Commissions

If you would like to commission an artist to make a piece for you, please familiarize yourself with their work first so that you have a good sense of their style and specialties. Ask yourself what you like most about their artwork that would make you choose them over other artists.

When someone is interested in having me make a custom painting for them, I have a consultation with the client, and then I write a contract summarizing the concepts we discussed and stating a deadline for completion of the project. I require a 50% nonrefundable deposit before beginning sketches and 50% upon completion of the painting. Client is responsible for shipping costs.

Pricing of the commission includes materials, time, and labor, so the more input the client has into the process, the more it will cost. Turnaround time varies based on the scale and medium of the work, as well as whether or not I need to get a panel or canvas custom-built. For example, watercolors dry more quickly than oils, and getting a custom-built support vs. buying a size that is commonly available in stores might add two months to the timeline. Contact me for more details or schedule a studio visit with this form.

The most successful commissions I have done were for people who could tell me elements of particular paintings that they liked and had a general idea of what they wanted, but allowed me freedom other than those parameters.

It takes a lot less preparation when a client likes a painting I've already made but may have sold and wants a slightly different version, perhaps different dimensions or with an alteration to the palette.

I've had positive experiences where people seek me out because my paintings remind them of places that they've spent time with their families and they'd like me to create my interpretation of their favorite places. They've sent me photos of the scenes, along with example of paintings that they liked, and we discussed which elements of the scene were most important to them and which could be removed for the sake of compositional clarity.

This is important. If the client for this 5" x 7" watercolor hadn't told me that she wanted the tiny little depictions of her family in this boat, I would probably have omitted the boat and family from the scene altogether since in the source photo they nearly blend in with the shadows along the shoreline.

When I am near completion on the painting, I show the client a photo or invite them to see the piece in person. Throughout this process, the client may request revisions two times.  For example, I err on the side of caution when adding shading since it is easier to make things darker than lighter. In both of these photo-based paintings, the clients requested that I darken the sky and change the corresponding reflections in the final stages. I showed them my revisions, and they were pleased with the results.

This was a more involved commission: The client wanted a long, thin painting for above the door to her sunroom. I knew that she liked the way I paint water and other paintings of mine in her collection combine geometric shapes with textured, abstracted closeups of ship hulls. She also told me that these were some more recent paintings of mine that she liked.

"Pilot House Sunset," oil on panel 20" x 16", available for purchase

"Gazela Hull Verdigris," 40" x 30" Oil on Panel, available for purchase

"Honey Locust Gazela," 30" x 22" oil on panel, collection of this client.

I advised her that having several smaller panels rather than one long panel would make the surface more stable and less likely to warp or torque. She thought this was a great idea, so I made some watercolor thumbnail sketches of how this triptych of 20" x 10" paintings would look on the color of wall in that space.

I made some other, more detailed watercolor studies after getting her feedback on preferences.

These are photos of the final oil paintings, photoshopped into a solid background to display their configuration.

Here's a snapshot the client took with her phone of the work installed above her door. It's in a different state, so I'm not sure how accurate the colors are, but I think it looks great!

Let me know if you'd like to talk about a commission! Contact me for more details or schedule a studio visit with this form.