2020 Commissions

↓The drawings below are commissions for Becky Potter. Becky is my best friend and we met through the University of Portsmouth Equestrian Club. She asked me to draw her new horse Nelson (left) and her old horse Will (right). I was able to visit her and Nelson over the Christmas holidays and take some lovely photos of them. I used one of my photos as reference for his drawing. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet Will as he was put to sleep but Becky provided me with a photo to draw. I drew these before I started my style of full portrait drawings with coloured backgrounds. She was thrilled with the drawings as she has so much love for these cheeky boys. She wrote on Facebook, "Thank you so much, Serena, for drawing me these, I cannot express how much I love them." ↓

↓The drawing below is a commission for Saffron. We met through the University of Portsmouth Equestrian Club and have ridden together for 2 years. Saffron emailed me from my website and ordered a commission. This felt like my first proper commission. She sent several photos of her pony Ginger for me to choose from. She wanted a close up drawing with a cream background, something subtle. Ginny is 13.1hh, about 20 years now and Saffron has had her roughly since she was 14. She described Ginny as a typical chestnut mare and likes to be the boss! I chose this photo of Ginny as her mane was so pretty and she looked cute but sassy. I rotated the image and cropped it as it looked more natural this way. I picked the background colour from her mane. Saffron shared this to her page and story as can be seen below.↓

↓The drawing below is a commission for Natasha. Natasha (@nala_nightmare) messaged me on Instagram asking me about a commission. She sent two photos of her pony Nala and wanted me to draw the first photo but was worried that it could be an awkward angle. This wasn't a problem for me. As you can see I rotated her head to the right to make it a more natural angle. I then filled in the gap of mane at the top left. I removed the lead-rope at the bottom of the photo to make it look neater. Natasha didn't specify a background colour. I tried pink to match the headcollar but preferred an apple green picked from the trees in the background. I also sent her the drawing with a white, grey and black background. As you can see in the bottom photo, Natasha used the grey background as her new profile picture! She also posted it to her feed, and this received a very positive response. I had a few messages inquiring about commissions after this.↓

↓The drawing below is a commission for my mum and her partner Phil (family commissions are still commissions, right?) Phil wanted me to draw our kitten Teddy and I took some photos of Teddy with my camera and chose the one I wanted to draw. I had to combine 2 photos together for this drawing. I also took the photo from inside whilst he was out in the garden so I had an additional challenge of drawing him with the lighting from through the glass. I liked this as it gave some additional depth to the drawing. I also entered this drawing into an Easter art competition on Instagram. You had to submit a drawing of your favourite thing, be it a memory, a place, a person or an animal. You also had to write a short paragraph about why this was so important to you. Here is a link to my entry. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAU6D8inNWH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

This competition was hosted by @milkartt, @jenraeart, @furrval, and @shannon_artss and I was selected as a winner by Melodi (@milkartt). My prize was a free commission from her! I asked her to draw the pony I used to ride 11 years ago called Pickles, who only has one eye. I included the drawing and photos of her below.↓

↓The drawing below is a commission for Lana Zavada. Lana (@lanazavada) and I were talking on Instagram about horses and art when she told me that she is raising money to rescue a horse. She is trying to raise enough money to buy Blacky from a riding school otherwise he will be sent to a slaughterhouse due to age and injury. Many artists have helped by donating artwork for her to sell on products on Redbubble and to help raise awareness. I decided to join in with this and help the best way I could by donating this drawing of Blacky. Lana will be able to sell products with my drawing on in her online shop on Redbubble. I will be adding it to my shop as well, with all profits going towards saving Blacky.↓

↓The drawings below are commissions for Elizabeth Somers. We have been friends on Instagram since the beginning of this year, I'm not even sure how we started talking but we haven't stopped! I was planning to do a photoshoot of her and her horses but coronavirus cancelled our plans. Elz (@elz_equine) messaged me on Instagram asking if I would be able to do a drawing for her and her horse Smythson. She wanted it in my most recent style, which was actually some of my old work from last year that I decided to post to see what people thought of it! She wanted to use the drawing as a logo for branded work shirts! She sent two pictures and told me to use whichever I wanted. I decided to have a quick go at drawing both pictures before I agreed to the work as I am inexperienced in drawing people and didn't want to let her down. I sent her what I had come up with to see if she wanted to go ahead with it. I don't usually do that, however, this was a learning curve for me and she is my friend. She loved them both and so I went ahead and drew them properly and in more detail. I have included my rough drawings next to the photo and the final illustration. It was really refreshing to draw in this different style again, as it is so different from my realistic drawings. With the first drawing which was of the cantering photo, it turned out so so nicely in the simplistic style that she wanted. All the colours just worked so well together! It made for a really cohesive icon. I think this is more what she was looking for. On the other hand, I wasn’t loving the simplistic style for the photo of her stood next to Smyth, so I added a lot more detail and I liked it so much more. I’m not sure how well it would work as a logo as it’s not as simplistic, but I love how it turned out. Elz wanted to go ahead with both drawings as she loved them so much!! Below I have included the original photo sent to me by Elz, next to my first draft and then the final outcome. I also sent her the first illustration as a profile picture and the second with a coloured background. ↓

Below you can see the before and after and the layer I added. This is because I drew the first draft on a smaller canvas and wanted to increase the size of the final outcome. I went over every line to tidy up the edges and add the details that were missing.

She has already turned it into an animation to use in her vlogs. I am excited to see what she does with it next!