The process of a portrait

This is a commission I completed in October. The family wanted their portrait in front of their spectacular view. A landscape as well as a portrait.
I used a combination of photos and sketches. I take many photos with my digital camera, then show them on their TV. This allows the family to see which aspects they would like in the portrait, and gives them a say in how the portrait will look. Each person then sits for a sketch, which allows me to 'learn' their face. Useful in the portrait process.
This is one of the largest portraits I have done. It's almost life-sized. They were very happy with the result. When I began the painting, the hills were very dry, as we were in the middle of a drought. As I worked on the painting, we got more rain. It looks very much like this now.