Inside An Original

No. 254: "Seven Dogs, Two People" by Tom Wills, July 2014.

I often ask potential customers to "Consider An Original."
An original starts with a question: "Can you do this?"
Sometimes I respond with a simple sketch, via email.
That's what led to this project, which I call "Seven Dogs, Two People" (No. 254).

From concept to reality.

"Imagine our surprise when I opened the  UPS delivery and found this wonderful drawing; you managed to capture our furry children beautifully, and the warm memories began flowing, as well as the tears:

As you well may imagine, we love and have loved each and every one of them so very much:  what a terrific way to have them forever: Thank you for all your hard work and making such a great memory for us;

We must also thank our daughter for her part in all of this."

 
The idea was to surround a woman's parents with all of the dogs they have loved in their lives together. She lives in California, and mom and dad are in Pennsylvania.
She found me by word of mouth from friends.
I was emailed individual snapshots of the pups, and pictures of the couple. Putting them all together in the present came down to me.

Some of the dog pictures were good, some not-so-good, but all cute. The customer, upon seeing the proposal sketch, wanted one dog moved -- not a problem.

I did not try to frame the couple with canines.  Instead the dogs are in the foreground, and are scaled that way, with the people beaming behind them. The man is pretty tall, but the paper is only so big, so he lost a few inches.

The white dog on the right is actually a composite drawing based upon three photos. I kept the head tilt from the worst image (cute factor), and built the face and fur from the better ones.

Dogs done first!

The dog next to the mom involved a lot of highlighting, contrasting and magnification on a laptop screen to bring out details. I think I got them right, or at least very close.

The other five dogs were a little more straightforward -- and a lot more hairy. Each dog took two days, and some tinkering later.

I emailed progress reports and pictures to the customer, seeking input on anything that seemed off. I also wanted her to know that I was at work, taking the job seriously.

It was done after nearly four weeks, put together on mornings off, rainy weekends -- whenever I could get an hour or so at the drawing table.  Two final photos were emailed -- one with a ruler to show her the size.

The response was both gratifying and instructive:

"What a delightful way to enjoy my Saturday. Frankly, I am as excited about how you captured my folks as I am the pooches. What a wonderful sketch. I think that they will love it. Bo-bo is indeed tough only as I had sent you a picture when he was a puppy and then one the month before he passed. So that's quite the span you were looking to converge. Nicely done."

And, she was right: "Does (dad's) face look a little light? (I think I am overthinking it as it was his birthday this week.")

It's not that the face was too light, but the mouth and chin were too dark.  I hadn't seen this until she pointed it out.  So I lightened and softened him a bit, and tinkered with cheekbones and eyebrows -- and then sent back the result, which is the final picture at the top.

"I showed a colleague who has never met my parents and she commented that I look like both my folks, which I do, so I think you captured them really well."

I have created such composite images for others, have preserved family memories out of torn and faded photos, and even done portraits for funerals. The possibilities are limited only to what we can think up.

To Consider an Original:
Tom Wills Productions
160 Laura Lane
Cortland, OH   44410

hankbonesman@embarqmail.com
willstom01@gmail.com

(330) 984-8376

A general pricing guide is available at the top of this web site. Or here:  http://tomwillsproductions.blogspot.com/2013/09/order-original-no-216-ten.html