Commission: Yellow Roses for Adrián

An acquaintance commissioned a painting as a birthday gift for a friend, with the theme of yellow roses.

She had previously bought a print of the CD cover I had designed for the band Mr Groovy and the Blue Heads and wanted something in a similar style.

My client’s friend is a flamenco dancer, who lives in a nearby town, I’d seen him dance in one of her productions and as well as being struck by the passion and power of his performance I was fascinated by his boots (he’s a very dapper chap who goes in for many costume changes with coordinating foot wear).

When we met to discuss the commission she had put together some excellent source material including poems and images and was keen that I include text somewhere in or around the painting.

I made a mood board and drew some thumbnail sketches in my sketchbook,

selected my favourite and sent it to her by email for approval, which she granted immediately.

The image included the famous boots (representing the Adrián, the dancer), the yellow roses (symbolising friendship), Adrián’s home town in the background and a hint of curtain at the edges of the window sill suggesting a stage.

I drew the outline in waterproof ink

and added some text; a flamenco refrain, following the line of the curtain edge,

then applied watercolour in washes

At this point I wasn’t very happy with the roses, they looked like daffodils from a distance, so I decided to repaint them and try applying them as a collage.

This worked very well, giving a nice 3D effect, so I did the same with some of the leaves, applying them so that they overlapped the mount.

Everyone is very pleased with the finished piece.