Just A Few Adjustments...

I never realized what dark hair they had! Patty reminded me and I did some searching for old pictures of them to get their hair right. I guess by the time I knew them, they had grey hair!

Mission Accomplished!

Well, it's taken a long time and a lot of work, but I am very happy it's done! Please remember that the image I have put on this site is not a very good representation of the real thing. The original and the giclees will look so much better.

I have felt very close to them while I painted and I will miss that. Well, actually, I have felt closer to Grandma while I painted. I felt like Grandpa was too busy fixing things to worry about what I was doing. :)

Many thanks to Patty for allowing me to have this experience. It is something that I will treasure. I love those two grandparents of ours. I have had this portrait here in our home for so long, it has seemed like they were not very far away from us. I will have to have a giclee print made of it so I can keep a copy here. The original, of course, will reside happily with Patty. As always, if anyone wants a copy of it, please let me know.

Making Some Adjustments

Well, it's finally coming together! I have made a few changes to the original photo and I wanted to explain those. I removed Grandma's hat so we could see her face more clearly and I softened her hairstyle. I don't know if anyone has ever seen her with all those curls around her face and I thought a softer hairstyle might suit her better. I used references from both Grandma's and Grandpa's senior high school pictures for the hairstyles.

I also shortened her corsage a bit. In the original photo, the corsage took up half of her dress, so I modified it a bit, purely for composition's sake. I like the way things are going and I will be keeping many things the same, including the color of her wedding dress. After some research I have found that color to be japonica. Japonica? Really? Yes, it will be painted japonica, but probably a light version of that color. She liked pink anyway, right? I feel her smiling at me from heaven.

Finally Under Way!

Well, it's been awhile, but when you take the time to do your homework on a piece, everything goes so much smoother. Obviously, I have made some changes from the original photo. I closed their mouths a bit to show less teeth. I also pushed them closer together and leaned their heads just a bit towards each other. I think they would like this. I also left out Grandma's hat. I don't think she minds at all. :) I forgot to stop and take a picture of it in charcoal. So this picture is charcoal and beginning verdaccio. Don't worry! It gets better as it goes along.

The Big Day

Jesse Buckner married Barbara Wood on July 17, 1939. They were married in Hope, New Mexico. I don't know how many people know about or have been to Hope, but I am one of the lucky few. It occurred to me, as I was walking around the Hope cemetery last winter, that I would have like to see the town way back when. I wonder if it looked any different than it does today. I like to think it did, but I'm a romantic.

Little did they know, on that day, that they would have 8 children together and bury one. First came Verna, then Bonnie, Bob, Kip, Debbie, Patty, Barbie and Kevin. How young and innocent they must have been!

The Beginning

This is a blog to document the process of painting the wedding portrait of our grandparents, Jesse and Barbara Buckner. I've just begun this process and thought it might be interesting to take pictures of the project as I go along and document the whole thing. I don't know if anyone else will find this interesting, but with so many family members in the Buckner's family, I thought I'd share my experience.

I know they have moved on to their next estate, but I don't mind, because now I feel like they will visit me while I work on them. After all, they will want me to paint them in their best light!

Hope you can enjoy the journey with me.