Portraits

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 "Mindy"

Oil on linen

28"x40"

 "Linlee"

Oil on linen

24"x36"

 "Mitchell"
Oil on linen
32"x48"



 J.E. "Gene" Sutherland

Oil on Linen

30"x40"

  

(Sutherland face detail)

It was such an honor and privilege to be commissioned to paint Mr. Sutherland! He is a well respected man and has been a pillar to the agricultural business in Georgia. The Georgia Agricultural Exposition Authority honored Sutherland by naming the Livestock and Equine Arena after him and commissioned a portrait for the building. When I considered the area the painting will hang and the fact that Mr. Sutherland is known for being in the food distributing and egg producing business, I knew that it needed to be different from a typical professional male portrait in an office setting. However, he is still a businessman, so I wanted to find the right balance for the strong southern gentleman that he is. The portrait was done outdoors on his personal farm land. Since I’ve known him for about 7 years, I was able to use my own impressions of him from over the years to help compose the final image for the portrait. In many ways this portrait is a reflection of how I personally see him.



"Hollis"

Oil on linen

40"x30"

A tragedy happened in between the commissioning of this portrait and the day of the photo shoot. The dog on the left, Gentle, came down from New York but passed away the night before the photo shoot! It was a very sad day for the family and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to use old family photos to still put him in the painting. Luckily, with some photo editing and adjustments in painting, I was able to still have all three in the finished portrait! You can read more details about this portrait by clicking here: http://jamiewilsonportraits.blogspot.com/2012/06/hollis.html

(Hollis detail)

(Hollis detail)

 (Hollis detail)

"Lauren"

Oil on canvas

24"x36"

Lauren is such a sweet energetic little girl. When we first began to discuss this painting, the mother wanted to keep it simple so that it would be easier to match a future painting of her youngest daughter. We decided to photograph Lauren in a studio setting with photographer Yuri Ayers. After we reviewed the photos, we both agreed that something about a studio setting didn’t feel as alive as her personality. I took a few other reference photos at other locations with large windows and various benches. I worked to merge one of the original photos taken of Lauren in the studio with a new setting that made the overall image seem light and cheerful. I’m happy about the way it turned out. Lauren is a beautiful girl and this was a fun one to work on!

"The Feenker Children"

Oil on canvas

68" x 44"

This portrait was by far the most challenging and rewarding commission to date for several reasons: the size, the number of full figure subjects in it, and that dress! I spent the majority of 2011 working on this large piece. But often the easiest accomplishments in life are not the ones we are most proud of and I'm proud of the work I put into this one! The final image was made from over 6 different pictures. I wanted the kids to be far enough apart so that they didn't look too artificially posed. When I was researching three figure paintings, I noticed I tended not to like when the figures were in a tight triangle type formation and I wanted the portrait to look more natural.

(Feenker detail)

(Feenker detail)

(Feenker detail)

(Feenker detail)

(Feenker detail)

"John Henry"

Oil on linen 20x24

 This painting of John Henry was taken at his grandmother's house. The shutters on this window are always kept open so he can look out the window and press his face against the glass. His grandmom said that he likes to look out to see his mommy coming back. Since he likes this window so much, this is where we decided to have him for his portrait.

"Mozart"

Oil on linen

12"x18"

"Archie and Weezie"

Oil on linen 20x24

These pugs were some of my first pets to paint! It is difficult to photograph two animals to sit calmly side by side each other like this, so I photographed them seperately and then composed them together
 for the portrait.

Daisy (Black Lab)

Delta (Yorkie)

  

"Darby" (English Pointer)

These three dogs were lots of fun to paint! The black lab Daisy was pregnant at the time of the photoshoot and is one of the reasons we decided to do head and shoulders only of the larger two dogs. The smaller yorkie dog always tilts her head to the side when you ask her "Delta you wanna go for a ride?". It was so cute that I instantly knew that that was exactly what she should be doing for her portrait.