Live Wedding Guest Portraits
Portraits not only provide entertainment and fun for your guests, they also give them something that lasts, something very personal, and make a lovely reminder of your wedding. It never gets old see guest getting excited finding out they can have their portraits done, it’s a lovely surprise for them!
I offer live portrait sessions in 3 different styles. I can paint portraits of individuals, couples, or small groups. They can be drawn live from observation (with the guests sitting for me) or from photos.
Guest portraits are painted either digitally or on paper. Painted digitally, they can be sent to your guests mobiles or email address right away, or uploaded to an online gallery to download from there.
3 styles, your choice!
The same person drawn on the same paper for easy comparison.
MORE ABOUT EACH STYLE
Guest portraits in style inspired by quentin blaKE
A fun, simple illustration of your guests (and you) done in a style inspired by the magnificent Sir Quentin Blake. Chose if you want to make your guests laugh. 🙂
If you are looking for something lighthearted, these might be the perfect option for your wedding or other special occasion.
This style takes about 4-5 minutes per face, which makes them the quickest portraits I can do. It also means there is a better chance of being able to sketch more of your guests in the time given. Please note that the timing is just a rough estimate and will depend on various factors.
I really love doing these and they tend to be very popular, so please do book me and and give me an excuse to do lots more! 😉
For this style I strongly recommend not drawing from photos but doing a live drawing, to avoid “frozen” and unnatural expression.
I can draw these digitally or on paper, please see the advantages and disadvantages lower down the page and an example of both.
Some of the portraits drawn digitally on my tablet
Illustrative Guest Portraits
Illustrative, stylised drawings, chose this style if you want your guests to go: “Awww!” when they see it. 🙂
This is more of an illustrative, endearing style, kept simple so it doesn’t take long to draw.
This style can be drawn live or from a photo, although I always prefer to paint them live, to avoid “frozen” and unnatural expression.
This style will take about 6-7 minutes per face but please note that the timing is just a rough estimate and will depend on various factors.
It can also be drawn digitally or on paper, please see the advantages and disadvantages lower down the page.
Sketch guest portraits
This is the closest style to my Story of Your Wedding sketches. The most realistic style, will take slightly longer than the previous two.
This is the only style I recommend done with pen and paper rather than a digital drawing. The “loose”, wiggly lines are difficult to replicate digitally.
This style will take about 8-9 minutes per face but please note that the timing is just a rough estimate and will depend on various factors.
This style can be drawn live or from a photo I take.
HOW IT’S DONE
Pen & watercolour on Paper
Portraits done in a traditional way, with pen, ink and watercolour on archival quality paper, given to your guests as favours when finished.
Advanges
Disadvantages
Digital Sketches
Digital portraits hand-drawn drawn on my tablet. They can be sent to your guests mobiles or an email address when finished, or uploaded to an online gallery to see and download from there (the fastest option).
Advantages
Disadvantages
Can I paint a portrait for every guest?
Please bear in mind if you have a large number of guests it’s unlikely I will be able to draw them all. From experience a lot of people love having their portrait done, but most likely not everyone will want one, and that’s ok.
Of course I always do my best to paint as many portraits as possible in the time given, but if there wasn’t enough time to do a portrait of everyone who wanted one, I am more than happy to do some additional portraits from photos later. An extra charge would be requested if it’s more than a few.