I just finished a particularly enjoyable portrait of a sock monkey commissioned by a very lovely woman as a gift for her nephew via my Etsy shop Curious Portraits. She shared with me how much he loves this sock monkey and thought dressing him up in formal attire would make it special and memorable. The original monkey had a striped body which would of course be covered by the tuxedo. Since it was this characteristic that made him stand apart from any other sock monkey I decided to incorporate his stripes into his bow tie to portray his own personality. These whimsical projects are just about my favorite to work on and I never get bored with all the interesting requests that come my way.
Victorian Sock Monkey
I just received an interesting portrait commission that I am very eager to begin. A lovely customer from my Etsy shop Curious Portraits, contacted me about painting a portrait for her nephew of his beloved sock monkey but in full victorian dress! She loved my original sock monkey portrait whose model was my dear friend Keith's vintage childhood toy. She also loved my Cat Dandy portrait and wants me to take my inspiration from the two paintings. I love doing portraits that will be given as gifts because I always feel so much love behind them. It will be a surprise Christmas gift so I have plenty of time to finish it!
PONYTAIL BARBIE SERIES
This weekend I was determined to finish this series of Barbie portraits. The more I paint her the more I see differences in her expression and mood. I think for the next set I will work larger and on canvas. (These and the Bubble Head Barbie series are painted on 6" x 6" wood panels). I am toying with the idea of background or even clothes. The fashion possibilities are endless, so many favorite outfits I remember from my childhood. ..
Sock Monkey Portrait
A few years ago my friend Keith loaned me his childhood sock monkey to photograph for a project I was working on. I took some great photos with the intention of eventually doing a formal portrait of it. I had done a portrait of my favorite childhood toy, green bunny years ago and always wanted to do a whole series of toy portraits. Well last week I finally felt inspired out of the blue to do the portrait. It came together so quickly and I couldn't be happier with it. 
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