A Marriage Proposal

Commissioned oil painting on canvas 80x100cm

The brief for this painting came right out of the blue, from the young lady featured, in this most romantic of portraits.  She wanted the painting to present to her fiance on the day of their wedding.  Such a charming idea, which instantly captured my imagination.

But there was a problem;  the only photo of the marriage proposal was a rather poor photo taken at night in very dim artificial lighting, out of focus, of a very low resolution, with the bride-to-be's face almost completely obscured by her beautiful hair.  Enjoying a challenge, as I do, I decided to accept the commission.  What follows, shows the several attempts I made to do justice to this special moment in the lives of this young couple, and in particular the struggle I had to capture that lovely face on canvas.

work in progress 1

I began as usual by drawing the composition onto the canvas.  On this occasion with graphite, as I wanted to be quite precise about the positioning of the hands and the tender way they were clasped.

A likeness to the subjects wasn't my aim at this stage.  It was more important to show the posture of the figures, and how they related to each other.

work in progress 2

Work-in-progress 2 shows how I loosely blocked in the background to reflect the dark randomness of what in the photo appeared to be a rough stone wall.  It was very apparent that this was not going to work well, and would need to be re-thought later.


Leaping onward to work-in-progress 9 by this time I had softened the background, with the beginnings of light glowing centrally.  Almost from the start I had the feeling I wanted to show the young people as if caught in a bubble of emotion, where their connection to each other was almost electric.  Totally separate from all the other people perhaps there at the time, or viewing the painting in the future.




The loving expression on the young man's face clearly showed in the photo, so was able to capture this straight away.  I then began a similar process with the other beautiful face, which was less straight forward.

Having little to go on from the proposal photo, because her face was hidden by hair, the client provided many other photos of herself.  None of them seemed to have the expression I felt she would have worn at that very special moment.  I made many attempts to combine how she appeared in the various photos together with my imagination.  The client collaborated wonderfully, with images and emails flying backwards and forwards, until we eventually saw her perfect expression emerge on the canvas.

Finally she sent images of furniture and decor in the room where the painting would be displayed, so I was able to add soft pastel tints to complement the room.

This project was a great lesson to me.  Emotions and instincts are far more important than any technical issues.  Problems are there to be overcome.  With persistence, plus enthusiasm and feedback from clients, magic things can happen.

Commissioned oil painting on canvas 80x100cm

How to commission a painting.  If you have an idea for a painting you'd like to discuss with me, you're welcome to get in touch.  You can reach me by email beeskelton@gmail.com or see more work in my Etsy Shop or website www.beeskelton.com

Pomerian pet portrait painting

Dazzling custom dog portrait by Bee Skelton

A few weeks ago, I was initially astonished to receive a most unexpected commission for a custom pet portrait, in a style for which I'm not generally known.  I really did marvel at the the confidence the client placed in me, because she knew my usual work, and was still prepared to trust me to do something so completely different.

Little dog Jimmy is a most treasured pet, who holds a special place in the heart of the client and her man.  A spectacularly bright, semi-abstract style was requested.  But it also needed to be a portrait in the usual sense, in that there was to be a likeness to the subject.

I decided Jimmy's sweet face needed to be rendered as naturally as possible as a starting point.  As usual in my portraits, I wanted to focus on the eyes.

Once I felt the little dog's personality was beginning to show, I began to let rip with colour.  What FUN that turned out to be!

Fluffy Pomeranian dogs have long hair, so there was ample scope to play with texture, brush strokes and oodles of thick paint.  Finally my client requested I hide Jimmy's name in the painting for viewers to search for.

I loved being challenged to do something outside my comfort zone.  I look forward to more of the same .... but different LOL!

How to commission a painting.  If you have an idea for a painting you'd like to discuss with me, you're welcome to contact me. 
 You can reach me by email beeskelton@gmail.com or see more work in my Etsy Shop or website www.beeskelton.com

Black poodle custom portrait painting

Completed black poodle custom portrait.

I received a commission to paint a poodle with a cute smiley expression as a gift for the clients father.  It was a interesting project as the little dog is completely black.  I've painted many black dogs before but on this occasion decided to accentuate lights and medium tones using distinctive blue notes .

black dog work-in-progress 1

I worked on a stretched canvas using acrylic paint rather than oils because the painting was required quickly.  Oil paint would have taken too long to dry before it would have been safe to ship to the USA from my studio in England. I started with underpainting in soft warm colour intended to be complementary to the blues to be worked later.  A loose sketch of the poodle followed in thin dark grey paint.

Gradually tones, texture and colour were developed and finally a simple background that was carried onto the sides so the painting can be displayed without frame.

If you would love a portrait of your own dog, send me your favourite photo for FREE consultation and advice to beeskelton@gmail.com

black dog work-in-progress 2
more tone added

black dog work-in-progress 3
with light/medium blue notes

black dog work-in-progress 4

black dog completed side view

Romantic fantasy portrait in oils

Commissioned romantic fantasy portrait in oils by Bee Skelton

And they say romance is dead!  Not true, for some of my clients.  As an anniversary surprise for her husband, a lady in New York has commissioned me to paint a portrait of them both in the style of a romantic book cover.  She supplied recent photos and I got to work.  Below are some work-in-progress images for those of you who like to see the process.  
Email me for more information about any of my work.

Portrait for Our Friends Dog Rescue

Portrait of Henry

Our Friends Dog Rescue http://ourfriendsdogrescue.org.uk/ is in need of all our help to continue their excellent work.  I am absolutely delighted that Brenda Pollard commissioned me to paint an oil portrait of Henry, her handsome boy, with her fee going to help the cause.

Sadly Henry is no long with us but Brenda was able to send me some old photos of him to help me create a likeness. Below are some work-in-progress images for those of you who like to see the process:

Line drawing in pencil on the canvas

Started by adding main areas of light and shade with large brush.

Henry portrait work-in-progress 3

Henry portrait work-in-progress 4

Henry portrait work-in-progress 5

Henry portrait work-in-progress 6

Henry portrait work-in-progress 7

Henry portrait work-in-progress 8

Email me for more information about any of my work.

Gift Certificates for custom portrait painting.

Example only

  One of my custom portrait gift certificates can be the perfect way to give a unique and memorable gift to special friends or Mum, Dad, Grandparents in fact any family member.  Suitable for all occasions;  birthday gift, engagement, wedding present, anniversary gift, retirement presentation, Christmas.

I can create them for any monetary amount or for the price of a specific size of custom portrait, cost of shipping will be added in too.  Just email me to so we can plan how you'd like me to create your Gift Certificate .

What you get from me is a printable PDF Gift Certificate, which comes with full instructions for the recipient.


How does it work?

• You contact me and together we decide what you need. 
• I will send you a Paypal invoice for you to make the purchase.
•  I will email you a PDF voucher/certificate within 24 hours, usually sooner. 
• You will print this and give it to one person, or if you would prefer you can email it to them instead. Each gift certificate has a unique alphanumeric code that the recipient must mention when contacting me to order their painting. 
• The gift certificate will include instructions for the recipient.
• The recipient then contacts me to discuss their painting and send me photographs.
• I create the painting in collaboration with the recipient, sending them 'work in progress' images from start to completion of the work.
• I then post the completed portrait direct to them after it has their approval.

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PLEASE NOTE

I will send the gift certificate to your PayPal email address.
You will need to email the gift certificate to the recipient.
The unique code on each certificate can only be used once, by one person!
The gift certificate will remain valid for one year from the date of purchase.
Gift certificates cannot be returned.
Gift certificates are non refundable.
Gift certificates cannot be redeemed for cash.
The painting shown is an example only and not included in the purchase of any gift certificate.

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SHIPPING & HANDLING
Depending on whether oil or quick drying acrylic paint is used, after the painting is completed time needs to be allowed for oil paint to dry before varnish is applied. Therefore shipping is approximately 5/6 weeks after the date of commencement for an oil painting.  Acrylic paintings can be shipped immediately.
The artwork will be carefully protected and packaged, and sent anywhere in the world. (Tracking number, signed for)

Custom portrait painting of three children.

Yesterday I finished this portrait of three beautiful children and in a way I'm sad to come to the end.  I had such a great time collaborating with the charming lady who is their grandmother.  As per my usual habit, through out the process I sent her 'work in progress' images (see below) and with the aid of her feedback together we created this painting.

For more information see How to Commission a Portrait.

Or check out the possibilities of Custom Portrait Gift Certificates.

Email me for more information about any of my work.

Friends & family referrals

I've got the best job in the world!  I get to do what I love all day long, and get to know very special people like you!  You trust me to paint your loved-ones, and I'm delighted that you're thrilled with my work and recommend me to others.  I am grateful when you spread the word and very much want to show how much you are appreciated.

So here's the plan;  when you refer a friend or family member to me for a new commissioned painting, that person will receive a 20% discount on their painting, and you will receive a credit in my studio worth 20% of their final amount.

For example: If your sister admires the painting you commissioned for your husband's birthday. And she is interested in working with me.  Please get her to email me personally (ask her to mention your name). If she then commissions a portrait valued at say 140. Her price will be marked down by 20% to 112 and you will receive a credit in my studio for 22.40 (20% of her final cost). 

Want to chat or talk about this, I'd love to hear from you.  Email me.

Wedding Anniversary portrait painting

Custom Wedding portrait - oil on canvas - by Bee Skelton

This painting was commissioned by the daughter of this very happy bride and groom to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.  I so enjoyed making this painting ... just look at those smiles!

For those of you who like to see how it's done, here are some 'work in progress' images:

Preparatory squared up pencil drawing by Bee Skelton

Blocked in background and some general tone by Bee Skelton

Wedding portrait work in progress by Bee Skelton

Weddidng portrait work in progress by Bee Skelton

Wedding portrait work in progress by Bee Skelton

Wedding portrait completed by Bee Skelton

Email me for more information this or about any of my work.

Or take a look at the Gift Certificate possibilities.