Simplifying Commissions ... part one

Painting commissions are what I call a necessary evil. They can provide a great income stream for artists but are really hard to paint. At least they are for me. I find it hard to paint something while constantly worrying if the client will like it as much as I do.
So imagine the angst I have experienced this year with abstract commissions. It's bad enough when someone says, "Can you paint a picture of my child?". But painting an abstract commission is hard when the artist and the buyer have very little understanding as to what the abstract will look like. It's easy to narrow down the color palette but what about the actual abstract design?
Guess what? I have good news. I figured it out. I now have a system that I am going to use to sell abstract commission paintings. And I am thrilled with the results of my recent abstract commission experience.
In October I was fortunate enough to receive a call from an interior designer who had a client that needed a very large painting to fill a space that measured 110" x 90". The photo of the empty space is seen above.
The living room was being redecorated and here is the color palette and fabrics.









​​I played around with format and presented some ideas to the client. (I used my ipad and the app MoodBoard and a stylus pen to create these images.)
The client picked the horizontal triptych (on the right). 

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I then proposed that I would create three to four mock ups of small abstract paintings. What happened next was incredible.

Follow tomorrow's blog for the end of this story.
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(Sorry to string you on like this but I have read that doing something like this actually works!) We shall see tomorrow.

I have a lot of great workshops scheduled in 2016. I will be teaching in Cape Cod, Richmond, Atlanta, South Pasadena and Ventura. Click here for more information!

I am also offering Online Studio painting classes every month. Join me each month as we paint traditional oil paintings and abstract paintings with a palette knife. Click here  to sign up.