Commission an Artwork
Contact Me
The initial step is to make an enquiry, simply by contacting me through the website. I will happily reply to have a wee chat about what you would like and how I can best deliver it. When getting in touch, along with letting me know what you would like painted, please also give an outline of what size you would like the painting to be. It is important point is to be able to provide suitable high resolution reference photographs, particularly if the commission is a portrait.
After I have an idea of what you would like, I would then send a rough sketch showing the composition to give you an idea of how the finished painting would look. If all is good, I can then proceed to paint it!
To make an enquiry, please click the link below.
Pricing
This is perhaps the hardest part of being a working artist. Pricing art is extremely difficult as the value of a painting is completely subjective; the value one person might place on a painting can be completely different to what another person might think.
To price my paintings, I use a formula based on size; this basically uses the size of the canvas to determine the final price a customer will pay. I simply add the length of the canvas to width, then multiply that number, by x6 for a low detail painting or x9 for a high detail one. So for example, a portrait based on a canvas that measures 20 inches long and 16 inches wide will give me the formula 20 + 16 x 6, or 36 x 6. This gives me a sum of 216, so I would charge £216 for that particular painting. This is the basic principle I have used for charging and it does broadly work, although the final cost of a painting will be determined during the consultation process.
Please note, I do ask for a deposit when I undertake a commission, usually 25% of the final cost.
Previous Commissions
I have accepted a number of commissions from customers in the UK and North America. These have included portraits, ships and places. I have included some examples of previous commissions below.
Animals
I do not accept commissions to paint animals, pets or wildlife scenes. This is simply because I can’t paint animals! I can provide recommendations for a number of outstanding wildlife painters and pet portrait artists though.
USS Current.
A customer in the United States commissioned me to paint the USS Current as a gift for her partner, whose grandfather had served aboard her. The vessel was a repair and salvage ship that was built during the latter stages of the Second World War and served with the United States Navy into the 1970s.
Diarmuid.
This portrait was commissioned by Sarah for her boyfriend as a Christmas gift. She specifically requested that it be tongue in cheek and portray him in period dress from medieval history.
Krakow at Night.
This portrait of the Polish city of Krakow was commissioned as a wedding present. The bride was a native of the city, now living in Scotland, and the painting was based on a photograph supplied by the customer.