Delivery Day in Denver

This last weekend I delivered a commissioned painting to Denver; something that was supposed to be done by Halloween. Ha! The broken foot put a crimp in that schedule but I finally got it started at the beginning of December and wrapped up (at least I thought so) 2 weeks later.
This piece is 24"x 36"; the photos posted here show the progression from start to final.
I like to have a week for the under painting and a week for the oil painting stage.
When I sent photos to the client, I felt that I was finished - that would be photo 11.
Hmmmmmmmm - she wanted a more Spring feeling.
By this time the painting was dry but I "glazed" in cooler, more opaque greens - in all the trees and generally cooled everything down a bit.
Check out the 3rd to the last photo compared to the last 2. The client was right and the painting really benefited.

As to commissions in general, most artists have a love/hate thing with them, and no matter how hard you try to stay out of it - sometimes you end up in do do, do you know what I mean?
I have a couple of guidelines that can help to keep a commission for getting derailed:
1. The FEE: How much will you charge and how will you get paid.
I have never had a client balk about money if I have been clear UP FRONT.
My policy is strict: what ever the total fee is to be - I will not start the job until the check for 50%, up front, clears the bank - no exceptions - and that is NON-refundable. The money thing- it makes artists nervous, but my Dr. and certainly, my son's orthodontist never bat an eye when waiting for me to write a check, - for the TOTAL amount.
The final payment is made at the time of delivery, or in the case of shipping - before I ship.
2. The TIME FRAME: Be honest with yourself about your time frame; then be honest with the client. This will help keep you on track. If the client wants the job in half the time - Again, be honest with yourself, or - you may hate life later.
If you can do it, and are willing to do a job more quickly, you have good reason to charge more. As an aside, I am always a little wary of a client that needs it in a rush.

This particular commission went very smoothly, except that I had to put off the delivery for 3 months due to the broken foot. Fortunately, the client was very patient and in the end very happy.
Which makes me very happy.

For more info about working on commission - scroll down on the right column. I have written about it before and also posted other artist's comments on the subject.

Anatomy of A Commission - Show Me the Money

Kathy Park is a wonderful "soul", artist, writer and friend who lives in the San Luis Valley. She and her husband, Henry Wolbert, also an artist, live in the village of Juaroso- about an hour from me and we consider ourselves almost neighbors. Our paths crossed on Saturday, and as ever, the conversation focused on the "artist life". I asked her to write down a story she had shared so that I could post it here.
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The best commission I ever took happened like this. A friend visited my studio and noticed a chunk of lignum vitae wood, a beautiful, dense, oily wood. It won't float it's so heavy. Generally it's used for sculpture mallets, not the sculpture itself. I picked it up and handed it to her so she could feel its heft. She was suitably impressed, and surprised me by saying, "I want whatever you carve out of this." She handed the wood back to me, reached in her purse, and pulled out a wad of cash. "Here's your down payment." We settled on a subject - a woman so strong and centered she'll never burn out - but she wasn't that interested in seeing even a sketch, much less a plaster model, which was unnerving to say the least. Periodically she'd hand me another wad of cash. It's what got Henry and me through a very lean time, in fact. She ended up loving the piece, (and paying a New York price for it) and it went into her office in a women's prison where she served as the chief medical officer, the main doctor. She told me it helped her every day, and a whole lot of other women too.
Sounds like a perfect commission, and I doubt I'll ever get one again so good. Even so, and even though you may not see it, I know in my gut that the sculpture suffers from a cloud of cash around it. Hard to explain, but the fact that it already "belonged" to someone else made me tight, anxious, and preoccupied, all very bad states of mind for an artist. I felt beholden, obligated. What if the sculpture didn't please her? What if I busted it in the process of carving it? So, although it's beautiful, it's also a little tight, a little conservative, a little stilted, not my best work.
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Check out Kathy and Henry's, individual, as well as collaborative work at www.dreampowerartworks.com
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The "cloud of cash" - neither good, or bad - but like the elephant in the center of the room, it can be hard to get around.
And below is the 2nd part of my 3 painting commission. This one has been given final approval; the painting I posted last week is needing some additional detail work and the third piece is waiting in the wings. So far I am on target for my deadline and I am looking forward to painting out on Saturday at the Alamosa ArtWALK.