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There are many reasons that someone might want to commission a portrait. They can range from a heartfelt memorial image of a departed loved one to a slightly cheeky gift that shows them decked out in historical costume. Whatever the reason you’re looking to commission a painting, there are a few tips and tricks that can help both you and your artist get the most out of the process.
If you’ve decided that a customized painting is the best gift for your loved one, the next logical step is to start wondering how to commission a painting. It’s a lot easier than it used to be! In fact, the whole portrait commissioning process has been streamlined by the invention of digital tools to the point where you can have your own unique work of art in just a couple of days. It really is easy to have a portrait artist create something unique for you.
First of all, you’ll need to decide what style of portrait you want to have painted. There are endless options out there, and which is right will depend on the reasons behind your commission. For a fun gift, having the receiver portrayed as a Renaissance noble in a customized oil painting might be the thing that best represents the personality of the subject. For a more serious piece, say a memorial canvas for a funeral service, you’ll want to pick a different style more fitting to the occasion. You’ll have creative control, so give a little thought to the color scheme and other aspects that are important to you.
The best results tend to come from good reference materials, which is why it’s always best to commission paintings from photos. Spend a little time picking out the ideal photo to send to your artist, paying close attention to detail. This means that they’ll be able to produce a painting that captures the subject in exactly the light you want, bringing the subject to life on canvas. It’s always best to commission a portrait from a photo.
The final step is working closely with your portrait painter as they work. They want you to love the final piece, so let them know what you really want. Portrait painters will send you proofs before the final version. Use these to direct them towards the results you want. A commission is a collaborative creative process, and when you get it right, the results will be worthy of hanging in any gallery.
If you’ve never commissioned portraits before, you might be forgiven for thinking that fine art is out of your price range. Art has a reputation as a refined, expensive thing but that’s never really been the case— even the great masters of the Renaissance charged a lot less than you’d think— and it certainly isn’t now.
Making use of modern tools has dramatically cut the cost of portrait artist commissions. Rather than having the commissioners pose for hours, they can work from a reference photo, making capturing a moment even easier. Expensive oils and tools have been replaced with digital equivalents. Perhaps best of all, a simple mistake can be erased with a single stroke of the artist’s pen rather than hours of careful remedial work, reducing the time they have to charge you hugely.
The cost will vary depending on the product you’re commissioning; a digital file will be cheaper than a canvas print, but with prices ranging between around $40 and $250 none of them are likely to break the bank. That’s really pretty reasonable for an original painting produced by real artists in just a few days!
Other factors that will influence the price of your commissioned portraits include things like how many people are shown, whether the artist is working with a premade template or working on a totally new image. A full-size canvas showing a family group will cost more than a digital image of a single person, but even the most expensive versions are still a lot more affordable than what commissioning a painting used to cost.
So, how much does it cost to commission a portrait? A lot less than you probably thought.
Call us biased, but we think you’re already in the perfect place to find your portrait artist. We’re not saying that there aren’t loads of worthy portrait painters out there— there absolutely are — but we’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves to make the process quicker, easier, and cost a lot less without compromising on the final results.
The main way that Pixels Photo Art stands out from the field is that we’ve got a diverse collection of customizable painting templates for you to choose from. These are all premade and hand-painted, just like the face of your commissioned portrait. This method of working allows us to focus on getting the character of the subject just right by working on their face. It also means that we can work faster than many of our competitors and means you pay significantly less without having to compromise on the quality of your portrait. We really are the obvious choice when you choose an artist
It’s no mystery that Renaissance paintings have evolved over time, and today, commissioning portraits is easier and more affordable than ever. Taking advantage of the tools that modern technology has given artists means that your final piece could be with you in as little as three days: the smallest delivery window there has ever been!
There are lots of styles to choose from when you decide to commission a portrait and they’ll all stand the test of time. So, what’s stopping you from having your own personal oil portrait commissioned today?
