Filling in the blanks

Part of being a professional artist is being able to deliver on time and on budget. And sometimes your forced to do these things with one hand tied behind you back, (figuratively)
Normally I like to shoot my own references for the amount detail that is needed to do the job correctly, but sometimes that is not the way things work out. Take for instance this portrait gig where the person has transitioned away. And the client's only available reference is this small old photo.

I never have backed down from a challenge and this particular instance gave me in opportunity to figure out this issue. I could have just said no, but this returning client is a friend and I wanted to make sure she received what she needed. So I had put on my detective hat and dug into my bag of tricks to make out the details of the gentlemen's face in the picture. I used some of the clients personal pictures who is the grand daughter) from facebook to decipher some those details like the mouth and eyes) an with the help of Photoshop. Once I got them in I was able to loosen up some of the details and edges to give the picture about more life.
In the end, it was a good turn out and the client was happy with the product.






(close up on the face doesn't give the details so easily)





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