These portraits  were commissioned in period costume - what fun!  (Above photos are details of larger portraits)

All portraits this page by LaRue Claros - no copies without written permission of the artist, please.

If you live in New Mexico or are visiting our fair state, and would like to drop by my studio or ask about commissioning your own portrait, just contact me at abqartstudio@gmail.com for more information.  You may also call me at the studio at 505-681-8689.  Thanks for visiting!

Below are just a few of the portraits I have enjoyed painting.  New portraits will be added from time to time, so be sure and check back! 

Tribute to Vincent

24" x 30"

$1250

Acrylic on canvas

Although I usually paint in oils, occaisionally the subject (in this case, Vincent Van Gogh) warrants a different approach.  "Tribute to Vincent" is painted in acrylics with short paint strokes in strong colors.  Van Gogh has been a tremendous influence in my life and art, and I wanted to memorialize his artistic journey. His contemporaries, Cezanne and Seurat, were an influence on his style, so their brushwork is represented here as well. 

  Custom Portraits

Over the years, I have done portraits from photos, portraits from life, portraits of pets - you name it!  I prefer to work from life, but I know that today's busy schedules sometimes get in the way, so I do work from photos as well.  I paint memorial portraits of loved ones, unique wedding portraits, tasteful boudoir portraits, children, families, and corporate portraits.  If you have an idea for a custom portrait, and you aren't sure it will work, just run it by me and I'm pretty sure we can work it out!  I like to do a charcoal drawing, then a quick color study  before I start the full-scale portrait.  Each stage is approved by the sitter before I continue.  At the end of the portrait painting process, the client gets to keep the charcoal drawing, the color study, and the luminous custom portrait oil painting.  The actual time it takes to paint a portrait depends of course on the size and scale, but is usually from three weeks to three months.  Since the final portrait will be in oils, I must wait for each layer to dry before painting the next layer, then the final layer needs to dry before the painting is ready to travel to its new home.

Above is a small selection of Custom Portraits I have done on commission in oils.  For portraits of children, due to their active nature (and so they won't get too bored!) I take several photos at the first sitting, and limit the sitting time to a half hour.  They are usually excited about being painted and really enjoy the process!  For adults, I also will take photos for future reference, plus I do a charcoal or pastel sketch, and the sitting time is one to two hours, depending on my client's schedule.  The above are all head and shoulder portraits, but I do three-quarter seated portraits and full body portraits in the "grand style" as well.