My First Commission Painting

In October, 2010, I actually had enough paintings to hang at our local library.  The library has set up a beautiful area for the Canyon Lake Art Guild to display the artists' works, to either sell or just show.  One of my paintings hanging was "Paint What You Love".  A lady called me one day, to ask if I would sell it, that it looked like her dog, Misty.  My answer was "no, but if I could get a print done, would she be interested?"  She wanted the original.  After I hung up, the light bulb came on, so I called her back, and asked if she would be interested in a commission piece of Misty.  She said "yes".  The adrenaline started flowing!!  What had I done?!  When it was finished and I looked back--I thoroughly enjoyed the journey!  I went to her home and took photos of Misty, which was a very fun experience.  She also sent me some via e-mail.  Several were used to accomplish the end result.  The commission was somewhat challenging, especially being my first time.  My customer wanted Misty sitting in her husband's lap, like she always does when he is watching t.v..  As you can see from the photo below, Misty had a sweater on.  Also, the husband didn't want to be in the painting(face).  Soooo--I lined all my photos up and started using both my imagination and what I was learning in animal anatomy.  You would have been able to see smoke coming out of my ears!  I was very, very happy with the final painting.  My customer was, and is, also.  I will do it again.

"Misty", Pastel, 20" x 16"

I am always hearing both sides of the story--regarding doing commission paintings.  As far as myself is concerned, prior to my "first" commission, there were both sides going through my thinking about doing one.  However, we don't know how we will like something, until we do it.  The fear of the unknown.  Will they like the finished piece?  If not, does that mean I am not a good artist?  As the saying goes--"you won't know until you try"!  Lesley Harrison just posted on her blog about doing commissions.  I highly recommend you read it.  The article is very encouraging and enlightening.

A Resource for Learning

The internet gives us such a great connection to the world outside of our "little world".  The information and resources are truly awesome and unlimited.  I thought encyclopedias were great---way back when!  One link I checked out on the Lesley Harrison site, was that of Vivien Walters(and am including her site in my "links").  Not only do I love her work, but she also does pastels on velour.  So, I contacted Vivien, via e-mail, and signed up for one of her E-Workshops.  It was exciting to be doing it from someone in the U.K., plus I didn't have to pack up my pastels and travel.  At the time, I liked her format for teaching, because the drawing was already done on the velour paper, freeing me to get to the basics.  I wanted to learn how she applied the color(pastels), and in what order.  The workshop was well worth it.  Vivien was always there to give me feedback and help.  I would love to take a workshop from her, in person.  So, here is my wolf.