Painting Process A Portrait of My Minnesota Bride

My Minnesota Bride Collage Painting by Borbay

Getting married was the finest experience of my life… and it has everything to do with my bride — Erin. Her folks, Jeanne and Tom, hosted our dream wedding in their Minnetonka, Minnesota backyard this past July. I couldn’t think of a better moment to capture than this image of my wife smiling in the backyard where she grew up and where we were married.

Here is the process video for this canvas, and below, the source image which was taken by the talented George Flowers.

Erin Borbet Photo by George Flowers

And now, photos of the process along the way.

Painting Process My Minnesota Bride (1)

Started out with a quick Sharpie sketch over the plastic wrap to get a feel for the composition.

Painting Process My Minnesota Bride (2)

Once down to the actual surface, I began to collage carefully selected New York Post headlines.

Painting Process My Minnesota Bride (3)

After a quick third round of drawing on top of the headlines, I went to work on the dress.

Painting Process My Minnesota Bride (5)

The background became a host of shapes… more abstract than the actual image. It was important to establish Erin’s presence early in the painting process.

Painting Process My Minnesota Bride (7)

Bringing some colors into the skin, and making the flowers pop… in fact, I dug their rawness so they were barely touched again.

Painting Process My Minnesota Bride (8)

Going into the face with deep purples to help differentiate the shadows vs. the highlights. I’ll admit, it was nerve-wracking to paint my wife because I love her so much, and wanted to do her stunning beauty justice.

Painting Process My Minnesota Bride (10)

Warming up the skin, bringing the painting closer. At this point I began to feel much more confident in the image… and decided the contrast on the skin was a bit too much.

My Minnesota Bride Collage Painting by Borbay

 

After some contrast softening and a few touch-ups, my Minnesota Bride is complete. A big thanks to George Flowers for his incredible camera work — his photo served as an incredible point of departure.

Become a Borbay V.I.P.

 
You'll be first to hear about new works, pre-sale's, market updates and much, much more.

You've done it!

6 comments

  1. Steven says:

    Hey, Jason. Awesome to tune in to your process while painting. Particularly like your thinking on color usage.
    Mazeltov. Hope all is well with y’all….as it is with us’ns.

  2. Cheryl DeGeer says:

    Hey jason and Erin, you’re painting is lovely and so is Erin. It was a beautiful day and I treasure the memory of you both, in all your happiness, on your special day. Hope you enjoy your delayed honeymoon in Asia and wish Erin a very Happy Birthday this year from Grandpa Jo and Cheryl

Comments are closed.