Portrait Commissions - 10 Tips to Make it Easier by LMH

Commissioning a portrait should be an exciting experience, but sometimes it can turn out to be frustrating. As a portrait artist for over 10 years, here are a few tips and considerations to make your portrait commission a wonderful experience.

1. Look at an artist's work. The listing should contain multiple images of the artist's work, so that you can be sure the quality is consistent.



2. Plan well in advance. While some artists can do a pencil portrait in a couple of days, most professional artists have a number of other commissions he/she is working on. While a portrait artist can slip you between other commissions to meet a deadline, it is better if you commission the portrait at least a month in advance for pencil, pastel, watercolor, and acrylic portraits, or 3 months for oil portraits.



3. Make sure you like the photo. Normally, your portrait will be very close to what your photo looks like. While the artist can make minor changes (such as removing a few stray hairs from the face), it is extremely difficult for an artist to change a frowning face into a smiling face.



4. Beware oil paintings that are delivered in under 2 months. Oils normally take at least 2 months to dry and fast drying oils a month before they can be varnished. The varnish protects the oil paint from the atmosphere and is necessary for the longevity of your portrait. If the oil portrait is shipped unvarnished, you will need to take it to a reputable frame shop to be varnished which can cost $50 .



5. Beware unstretched oil paintings. Not only does oil paintings have a tendency to crack when shipped rolled, getting one stretched can be difficult. Many framers will not do it and the ones that will often charge $75 to do it.



6. Beware the bargain portraits. As the saying goes, "You get what you pay for." Portraits do take time and materials to do and the more skilled an artist is, the more you will be expected to pay. Occassionally, artists do list ridiculously low-priced portrait commissions either to generate new business or to fill out their portfolio, but this is the exception.



7. Beware the VERY photorealistic portrait. Thanks to computers, artists now can print a photo directly onto a canvas or watercolor paper and then add highlights. One problem with this 'trick' is that the inks will fade in 10-50 years and leave only the highlights bright and colorful. While a few artists will tell a client this is how the portrait is completed, many more will not.



8. Expect an approval scan. Before the artist ships the portrait to you, you should receive a scan to approve the final work. This way you can have the artist make minor corrections without having to ship it back to the artist.



9. Expect a guarantee. Portrait artists live and die by their reputations, so most will do what they can to please a client. In a few cases, this may mean redoing the portrait.



10. And most important of all, ask questions. Most portrait artists will be glad to answer your questions before you purchase a commission and many will even look at photos in terms of useability.

I hope these tips will make buying a portrait commission a less scary to you. After all, getting a custom portrait of your loved one done should be a time of celebration and not trepidation.

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