How to Get Portrait Commissions
To fellow portrait artists wanting to go full time,
Only about 5 years ago did I start using instagram to post my artwork and I had a very small following. I still only have one thousand people following me, but I am able to get commissions on a regular basis and support my family from that work and selling paintings online. Commission work is great because straight away you know you are getting paid for it and you can charge a higher price than your originals because what you are painting is uniquely special to just a small group of people. Legendary marketing expert Seth Godin says to make your product for just one person, make one person your target market, because then you know who you are serving. So obviously commission work hits the nail on the head in terms of knowing your target market.
The portrait I think is the ultimate commission. If you have the skills and you can show people that you can paint the portrait then all you have to do is make people aware that they might want to commission a portrait of a loved one and you’re the person they want! You’ve done the hard part already. Learning to paint, so now you just need to employ a couple of simple marketing strategies.
INSTAGRAM REELS If you are not already using instagram then you should be. Start with a dozen or so Posts or Reels showcasing your work. The reason I say Reels (instagram videos) is because they get sent out to more people other than just your followers. The algorithm rewards engagement so asking your audience questions is even better. When you initially post your work only goes out to 1 percent of your followers and the algorithm will only continue to send out your content if you are getting engagement. Your instagram should also be a behind the scenes of what your work is like in the studio. So showcasing your work on the easel, in progress, showing your face, and something that is unique to you as a person all helps your audience feel like they know who the artist is behind the work.
WORD OF MOUTH: It is the best marketing strategy after all. I used to be afraid to say I was an artist or that’s what I wanted to do. I felt like I should have some kind of ‘normal job’, but making paintings is a trade just like any other at the end of the day, so be proud of what you can do. It is highly skilled work. Show 10 people you love the most what you’re up to and because it’s interesting and they love you then they will probably end up tell 10 people. Then that’s 100 people! Maybe one person will ask you for a commission. If your work resonates and is interesting it will continue to spread but you have to keep painting. That’s what is most important!
Now that you have employed those marketing strategies you just have to make sure you have another couple of things covered.
PRICE: It can seem very complicated but there are a couple of questions you can ask yourself to keep you from over or undercharging:
How long does it take? 1, 2, 3 or more sessions? Every artist is different, every portrait is different. How long do you typically spend usually comes out in the work. There is no wrong answer. You might be doing quick sketches, so they would obviously be less expensive than a week long oil painting. Size comes into account. Best to offer a few options to broaden your reach. Just be honest with yourself and ask how much you need to earn per day to live and save a bit of money and go from there. Everyone is different.
If I charge this price do I feel like I am getting ripped off or will the client feel like they are getting ripped off? Once you have come up with a price this is probably the best way to know if you are getting it right.
DEPOSIT: It is best to ask for a deposit. I ask for 50%. This way you can lock it in, buy the materials you need and get started.
GET THE LIKENESS: The most important thing. Make sure you get the likeness. Don’t give up. Keep asking yourself, does it look like this person? If it is taking you longer than expected don’t worry. The worst thing you can do is put out wok that you’re not proud of, so do the best you can first!
At the end of the day, commissions are a great way to challenge yourself and improve your painting. Just love what you do and enjoy the journey!
Making Art of The Broken
Kintsugi is a Japanese art form that mends broken pottery. When the broken pieces are glued back together with lacquer, gold is then dusted over the top to draw attention to where the cracks once were. Where it had broken, the journey that the piece had made until now. It gives you a sense of appreciation for what has come before, a sense of beauty for the wounds that an older object carries.
When I found out about this Japanese art form I thought about the trials and mistakes of one's life that shape a person’s character. It is too easy to judge others when we do not agree with their behaviour. What is hard is to look deeper and see that the journey they have been on is different from our own. Just as our life experience has shaped our own views. It too has shaped theirs and cannot be the same as ours. We all have our own truth.
Perhaps we can find beauty in the mistakes and imperfections of others, appreciate that we have our own disagreeable character to some, perhaps even to us, and that, like the Kintsugi pottery, we should dust a little gold over the top of where our cracks are.
The Great Artist
There is a Chinese story about a great painter who was commissioned by the emperor to paint for him the finest painting of an ox he had ever seen. The great painter agreed. Many months passed and the emperor was curious to see how the artist was getting on, so he summoned her to his palace.
The artist arrived carrying a box.
‘My painting is in that box, I presume?’ The emperor asked.
‘Yes sir.’
The artist retrieved a silk scroll from within the box. But it was blank.
‘You’ve done nothing thus far?’ Asked the emperor, who was starting to feel the blood rush to his head.
Saying nothing, the artist laid the silk on the floor and retrieved her brush and ink from within the box. In an instant she painted the finest ox the emperor had ever seen.
Astonished, the emperor asked why it had taken her so long. The artist opened up her box and revealed hundreds of ox paintings on rice paper.
‘Practice,’ she said.
Often talent is confused with hard work and endless years of experimentation and discovery. The price does not reflect how long an artwork took. It is not always the case, but a painting may have only taken a couple of hours and turn out to be a masterpiece. Likewise, it may have taken months and turn out to be a failure. Although our failures are a vital sign pointing us in the right direction.
Colour is Relative
Put a dull red next to a green and it looks bright. Put a bright yellow next to a bright orange and it no longer seems so bright. But if you decide hey i’ll slam a deep grey purple next to that yellow then it pops out like a blinding light. Try it sometime. Have you ever noticed the hills, mountains, buildings or sea turn purple when the sun sets? Or maybe you peered through the branches of a green tree with a warm golden glow from the sun and that distant mountain appeared far bluer than you remembered.
Colour reacts differently depending on what surrounds it.
The Function of Art
A friend showed me a video of a robot stuck inside a glass box. It was not in any way built to represent a human. But the industrial digger-like subject had some moves to show off for anyone passing by. A bit of a dance, so to speak. The thing was, that as it moved its arm, body fixed to the ground in one place, it continued to leak oil and it had the tedious job of cleaning up after itself. As time went by it slowly became more fatigued and struggled to continue its dance with the same snap that it started with. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. It's tired. Poor thing has to do the same dance over and over for everyone to see. And even worse, it’s programmed to do it. It doesn’t have a choice. Trapped in a glass box. Like a slave.
But the robot doesn't feel anything. It’s us humans that feel. That is what good art should do. It should make you aware of your own humanity. Your own feelings. Because we all have them. Even though we sometimes like to pretend we go through our day just thinking we're doing what we thought was the right logical, rational thing to do. But it is our feelings that drive most of our decisions. Whether we're conscious of it or not. Whether we are trying to suppress particular feelings from arising. Sometimes it is the avoiding of a feeling that drives most of our decisions in life. Or maybe it's not just sometimes, maybe it’s all the time. We don’t want to feel cold, we don’t want to feel hungry, or sad, or anxious, or afraid. But that’s what makes us human.
The artist behind the robot exhibition did a great job of making us aware of our own humanity. Can a painting make you hungry, sad, anxious or afraid? Of course. It can certainly make you feel happy, confident, and nostalgic. I guess that's what usually sells. Most people don't want sad on their walls. But look at the giant paintings of Mark Rothko (preferably in person if you have the privilege) and you will experience the fact that colour alone can carry a unique subjective emotional resonance within us.
What is the function of art? I believe real art should show us that we feel. It makes us notice our own humanity.
Active Vs. Passive Painting
His body felt like it had become stiff standing in one place for so long. Screw it, he thought. I’ll put the canvas on the floor.
So Jackson Pollock decided that’s what he would do. A jar of homebrew sitting half finished on the stool by his side. Now came the absolute necessity to move his body at once. The paint dripped off of a rock hard brush and fell onto the large canvas below. House paint that ran and ran and ran and ran. Pretty little patterns. Juicy little drops.
“Hey, that’s somethin’.”
He was a man of few words.
It might not have been much more than that but it sparked a revolution in the way that artists began to approach the act of painting. I imagine it gave many the permission to paint the way they felt as opposed to the way they thought they should paint.
The Bones of a Painting
What is the theme that runs through all great paintings? Whether they are from the abstract expressionists, Caravaggio’s graphic portrayals of biblical scenes, or Van Gogh? Good Notan. Notan is a japanese word defined as a combination of lights and darks; or the design or pattern of a work of art as seen in flat areas of dark and light values only. It’s worth thinking about.
Here are a couple great paintings of different styles to illustrate what I mean. First in Notan, and then in colour.
Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Mathew
Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms
I have chosen these two artists as an example as Van Gogh was heavily influenced by Japanese art, and Caravaggio loved the technique of chiaroscuro, which could be argued as being the same thing as Notan, only the Italian version, which became very popular during his time.
You can see that both artists have gone to the other ends of the spectrum on light vs dark. Caravaggio has used predominantly dark value to cover his canvas, where as Van Gogh has used predominantly light. Therefore creating a different mood for the painting. And you can see that colour is the cherry on top and holds all the emotion. But is it the light and dark abstract shapes that attract the eye and give the painting a feeling of balance? There is something about the unevenness of it all, either tipping one way or the other, that pleases us humans. Maybe it reminds us of nature in all its imperfect perfection. If it was completely balanced fifty percent this way and fifty percent that way, we would not find it as attractive. At least not to me. And I don’t think to most of us. But you be the judge.
Blotting the ink
reflection
of passing cars
in the puddle on the road
i’ll be home soon
for tea and biscuits
Down at the docks..
down at the docks
as snot drips from my nose
a crack of wind down the back of my jacket
the potter’s listening
to house music
There was..
It all begins with an idea.
a man at the docks
knew another artist
guy about 60
probably younger
nice to meet someone new
started a coffee shop
got a deal on the beans
he’s a tall boy for one years old, he said
how’s he sleeping
that’s what everyone always asks
he’s in the bed with us
i wouldn’t want him anywhere else
they keep you up at night, he said
my eldest did the same and he’s
the smart one now
you never know
never know