commission piece I did for a customer reflecting on his first date with the woman he was about to ask to marry.  He wanted something similar to my recent "Wine By Candelight" piece he had seen at my Cooper Winery Show, but using the wine they had, flower on the table and their hands.  He sent me several photos of all the separate elements for me to place into a still life.   I waited to post it until now so the big event would have happened and she had her surprise gift and I'm sure said "Yes."

I primed a cradled hardboard panel on the top and varnished the natural wood sides so it could hang without framing.  This gave the piece a more contemporary look, and enabled me to leave it unframed.  Priming was with Colorfix pastel primer in a skyblue color, this primer has marble dust in it so the resulting finish is that of a sanded surface.  I chose the light blue since that was the color of the booth from the restaurant in his pictures and I had this also in stock. 

I worked up a lay out of the entire piece as a sketch and emailed it off for approval.  In order to get the glass ware reflections and shapes I set up my own still life with a similar white wine, glasses and a red flower (but not the same kind as he wanted used).  I did this so I could see the reflections of A flower in the glasses, and tablecloth and also to have a live set up to work from.  So I used about 5 of his photos and my own set up to come up with the sketch and resulting work.  After completing the piece all in colored pencil I sprayed it with a UV Archival Varnish in 8 layers so it can hang without glass.

The fun in this project for me was creating a piece that would later be the documentation of their first date, and something they will look back on as their marriage grows.  I was honored to have made for such a wonderful young man in love.