An artists perspective on being commissioned.
Most professional artist will at some point be commissioned to create an artwork. I have on numerous occasions, and some commissions are better than others. Here are some of my thoughts on this.
The good,
The best commissions come from patrons who know your style, and really want something unique. They trust your judgement and leave the overall detail and design up to you. It gives you freedom to explore the subject in your own artistic way, and create something you are proud of and therefore something the customer will also treasure.
The Bad,
Difficult commissions come from patrons who give far too much direction, specify all the details, write long briefs that give no room for creativity. These patrons, invariably will complain when it's not exactly what they had in their own imagination. The atmosphere of this constraint tends to stilt the final piece. while it may end up being acceptable after much fraught teeth gnashing, soul searching and reworking, the final piece for me is always tainted a little
The Ugly,
Finally there is the worse commission, where the patron ignores your style and asks you to paint, like someone else..? this is to be avoided at all costs... it doesn't advance your style, it's unlikely you'll create anything you are proud of. It's just insulting and the final pieces will be horrible.
Redirect these patrons to a reproduction "artist"... there's plenty of them on the internet, and mostly there in china.
Comments
I've done a few nude commissions, but always on request of the girl and not the partner that they wish to gift with the work. The women are always extremely happy being immortalised in paint, their boyfriend is usually less enthusiastic about knowing I got to see their girl nude. Such is life...