What Are They?
It may be an obvious question, but let’s start there as it isn’t always safe to assume. When a customer approaches an artist and asks for a personal piece of work that is specifically produced for them, that is a commission piece.
What Does it Mean for the Artist?
I can’t speak for every artist, obviously, but for me it usually spells panic (not an unusual response for me as it tends to be my default setting most times someone asks me to do something outside of my comfort zone). It’s a difficult one because creatives are inspired by things around them, something sparks an idea and they respond to it. If someone loves the end product enough to buy it then that’s a wonderful bonus clearly. But with a commission, the artist needs to find the inspiration and that’s with the added pressure of producing something as good as (or even better than) the customer imagined in their head. That’s no mean feat… believe me!
In addition to this, some of the reasons behind the requests I’ve had have literally broken my heart and that’s emotionally exhausting, but at the same it’s a huge privilege to be asked, one that I don’t take lightly.
What Can You Expect From Me?
For inspiration, I’d like to know a little bit around the reasons for the request so it’s useful to have a think about that first. Not everybody can do this so I might show you some past examples I have done to help us agree on the design. You can expect an honest quote based on my time spent on creative thought and production and you can absolutely guarantee that you get a lot of love and respect poured into the design.
Yes it makes me panic and yes I sometimes procrastinate (hence a deadline from you is also very useful!) but this is because I overthink stuff sometimes and I need to really improve on that. Yet, saying all of that, each commission piece that I do pushes me a little further outside of my comfort zone and for anyone who’s used to working in that place, you improve massively and sometimes very quickly so it’s a great place to be.
If you want to ask the question, please be brave and force me to be the same. Always remember…
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you”
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