Pastel Drawings of the Kids

Okay! FINALLY! Here's the post about Ironman's Christmas present. It's also almost 1 a.m., so I'll make it brief. Long story short, I wanted an artist to do portraits of our children. In a round about way, I found out a fellow blogger is engaged to an artist! They live in the United Kingdom...hmmm...a challenge to get there and sit for the portrait. Luckily he works from photos.

Below you'll see the photo I emailed him, the emailed pastel drawing he sent back for approval, and the final framed drawing. It had its challenges, but luckily he was patient and persistent. He started over more than once. I think we worked with at least 3 photos of Gracie before we settled on one. There was a lot of back and forth.

I told him the budget I had to work with that had to include the shipping fees from the UK. I got quite a deal because he was interested in having his work in the U.S. I can't promise he'll be able to give the same deal again, but he did it all for an even $300. I tell you that out right because people always want to know but feel awkward about asking. It cost more to frame them, and I bought the pre-made frames at Hobby Lobby at 50% off meaning they were each only $40...but then you have to pay for glass, matting, etc. It was worth it (to us at least) to have what we consider to be family heirlooms. And it brought tears to Ironman's eyes which is hard to do. He loves them.

The artist is Darren Gouldsbrough. You can find him on Facebook and talk to him there. His email address is djgouldsbrough@gmail.com. His fiance is Greer Taylor, and her blog can be found in my blogroll....Little Nut Tree. Spread the word if you know of someone who would enjoy something like this. He does oils, abstracts, all kinds of stuff.

Okay, I'm super sleepy and unwilling to proof this. Hope it makes sense.

Update: I had to take down the pictures of my kids for safety reasons.