Commissioning a portrait

When you commission a bespoke portrait, you can be sure you will always get:

~ The finest-quality materials used. My portraits are created using high quality, lightfast materials. Lightfast is a longevity rating in art supplies. The higher the score the longer the colour, pigment or material will last. All of my materials including the paper, canvases and boards I use are all archival and made to last ensuring you are getting the very best quality.

~ Friendly, professional service

~ Superb communication including regular progress updates

~ Reliable, tracked delivery – worldwide

~ Free advice and ideas

What I need from you:

When I’m creating something original just for you, it’s important that I start with as much input as possible, so that you get exactly what you’re looking for. The best portraits are those that capture something about a person or pet’s character or a special moment.

When sketching portraits, I tend to work from a favourite photo but, to ensure I get the best likeness, it can help to have supplementary photos or even video – it can be hard to capture the personality of someone you haven’t met and, although you know the person intimately, I will base my work solely on the images supplied. See my guide to choosing a great photo. The better the photo, the more detail I can see, the better the finished result.

Choosing the right photo

I can’t over emphasise how important your choice of photo is – the more detailed the photo is, the better the portrait I can produce, and the more delighted you’ll be. It’s that simple. But don’t worry – I’m here to work with you and my advice is free. Here are some of my top tips…

My aim is to produce something that you will be absolutely delighted with for many years to come, and time spent working together to get the input right will be time well spent.

Pose and Composition

The best pencil portraits are those that capture a moment in time, and faithfully reflect a person or animal’s character. I tend to work from one of your favourite photographs so the first thing to check is that it’s a really good representation of the subject’s personality and mannerisms as well as physical appearance. Remember, you may know the subject intimately, but it can be hard for me to capture the personality of someone I haven’t met. I can only work with what I see in the photo so please feel free to send supplementary images, or even videos, if important features are missing from the main photo.

Eyes are critically important, I feel they show the real soul of the subject– are they open and catching the light (unless, of course they’re intentionally closed or looking away)?

It almost always pays to photograph subjects at their eye level which means, for pets and small children especially, getting down to their level – kneeling, or even lying down, to take the photo.

Image Quality

The resolution of the image is also vitally important – this is the amount of detail it contains, and the more I can see, the better quality your portrait will be. As a quick guide, check the image file size – the bigger (more Mb) the better – 3Mb upwards is recommended. Also check the following:
– Is it in focus?
– Is it well lit?
– Is there good contrast and a good range of shades between the light and dark areas?

When discussing a commission with you, I will always talk through the above with you so don’t worry that you have to remember it all!

If you have any questions at all, please call me, or drop me a line using the contact form – don’t worry, my advice is free and there’s no obligation!

Delivery

UK Orders: Packing and delivery usually costs £10 – as standard, your portrait is mounted and wrapped for presentation and sent via recorded 24hr delivery. This may vary depending on the item’s size, where it’s going, and how it needs to be packed, but I’ll always give you an up-front quote so there are no nasty surprises. If you’re reasonably local to Huddersfield/Wakefield, you’re welcome to pop in and collect it at no charge – it would be lovely to meet you!

International Orders: I’m happy to post portraits overseas. As a guide, it costs around £20 to Europe and £25 to USA and Australia but I will always confirm delivery charges before accepting a commission. Again, your portrait is mounted and wrapped for presentation and sent via a tracked, insured service.

Pencil portraits are supplied unframed unless agreed otherwise – read more about mounting and framing here.

Payment

For commissions, I charge 50% on acceptance, with the balance payable on completion prior to dispatch – I will send you a photo of the drawing to ensure you are totally happy with what I have created before accepting final payment.

Payment is via bank transfer or PayPal,

I want you to be absolutely delighted with your purchase so, if you are not completely satisfied for any reason whatsoever, just get in touch and we’ll attempt to resolve it. However, I’ll be in regular contact during your commission and will send you photos so that we can make corrections as we go on. I won’t dispatch your portrait until you’re 100% happy with it.