This portrait started when the father came to me in 
December and wanted to give his wife a surprise portrait of their 7-month-old son. We decided that the actual photoshoot would be done later when his wife could take part in it, but she would have it as her Christmas present now and it would be scheduled into my lineup as well. I gave him a packet of prints of my work which he wrapped in a box for her to open. After Christmas, she didn’t want to wait very long to get the photo reference done. We did a darling photoshoot when the little boy was about 9 months old. It didn’t come up in my schedule to paint however until he was a year and a half. At that time I called to ask if perhaps she would prefer to capture him at his new age. Of course she had fallen in love with him at a year and half as well, so we photographed him again and I used that for my reference. She wanted a beach scene so I went to the lovely beaches around my house to get some good references for that. When it was done, I heard about the success of the husband presenting it to her at the next Christmas. Later on, she sent me this lovely letter:
“Thank you SO MUCH for the great job on Cooper’s picture. When my husband gave it to me as a gift on the first Christmas it was very exciting but to wake up in the morning on the next year’s Christmas and see it by the tree was wonderful. It looked so much like him. His blue eyes, his wispy little blond hair, and most importantly his little playful attitude and super sweet soul somehow all captured there in canvas. It brought tears to my eyes.
“We have had the picture for a year and half now and it sits proudly on our wall. Our friends and family are always impressed with its quality. As he grows every day it seems more and more valuable to me since no matter how big he gets he will always be my little boy and I have your beautiful picture to remember that special time.
“Even Cooper loves his picture. When he is asked ‘who is that?’ he says, ‘me’ so confidently and nonchalantly that it almost seems it is just his refection. Sometimes he will even take people to see his picture without us telling him to.
“Thank you so much again for capturing how special my son is.”
Related Posts:
Children Oil Portraits: Beach Buddies
Beach Time Sweetness Is Second Oil Portrait for Grandmother
Children Oil Portraits: Gregory at the Beach
You can also see this portrait in the Children Oil Portraits Gallery.
