True love lasts a
A wedding portrait will last for
Your love took time and care to create, why shouldn’t the work that captures it?
ROme WASN'T built in a
Leonardo da Vinci didn’t sit down one afternoon and paint the Mona Lisa in one sitting. He did a number of studies, figured out what he wanted to say, and approached the piece with a lifetime of observational knowledge and hard earned technical skill. My work may not be hanging in the Louvre (yet!), but I promise to approach your portrait with the same care and consideration as the old masters.
Color theory, compositional psychology, anatomical knowledge, and a strong command of the medium are all crucial components to the execution of a quality work of art. These are all skills that I have spent a lifetime honing both in and out of an academic setting, and are what I bring to your big day as well as the additional studio time afterwards.
Skipped your art history survey in college and have no idea what kind of painting you want? No problem! I come with a lifetime of artistic knowledge, a wealth of pop culture references, and a massive Pinterest board full of inspiration to help you visualize exactly what it is that you want your painting to look like.
What makes a
A good painting looks like the thing it’s supposed to look like, but a great painting captures a memory. Using time tested compositional techniques, such as harmonic armatures, value stacking, and color theory, I am able to create a painting that not only resembles the moment visually, but draws the viewer in on a deeper psychological level.
Like all great loves, it stars with a feeling. How do you want your painting to feel? Airy? Warm? Dramatic? The world is your oyster when it comes to your portrait. The photographer is there to capture the guests and the decor, I’m here to capture the romance.
All great works of art start with great composition. The arrangement of objects within a frame is the artists greatest tool when telling a story, and it is an art form all its own that has been studied and developed by artists and mathematicians over centuries. Golden ratios, dynamic symmetry, rabatment, and harmonic armatures all dictate the mathematically precise ratios between guidelines in order to create a more naturally pleasing and balanced picture to the eye.
Leading lines draw the viewing into the picture, show where the viewers eye line should follow, around the drape of the veil, past the bouquet, up towards the couples gaze. All of these elements are discussed and strategically placed ahead of time so that we can capture the perfect picture to paint on your big day. This is the bones of your piece.
Value stacking is what gets built over the scaffolding of our compositional armature. This is how we build emphasis on areas that we want to focus on, (for example, your first kiss) and decrease emphasis on areas that are less important (the details in the windows behind you, unless of course you got married in front of some gorgeous stained glass). By creating alternating contrast between darks and lights, we allow the eye to be drawn to the areas of highest contrast while maintaining visual interest throughout the piece. I draw from the lineage of value masters such as Caravaggio and Goya when implementing my value stacking to ensure that people won’t be able to take their eyes off of your painting.
Color theory is what really brings your portrait to life and is the part of painting that truly makes me feel like a magician. Wondering why I’m painting your gorgeous blue sky a bright neon orange? Color theory. That pale faded green that I’m painting your cheeks in? Color theory is gonna make sure that those cheeks turn out rosy pink. By playing with contrast and opposition across the color wheel spectrum, I allow my paints to bounce off of each other, vibrating and optically blending to create a lush vibrant piece that quite literally glows when the light hits it, something that simply cannot be achieved by printing out a photo and framing it. Call it science, call it alchemy, call it bullshit if you’re so inclined, but I call it magic.
The details are the cherry on top, the icing on the cake, the diamond ring sealing in a lifetime of love. Detail work happens primarily in the studio, where I can polish up every last little detail, from the pattern of your grandmother's lace on your dress, to the glint of sunlight off of your cufflinks. I strive to craft a proper balance between the details of your piece and a harmonious overall composition, ensuring that your eye instantly recognizes what matters most in the painting. As a former miniature painter, tiny brush collector, and overall lover of small things, I can promise that no detail will go unnoticed, I’ll even paint the font of your custom champagne bottle label into your piece if thats what you want!
Meet the
Hi! I’m Olivia Mae and I am a fine art painter based out of Bozeman, Montana.
I came to wedding painting when I noticed a significant stylistic gap in the market for high quality, carefully crafted, traditional oil paintings, that really captured the uniqueness of each couples love story, rather than just a basic shot of the ceremony that lacked narrative emphasis.
I hold a BFA in painting, a professional certification in interior architecture (no wonky perspective here!), have shown work in galleries from Boston to Los Angeles, and am a life long devotee to the pursuit of artistic beauty. Most importantly though, I love weddings! There is so much that goes into making your big day as special as it can be, and you deserve a piece that immortalizes that magical feeling, one that you can enjoy every day for the rest of your lives!
Curious about my non wedding work? Check it out here!