Commissions

Here is an explanation of my commission process. The description was developed when a family commissioned a painting of their favorite vacation spot.  It was a wonderful experience that I wanted to share.  The person making the request knew my work and wanted me to remain true to my muse. Commissioned work can truly be a joy when the customer understands how important an artist's style is to the success of the painting.  In fact if you are an artist my suggestion is to turn down a commission if the customer is not willing to let you incorporate your artist voice. Fortunately, I use several styles in my art, so it is unlikely that we can't find a style you like. Here is how commissions work best.

The buyer described to me the topic of the painting, suggested this was like some of my city scenes, and asked if I would be interested.  Her plan was to give the painting to her husband as a birthday gift. Here is the process we followed with a very successful result. (Since some places are very sensitive to their copyright I have not included an image of the entire painting, but only a few portions that I wanted to discuss.)

1. We spent a little time discussing what about the place her husband loved so much.  This helps me understand the focal point of the painting, what is important to them and where I can take some liberties.  She knows her husband well and warned me not to exaggerate the size of the focal point because he would notice that deviation from reality.
2. I told her I was interested in working with her on the commission and asked her to send me several photographs they had taken of the scene she described.  My first step is to create a "sketch" of the painting and provide it to her along with a quote with the value of the painting for approval.
3. I also asked her to answer three questions for me: a) which of my paintings she likes the best, b) what colors she associates with this place, and c) what is it about my work that draws her to it.  The purpose of these questions is to find out what about my style of painting she likes since I do use different approaches to capture different things.  I want to make sure I use the approach she enjoys the most.  The question about colors is to ensure I select a color scheme that is consistent with her impression of this spot and not necessarily in the photos.



Incorporating the family

4. She decided none of her photos really captured what she has in mind, but they were planning a trip there in a month so she would send me some shots after their return.  She discussed the project with her daughters and one asked if I could capture their family in the painting.  The intent was not detailed portraits but figures that represented the family in shape and size; so I agreed that was a nice addition since the location needs figures to make it believable anyway.  I gave her an estimate of the approximate value of the painting, but told her I needed to work up the design before I gave her a firm quote.
5. Upon return from their vacation she sent a dozen photographs that included a couple views down the main street, some closeups of the focal point, and some family photos to give me relative sizes of people. Since not all ten people were in a single photograph she gave me the heights of some of the people to allow me to understand relative sizes between different photos. She was the perfect customer knowing I needed this information to relate the pictures; I didn't even have to ask.  Yeah!
6. I use Photoshop® to compile various photos to create a composition.  Given the focal point, which is at the end of the street, I adjusted the perspective to help me emphasize this distant spot without distorting its size.  I inserted the family into the scene and I shifted colors to make it in the right direction for the colors she had suggested.  I use additional Photoshop filters to help me get a look to the scene that is similar to what I do when I paint.  The result is the digital "sketch" I sent to her for review along with the value of the painting, a schedule for completion, and a confirmation of how it will ship. 
7. Upon her approval she provided a 50% non-refundable down-payment and I started the painting.
8. Upon completion I had the painting scanned because she plans to get at least one print and I emailed her an image of the completed painting.  She sent the balance due and I shipped the painting along with framing instructions; she had decided to frame the painting herself.
9. Upon receipt I received a wonderful email about how much she loved the painting. I too had loved how it came out so I was delighted with her response.  The wait for his birthday to come around and hear what he thought felt endless.

The big day finally came and emails from her and her husband arrived shortly thereafter.  He loves it and has proceeded to show it to many friends and family.  Imagine how I felt when I got this response, 

"WOW! That painting is fantastic! I love it! It really captures the feel of (the location). And, I knew right away who the people were once I saw them! At first I thought it was a purchased picture until I saw the family, though I'd never seen one like it before. A wonderful surprise!"

At right is another segment of the painting that shows the selected color scheme of pinks and blues with some high contrast areas. This is about one third of the painting.

I forgot to mention this whole process was done by email since we live a few thousand miles from each other.  I think communication was key to our success.  By the end of the project I really wanted to keep in touch and grow our friendship.

You can read the customer's perspective on the commission check out her blog and enjoy the comments from her family about the painting. The husbands enthusiasm over the painting has resulted in further commissions for me.

I also do portraits of people. Learn more about portraits here.

If you are interested in commissioning a piece contact April and see more of her art on her website.

Photoshop is registered Trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

© Commissioned paintings, like all of my other artwork, is an original design, concept, and creation of the artist, April M. Rimpo. The copyright is owned solely by the artist for the protection of her original work. Although you have purchased this painting for your pleasure, the right to reproduce or copy in any form is reserved solely for the artist and is forbidden by law. You may share my work with attribution to April M. Rimpo and a link to www.amrart.org, but all other uses are prohibited. Thank you for honoring this protection of creative work.

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Interested in my other blog posts regarding the business of art?  You might want to check these.

• Planning for a solo exhibit
• Some basic things to know about watercolor
• A favorite color scheme demonstrated in His Dugout
• How to protect your art during shipping
• Color schemes
• Self-critique