This is a painting of a friend of a friend, who will go unidentified, sitting with a gargantuan sweetheart of a dog, looking out over a misty valley at sunset. The original reference photo was taken in a boring office environment (but they let dogs in, so they can’t be too bad!), but that was just too boring to have as the setting for this kind of wistful look. I have transported them to a place where I’d be happy to while away a pleasant evening. Doing so pushed some new challenges, including getting those misty hills feeling appropriately distant and getting that warm rim lighting from the setting sun. Even the sun rays were a novel challenge. And you know what? I think it all looks pretty solid. If I hadn’t told you they were under overhead fluorescent lights in the original, you probably would never have guessed it. I’d call that a success.
