Artwork Commissions - Are You On The Same Page?

Commissions can be one of the most intimidating but also one of the most rewarding work I do. Usually I make a piece I like and know that some day someone else will like it too and want to take home. The fear factor comes in when I’m trying to please a customer who has seen and possibly already has a some of my art. They can also be the most rewarding too because this person liked my work enough to take a chance on me making a custom piece for a usually prominent place in their home.

The biggest issue is making sure you know what they want. I recently had a customer who wanted to commission a piece for above their fireplace and the process couldn’t have gone much better. First, he and his wife had seen my work at several shows and told me they liked one of pieces in my “River” series. The couple had also taken my advice and used blue painter’s tape mark out a size they liked on the wall above their fireplace. That photo also showed the surrounding furnishings so I could come up with a style and color scheme that would compliment their style.

I suggested they do a slightly thinner and longer piece and they agreed. I sent them some photos of several differing River designs and they choose the color scheme and general design from one of those.

I modified the design slightly to fit their space better and showed them the chalked out outline on the background.

They agreed and knowing exactly what they wanted gave me the confidence to move forward with the piece without any second guessing. I finished it to the look we agreed upon except I thought I could add something to the piece that would even make it better but wanted to give them the choice, so I sent another photo with an added epoxy resin drizzle I started to do after the initial piece they saw. They loved it and said yes, please.

Here is the finished piece installed.

“Hi Brian We think it looks fantastic. Thank you so much ! “ - Dave