Capturing Baby Prisha - Portrait painted from a photo

Commission Spotlight: Capturing Baby Prisha (A 2-Day Race Against Time)
Every commission brings its own unique set of parameters, but every now and then, a project arrives with a deadline that tests your absolute limits.

Some time ago, I was commissioned to paint a portrait of a beautiful four-month-old baby girl named Prisha. The catch? I had a total of just ten days to complete the project—and four of those days had to be reserved strictly for shipping.

With only six days left to actually create the artwork, my go-to medium, oil paint, was completely off the table. Oils simply take too long to dry and cure before they can be safely packed and shipped. To make this happen, I had to step outside my comfort zone and reach for a medium I rarely touch: acrylics.

Stripping It Down to the Primaries

Because I rarely paint in acrylics, I don’t keep a massive array of tubes in my studio. In fact, I had exactly four colors available to me:
* Titanium White
* Crimson Lake
* Lemon Yellow
* Prussian Blue


Capturing the soft, luminous, and delicate skin tones of a four-month-old baby using just three primary colors and white is a rigorous exercise in color theory. There is no room for error; you have to understand exactly how much warmth to pull from the yellow and red, and just a tiny speck of blue to neutralize the values without making the tones muddy.

The Preparation and Execution

Because acrylics dry incredibly fast compared to oils, you have to work with absolute certainty. You can't spend hours blending a shadow on the canvas. To make sure I didn't stumble on the final piece, I spent a bit of time in my sketchbook practicing the folds and textures of the pink fabric swaddled around her. Once I felt confident with the fabric's rhythm, I moved to the final surface. Working quickly and decisively, I managed to complete the entire portrait in just two days.

The True Reward

While acrylics will never replace the slow, layered, and luminous quality of oil painting for me, this project was a wonderful reminder of how important adaptability is as an artist.

The greatest reward came when the painting arrived safely and promptly on schedule. Prisha's parents absolutely loved the final portrait and thanked me for the prompt delivery. Knowing that this fast-paced studio scramble resulted in a keepsake a family will look at for decades makes every intense minute worth it.

Have you ever had to use a tool or method you don't normally prefer just to get a job done on time? Did the pressure help you focus, or did you miss your usual routine? Let’s swap stories in the comments

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