Commission Creation
Creating custom artwork for a client!
I’ve recently chatted about what you should consider when commissioning an artwork (if you’d like to know more about that head to the ‘Commissioning An Artwork’ blog post). These questions help get to the heart of what you want to create.
Here though, I’d like to chat about the steps I go through when creating a custom piece for you!
Creating an inspirational mood board
The questions (see ‘Commissioning An Artwork’) we go through initially bring your ideas together to help to establish inspiration and direction! I will take your answers, inspirational pics, textures, fabrics and anything else we have collected and bring these together.
We go through the colours, mood, style and subject you would like the commissioned piece to express. I take all of these elements and create a mood board. Then I hit the sketchbook!
Drawing up roughs
Roughs take inspiration and ideas and move them from images, photos, textures and colours to the page!
Small roughs are drawn to the scale of the final piece. These little buddies are like the creative equivalent of a mind map. The main goal is to push past the first idea and see what works and why. It means going into greater depth for the piece and helps prevent feeling stuck.
There are a few steps that I’ve been taught in greater depth recently that have helped to streamline the commission process for original artworks. (Thank you Bernadette Meyers!)
Elements of Design
I will look at the moodboard, the subject and the composition of the elements within the piece. I’ll look at arrangement, scale, weight, colour, contrast and the focal point of the composition - just for some examples.
I take notes of how marks were made. Or which colours were applied first for reference when coming to draw up the final piece. Most likely, there will be a few ideas that work and these will be developed further.
Considering Colour
At this point, I’ll look at colour in more depth. I’ll work through the colour options in your chosen media to align with the brief and narrow down the palette. Taking the ideas that have worked, I will apply the colour palette to the small roughs to assess whether the piece is coming together cohesively. One or two of these ideas will then be worked up at a bigger size to see how they stand up. Any changes can be made before starting the final piece.
Drawing up the Final Design
From here, I draw an initial sketch of the chosen composition on the page/canvas. The idea of a blank canvas or page isn’t as much of an issue because working from the roughs means the planning has been done! There are a number of progress points within a piece for me, especially depending on the medium chosen. At the point where it feels complete, I’ll send some pics of the final piece! One of the best things about commissioned work is that it’s collaborative. It’s bringing an idea to life! Together.
