Mirror, mirror on the wall

Recently I sold the antique desk that I painted. I feel "official" now! I've been painting furniture for my house, but with no room or need for the desk, I wanted to sell it. I found a very lovely lady on a facebook yard sale page who wanted it. When I met her to drop it off, she realized that I painted it myself. She asked if I had anymore of the blue paint left (that's a yes), and she mentioned that she had a mirror in need of an update. So that's not only how I sold my first piece, but also how I came across my first commissioned piece, as well!

Here is the before picture she sent me. It's a beautiful piece by itself, but the gold does not go with her interior. 

We discussed ideas and decided on a blue background with gray dry brushing. I got to work on the coats of blue paint that night and did the dry brushing the next morning. I left some of the original dark color showing through to add some dimension. 

When I got to this point, I knew it still needed something. It didn't "pop" like it should. I wanted to add some darker gray to make it stand out. I mixed some paints until I made a dark charcoal color and dry brushed it over the light, concentrating on edges and around the ornaments. I out it on kind of thick and wiped the excess off with a damp rag. 

I finally went back over all the ornamental pieces with a light coat of the light gray again to make them stand out. 

I can't believe how it turned out! I admit, I was kind of terrified to do this. Everything else I've done, I've done because I liked it. If someone else liked it, great! But this piece was ordered. She asked me specifically to do it for her. If I liked it, great! But she had to like it, more importantly!  

I sent her a sneak peek of the mirror. 

Yay! Yay! Yay! That is the best compliment I could have received! It really boosted my confidence. Her compliments when she came to pick it up were very nice to hear, too! She said she has another piece she wants done! Woop, woop!!! She took the mirror home and sent me pictures of it hanging in its rightful place. 

It's absolutely perfect! Hopefully more and more people will want pieces and I can keep this up! But it will be hard to top this one. It is absolutely my favorite!