Generally, I’m not a fan of commissions because it can stifle creativity if too many constraints are added regarding size, color, and composition. In the past year, I’ve completed three commission paintings successfully. Here are a few tips that have made the experience worthwhile.
- Release the pressure of a commission piece by knowing that if the collector doesn’t end up buying the piece, someone else will. They have always gone forward with the transaction but telling yourself this at the outset relieves unnecessary pressure.
- Have the philosophy that paintings are meant for a particular person. On several occasions, a painting has been in a gallery for months and when a collector buys it, someone else all of a sudden wants that same painting. If the gallery isn’t able to transfer to the collector to another piece of yours, a commission is a good solution.
- If you were inspired to paint the scene originally, you can often tap back into that feeling again.
- You retain artistic license and you most likely have grown since you painted the first painting. Give yourself permission to be true to yourself as the painter you are today. Your final piece will still please your collector.
- Lose the notion that you are selling out by duplicating your work. Both are still original pieces of art. We aren’t talking Giclee copies here.
