Portrait of friends for wedding present

My son Liam requested that I paint a portrait of his two friends as a present for them on their marriage in November 2012.  He gave me a series of photographs from which I was to select one. I sieved through these photos choosing one in particular.

I began a charcoal (under) drawing first to define the drafting and set  the composition. As I got to know the two figures (I had only met them twice as they live a long way from my home) I began to realise that the face of the female figure I had chosen was not her expressing her character. I had seen this character for myself and picked it up in many of the other photos. I try to develop her character in the first image but finally decided that I needed to start again on her face. The face of the male figure (who I know better) came together very quickly and I was happy how it had resolved. I returned to the photographs and found another image of the female face which I felt expressed her character better and gave something that I could place in the developing composition without a compromise.

The background required an outdoor setting without distracting from the faces.

The Wedding Present: