Portrait Commissions
It is my pleasure to accept commissions of your favourite people. You may wish to celebrate a special date or life event, capture a moment in time, create a record of your children before they grow up, or adorn your professional space with a portrait of the company founder. With attention to detail, I will work with you to ensure that you receive a portrait that captures the essence of the sitter, to treasure as a reminder of them. This page shows a selection of past commissions, in graphite pencil, in coloured pencil and in oil paint. You can see from the variety of images below that your portrait will be bespoke and personal to you.
Christie, oil on linen canvas
The process
I will help you to choose what size you would like your portrait. You may opt for head and shoulders, or head-to-waist. I prefer not to have the head larger than real life but that does not mean that the artwork will be small. You may prefer a simple coloured background, or the full environment behind the sitter. I can work from your photograph and will guide you how to create this, or I can take photographs for reference if you live nearby. Everything is agreed before the artwork commences so that you are happy with the layout and know what to expect. When commissioning artworks of children, if there is more than one child I recommend you have each one in a separate artwork - but like all aspects of the commissioning process, we will discuss this fully.
The timings
I have a waiting list system, so if you are commissioning for a birthday gift, or Christmas, it is important that you let me know the required date as early as possible. I suggest you allow up to 8 weeks to receive your artwork, but there can be exceptions (ie a last-minute emergency!). You will always know when to expect your artwork and I will keep you involved once the drawing or painting has started. It is exciting commissioning a piece and I want you to be delighted with your purchase.
Sir Oliver Napier, Corporate Commission for Napier & Sons Solicitor, Belfast. Graphite pencil on paper
The details
You can choose from graphite pencil (as in the examples above), coloured pencil (see below) or oils (see bottom). Sizes start at 10”x 8” - a graphite pencil drawing starts at £650, (without a background), colour pencil starts at £900 (without a background), and oils from £1500 (without a background). We can discuss size and composition and medium to determine what is right for you, and what will work best in your home (or office). The environment where the artwork will be displayed will influence how we design the portrait. In an office building, for example, the display requirements are different from in your home.
Click images below to enlarge.
I was lucky enough to take part in the Sky Portrait artist of The Year in 2020 (series 6, episode 2). Here is the time-lapse of my portrait on the day. Making a portrait in 4 hours is a very tall order!! Usually, for me, the process is around 60 hours at the easel.