Commission a portrait: the Posthumous portrait

The posthumous portrait is about family bonds and so with the respect for my client these photos are small. The emotion of acceptance of a posthumous portrait is rewarding to me. Tears and "It's lovely," make all the hours of work meaningful to me.

This doctor's portrait will hang in India and I was very honored to be chosen to paint this posthumous portrait for this dear family.

To discuss a commission, please click here.

Commission a portrait: A few Custom Portraits from 2015

I have a few paintings that are being completed which I will post soon, but here are a few custom portraits from 2015. I am always honored to paint a loved ones portrait.

To learn more about commissioned portraits, please click here.

Custom Portraits: luxury gifts for men who have everything

Lila
30" x 24"
oil on linen

This custom oil portrait was painted for a husband's 40th birthday gift. Luxury gifts for men who have everything would fit this category of painting that I do each year. What better way to honor one's family than to commission a portrait like this. Custom portraits take some time, so planning ahead is wise.

To learn more about commissioning a portrait, please click here.

Best Portrait Artists: Learning from the Best

Thinking back as I work on some new children's commissions as to how indebted I am to Connie Pratt, Constance Flavell Pratt, who used to teach on the Cape for weeklong classes. I regard her workshops to be where I learned the most in terms of personal study of the face and finding ways to capture the nuances of planes and values.

Above is a photo of her from a meet and greet art occasion and of me painting from the model in about 2002.

Custom portraits, work in Progress: commission a portrait

This has been a delightful painting to work on. I was pleased at the progress after my first painting session and look forward to continuing on with this piece soon.

Children's Oil Custom Portraits: a sampling of my Girl's and Boy's Oil portraits

Here are a few samples of my Children's oil and pastel custom portraits. When I began in portraiture I painted mostly in pastel and mostly children, as the clean up time was quick and materials non-toxic, something I needed at that time. The portrait of the girl above is in pastel. The boy is in oil.

I attended weeklong classes at Connie Pratt's Master Workshop on Cape Cod. We'd be painting all day from life with a lunch break, so my skills were quickly honed: accurate drawing, development of form and use of the pastel to create volume. Those were delightful days and she showed me a few of her secret techniques, when she saw how serious I was to learn all I could. I am looking forward to getting started on a pastel this fall of a woman. Working in different mediums is a wonderful way to keep one's work fresh and alive.

www.soniahale.com

Commission a Portrait: what age is best to paint a child, oil or pastel portrait

Continuing on in decision-making for a portrait commissions:

The next decision that a parent needs to make if they choose individual portraits, is how old do they want their children to be when painted.

I have been painting several families child by child, as they become a certain age. I find that 4 years old is very popular for those with several children. The other very popular age is, of course, 18 year old. Most families who choose to have group portraits done have them done while the children are young, all in grade school or mostly if not all in high school.

I have painted a few middle schoolers too and they seem to capture a genuine quality of what is to come in the child. Before all that serious growing up...

So in short there is no perfect time, but rather how you best wish to have your child represented as the years go on...and speaking of which, once the children move on to college you will be so happy to have their painted presence in your home!



Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Commission a Portrait, getting ready for the Commission: Choosing a Group or Individual portraits for Family Commissions

One of the next decisions parents make when getting ready to commission portraits is whether to have their children painted together or separately. This is a very personal decision. A group portrait displays the bonds between the children and is endearing that respect. The children's relationships and personalities can be very evident.

The individual portrait is quieter by contrast and all eyes are on the individual.

The other aspect to this decision is how the painting will move through the family generations. Individual portraits can easily be passed on to the next generation.

One exciting option these days is that one can have a giclee made of the original painting and have that framed and given to the other siblings or all the siblings while the parents own the original.

I find that most families have a sense of what is best for their family and do not labor unduly over this decision.




Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Commission a Portrait...Full Length Girl's Oil Portrait unveiled for family in the South

Katie Blair
28" x 40"
oil on linen

It was a joy to work on this painting of this little Southern Beauty. Capturing her charm in her dear gesture was my goal. Her parents were extremely pleased and I was very happy to be entrusted to paint their daughter. Photo supplied by the ever-talented Elizabeth Dondis of New Orleans.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Portraiture Artists: Looking back to Connie Pratt pastel workshop on Cape Cod

That is me, second from the left.

It's always fun to look back and remember some of the fantastic workshops I was able to attend, as I was learning about fine art portraiture! Here is a photograph taken by Connie Pratt (Constance Flavell Pratt). Connie was an excellent teacher who gave a demo in the am the first Monday of the weeklong workshop, and then let us learn by painting all day, every day for the rest of the week. There was a new model each day and we spent the entire day painting (in pastel) each one!

I learned so much from the time at the easel and with her fine critiques. When you are really trying to make progress you take all critiques with the intention of improving.

Connie taught me some very subtle things about pastel and I'll always be grateful to her for that.

When I saw her last, with her lovely sister Jane, Jane said they'd agreed I was her best student, which was very kind of them.


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Christmas Secrets— Shh...commission

One of the more rewarding aspects to my work is working on Christmas Secrets... Santa's workshop gets quite busy this time of the year, as these paintings are under time contraints to be put carefully bundled and put on the sleigh. In the past I've painted portraits of children, both group and individual portraits for the gift giver. Children love to be in on secrets like this and pose for photos and maybe a quick sketch— and other times a really good digital photos is all I need.

This year I am painting a surprise painting for Christmas for a family in the Boston area. To make it easier on the person who commissioned this painting, I will have it framed and varnished, so all he will need to do is to wrap it up and put it under the tree...


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Custom Oil Portraits: Photo from Client: Triple portrait framed, gifted and hung in Georgia!

Hearing from my clients and receiving word that the custom oil portrait has been framed, hung and is being enjoyed by all is one of the most rewarding aspects to my work. I have also found that framed original artwork adds a level of enrichment to a home that cannot be matched by prints or other works. Portraits go even deeper than this and provide an everlasting record of one's love for the portrait aubjects.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Commission a Portrait, Children's portraiture: Sketch for latest triple portrait

Here is a quick sketch I did for a new client for an custom oil portrait I'm working on: it shows the relationships between the children and the composition and facial expressions. My sketches are usually quick so that I can give my oil paintings the gift of genuine feeling rather than a robotic repetition/coloring of a sketch—something can get lost if an image has been sketched over and over again sometimes.

Children's Portraiture: Charcoal portrait of young girl for family in Connecticut

It's always a pleasure to get back to drawing. Here is my latest piece done for a family in Connecticut.

Photographer's credit: Donna Padowitz Photography


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Children's Portraiture: my latest children's portrait commission

This is my newest custom oil portrait. This young girl is the third generation of New York City family members (at least) who have had their portraits painted at a very young age. I was truly honored to be asked as other family members have been painted by well known artists including Erik Haupt, a New York portrait artist who lived from 1891-1984. It was a pleasure to see the family's portrait collection and to become a part of their family tradition.

As her mother noted she is a self-assured four year old and I was most happy to be sure that all the details were to be finalized to her satisfaction. I was gratified to hear from her that she and her husband were absolutely thrilled with the painting.

www.soniahale.com

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Luxury Christmas—Gift certificates for Portraits and Landscapes

For those looking for gifts for loved ones who already have 3 of everything, a gift certificate for a portrait or a landscape of their choosing is a lovely and memorable idea. It's a great way to treat your loved one to something really unique thst the family will always treasure.

Please visit my website to see samples of my work:
www.soniahale.com


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Luxury Christmas—Gift Certificates for Commissioned Art

My commission assignments seem to come in clusters. Sometimes its clusters of landscapes, women, teens or in this current case: young children.

Children's portraiture is special to work on as they are all about "Sieze the Day." Capturing young children accurately is a big responsibility in my eyes. It is stunning how fast they change from one season to the next.

Children's oil paintings and family portraits are an incredibly thoughtful and timeless gift for Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays and Anniversaries. For the spouse who has everything, why not treat them to something truly memorable and everlasting—either of your children or your spouse! A heirloom quality work of art will be never forgotten.

I am booked up for this Christmas for Christmas deliveries, but gift certificates are available.


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Custom Oil Portrait: Second Graduation portrait for family

It's an honor to be asked to paint a graduation portrait and to continue with each sibling as they grow into young adulthood. What an exciting time to see the children grow up and learn about who they are and where they might be headed...

Here is a recent portrait of a lovely young woman. I have several other teen portraits I will be posting soon.

To go to my Adult and Teen portraits gallery


Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

Best of Worldwide Portrait and Figurative Artists: my page layout

The art department has done a fabulous job with the spread featuring my paintings, which will be printed early next year in the Best of Worldwide Portrait and Figurative Artists. I'm so pleased they contacted me to ask to include my images. I am truly honored to be featured in this book.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com. You can reach her by email at soniahale1@gmail.com.

My portraits were recently chosen to be included in the Best of Worldwide Portrait and Figurative Artists book

I am very happy to announce that my portraits will be reproduced in the Best of Worldwide Portrait and Figurative Artists book this fall. There will be a two-page full color spread. I was chosen out of "thousands of artists both on and off line".

I will post a photograph of the pages once the book comes out.

Sonia Hale is an award-winning, nationally-collected artist living in Boston. She paints commissioned portraits for families and institutions nationwide. Her original landscape and still life oil paintings can be purchased at http://www.soniahale.com. For more information, go to http://www.soniahale.com.