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Family and pet portraits

Our artists accept a limited number of commissions each year for fine art portraits: family portraits, pet portraits including dog and cat portraits, baby portraits, and animal portraits.  Request a family or pet portrait commission from Ariki Art artists McKenzie Birnie or Jeane Granada Coutts to honor a loved family member or friend or pet.  Make an investment in original art that you will never regret. McKenzie and Jeane are accomplished artists who can create for you a family or pet portrait that will be a work of art with greater value than other alternatives on offer such as photographic portraits or portraits that are actually touched-up or painted over prints made with the assistance of modern imaging technologies.

Have you ever been stuck by how many of the masterworks that we value and honor today happen to be portraits? It is simply one of the most common and recurring themes throughout the history of art.

As you wander the galleries of the world, you will note that while the subjects of the portraits might be kings, queens, and emperors, they may just as well be peasants, gypsies, or local citizens.  Most portraits have been the humble friends and family of the artist or individuals who have commissioned the portrait.

In a long tradition, people both high and humble have been the subject matter of portraits.

 

Read what Vincent van Gogh had to say on portraiture in a letter to his sister...

"What impassions me most - much, much more than all the rest of my métier -is the portrait, the modem portrait. I seek it in color, and surely I am not the only one to seek it in this direction. I should like - mind you, far be it from me to say that I shall be able to do it, although this is what I am aiming at -I should like to paint portraits which would appear after a century to people living then as apparitions. By which I mean that I do not endeavor to achieve this by a photographic resemblance, but by means of our impassioned expressions -that is to say, using our knowledge of and our modern taste for color as a means of arriving at the expression and the intensification of the character. So the portrait of Dr. Gachet shows you a face the color of an overheated brick, and scorched by the sun, with reddish hair and a white cap, surrounded by a rustic scenery with a background of blue hills; his clothes are ultramarine -this brings out the face and makes it paler, notwithstanding the fact that it is brick-colored. His hands, the hands of an obstetrician, are paler than the face. Before him, lying on a red garden table, are yellow novels and a foxglove flower of a somber purple hue."
Extracted from Letter from van Gogh to his sister, June 5, 1890

Like many people throughout history who had an appreciation for portraiture as art and realized it's unique qualities of timelessness and value, you may be looking to commission a portrait by an accomplished artist such as McKenzie Birnie or Jeane Coutts.  Today, people continue to commission portraits of all kinds and for all sorts of reasons. Many commission a portrait of themselves to give as a special gift to someone they love.  For others, a portrait of a deceased family member or friend serves  to honor their memory.  In addition to all those photographs, many people like to commission a portrait of a baby in celebration of new life in the family.  Still many others are looking for a pet portrait, knowing that a portrait of their much-loved cat or dog can capture the affection an owner feels for their loved pet more than a photograph does.  And often a portrait of a family member would not be complete without the ever-faithful dog at the side, or cat on the lap of the family member.  An artist with the reputation and talent of McKenzie Birnie or Jeane Coutts can create a portrait that is a work of art that will not only honor the subject of your commissioned portrait, but will be treasured by you and your family throughout many generations.  It's the kind of investment you will never regret.  Your commissioned portrait will become a family heirloom and grow in value with time and the reputation of our artists. Whatever your reason and motivation in looking to commission a portrait, you will be continuing a long tradition in the history of art.

Our artists, in lives dedicated to art and painting, have developed their own artistic styles and techniques.  Our artists will work from photographs (or sittings as can be arranged) but do not use any electronic imaging techniques like some other portrait artists do. Electronic imaging is a great aid to artists who wish to turn out portraits quickly and cheaply with photographic precision, however our artists have a passion and commitment to their life-long vocations in art and do not cut any corners when creating a fine art portrait for you.  Our artists are one with van Gogh in his words quoted above: "I do not endeavor to achieve this by a photographic resemblance, but by means of our impassioned expressions".  When you commission a fine art portrait from McKenzie or Jeane, what you are getting is a work of art, not a laser copy or Giclee print that is touched up or painted over.  You are not getting an emphasis on "photographic precision": your commissioned portrait will be a work of fine art in an age of mass-produced reproductions. 

If you are someone who understands the distinction between a painted poster that is promoted on the basis of its relatively inexpensive cost and photographic realism, and a portrait that is painted by an artist with all their artistic talent and instincts brought to bear, then go ahead and request a commission from McKenzie or Jeane now.  Be one of the few people that McKenzie or Jeane can accept a family or pet portrait commission from each year; our artists take time over their work and are painting full-time on many subjects other than portraits, and can accept only a few portrait commissions each year.  View some samples of the work done by McKenzie or Jeane and convince yourself that you will be commissioning a work of art.

With all the modern techniques of image reproduction available today, the appreciation of original art has become blurred in the minds of many people.   The wide availability of print reproductions of masterworks and the modern enthusiasm of artists to produce Giclee prints of their originals only serves to give even more distinction and value to original art.   Many people  just don't appreciate the contribution made  by portraiture to the collective body of art.  Consider the works of giants of the art world like da Vinci, Rembrandt,  van Gogh, Modigliani , and Picasso.  Let's just be direct: What do you think are the chances that a portrait made by applying some paint to a laser copy or photo will become to be regarded as a work of art?  Answer: None.

Don't delay in placing a portrait commission backed up with the talent and artistic interpretation of our artists McKenzie  or Jeane . 

Follow the links to view samples of portraits done by the artists and to commission a family, pet or animal portrait from McKenzie Birnie or Jeane Granada Coutts.

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