I love working with clients to create artwork that has a narrative quality. The story of Elijah ascending to heaven (below) is especially meaningful on a personal and cultural level for the person who commissioned it. You can follow its development from sketch to final work here.
A commissioned artwork can make a major contribution to the feel of a space by using specific colours and forms. The “Pilgrimmage” painting (below) emphasizes deep reds, with veins of gold-leaf running through, and features spherical, jewel-like boulders, all of which reflect the colours and forms of the fine art glasswork elsewhere in the room.
The process of commissioning artwork is quite straightforward. Together we work out what story you’re looking to tell, or what other aim the artwork has, and once a sketch has been approved, I move forward to develop the painting or sculpture. I send you regular update photos for your comments, and adapt the work accordingly at each stage. That way, by the time I arrive at the final work, it has really been a collaborative effort all the way through.
Pricing depends on the size and complexity of the work. A price is normally agreed in advance, with payment in two stages: An initiation-stage, and then a final-stage payment. Pricing is typically a little higher than for my other paintings, because there is more work involved. Constant adjustment of the artwork, (including sometimes the removal of work already done) is typical of the collaborative process. But the end result is worth it! As a guideline, a detailed commissioned painting for a private client, measuring 80cm x 120cm (32″ x 48″), would cost $3500.
This is a more economical way for commissioning art to happen: You suggest the subject. Then, after agreeing with you on a sketch and basic colour themes, I go ahead and make the artwork. If you like the finished piece, you’ll get first refusal on it. If not – there’s no obligation on your part. The Old Man and the Sea figure (below) was created for a specific place in a private library. The client said they’d like the inspiration to come from literature. Hemingway’sThe Old Man and the Sea is one of my favourite books, and I’d recently seen someone sitting smoking on a low wall, in a pose which struck my imagination as just right for this subject.
The sketch below was my response to a new client-inspired artwork, the idea being a King David sculpture. You can expect a sketch of this kind as my starting-point for your artwork, whether it’s a painting or a sculpture.
This is the finished sculpture, made of ceramic with applied gold leaf:
Pricing for projects like this runs very close to my prices for non-commissioned pieces. See my Original Paintings and Ceramics pages for a general idea.
This picture was not commissioned, but commissioning art could mean including your home, street, car and possibly family or friends in a painting.“We had an idea of what we wanted for our living room. We collect art glass and our white and cream room has beautiful deep reds dotted around, in the form of our glass sculpture collection, and some cushions too. So, we wanted a painting with reds and burgundies to complement these. We’d seen some desert paintings by Darius while on a visit to Israel so we approached him with an idea for a desert painting in these colours.
From the beginning, he was very professional and led us through it all stage by stage in a very structured way. Every few days he would send us a photo of the painting as he added new layers and details. Sometimes we changed things around but mostly he understood what we were after. He sent it to us very professionally packaged, and it arrived quickly. It was a special experience to work with Darius and we absolutely love this painting which has pride of place in our living room. We even had new ceiling-lights put in, to highlight this picture, as well as another one which we commissioned from him later, and we hope that there will be more to come.”
A & K Palmer
