Over the years I have worked on many commissioned pieces. The side hustle started at uni where I would make drawings and paintings for friends to distract myself from the mind-numbingly dry academic textbooks I had to decipher. These days I get contacted via various platforms to work on pieces for a new home, to give as a gift or as a bespoke memento to mark a significant event.
A lot of time people commission me to paint animals that are personal to them. It could be a pet, or an animal they believe represents a particular treasured quality or an in-joke that only a certain someone will understand. Occasionally I’ve been given free reign to create what I feel suits best.
It still blows my mind that somebody has decided to spend their hard earned money on buying a yet un-made painting because they trust in my vision and ability. I still get butterflies every time I start a new one.
Because taking on a commission is a unique and challenging process. Working in this way is different to creating a body of work for a show or for experimentation with only myself to answer to. With commissions come certain restrictions, deadlines and expectations that are preset.
There might be a specific colour palette to adhere to, or photograph to work from and I need to figure out how to translate that into my own unique style. It requires a certain tenacity to keep going until the a-ha! moment when the outcome = the brief.
A few months ago I took on a shark commission, with proceeds going to charity, for an agency I worked at. A shark is a beast of an animal. It’s powerful and striking with its tail, fin and jaw being defining features. However, to paint the whole shark i.e all defining features onto a relatively small surface (100cm x 75cm) means shrinking the animal down to fit the canvas. It then doesn’t cover the majority of the canvas therefore losing impact and shark fierceness. This dilemma had me draw out many compositions until I finally reached one that managed to depict the shark without losing the the feeling of “this is a big shark”.
It was tricky! But the trickiness actually fuelled the creative process.
To receive a commission is an amazing and humbling feeling; a sense of recognition that I believe a lot of artists value when they get paid to make something in their own unique style. Some of my best memories have been when I have created paintings at 10pm, after a hard day doing another job, where finally for a few short hours I was in my element one hundred percent.
And with each commission I have produced I have learnt many things. Understanding and attributing a price that reflects the work I do, handling feedback and amends by meeting the client’s needs whilst maintaining artistic integrity, and persevering with a painting until I get it just right. I only feel a commission is finished if it reaches a point where I will happily have it up in my bedroom for months. It has to be spot on for me first.
And then after all the work is complete and the client is happy, one of my favourite parts of the whole process is receiving a photo of a piece, hung up with pride, in someone else’s home. It truly puts the biggest smile on my face.
I didn’t think that anyone would want to buy my paintings when I was younger but I’ve been proven wrong. People have supported my work through all the various styles and it means the world to me every time. I hope I can keep doing this for many more years to come.
If you would like to commission a piece please get in touch via email, Instagram message, or Facebook to receive a price list.