Sometimes I get rather unusual commissions from people where they want something very specific.  They come to me with examples of other works, or a technique they want me to emulate of very specific subject matter they want to display on their walls.  Usually in the case of these types of commissions it is more often than not from people that already own some of my work, and want something specific so they come to me to do it for them.  Some of the work I refuse, I try not to, but some things just wont work, or I don’t think I am the right artist to do the subject matter justice (and then I try to refer them), or I am just not interested in doing it because it is boring.  The requests have been interesting and varied and some of the more challenging ones come from my own family like the space ships and knights my son wanted on his wall which I blogged about in “A Knights Tale”!  Unfortunately for me, my family informs me, I am not allowed to refuse their commissions, and I have to do them for free!  I usually manage to coerce a bunch of flowers out of them though for my trouble.

Below are a few of the more random pieces I have been asked to paint in 2016.  I usually try to use different tools to apply the paint, or explore the use of new (or new to me) paint on the market like the fluorescent paints which I don’t use at all in my usual work.  Mostly I play around with developing different techniques so I can learn through the process, even if the subject matter is not usually something I would consider were it my own choice.  Sometimes I see the end result as inferior, but I need to remind myself that I have achieved what the client wanted, and I have learned something from the exercise, even if it is what NOT to do!

Below are some of the more fun dabbles and explorations offered to me through a variety of commissions.

Ducks for someones wall back in Wales

Sea turtles which afforded me the opportunity of experimenting with colour shapers and a more impasto paint application.

This particular commission I found very challenging and a little stressful.  It was way out of my comfort zone with regard to technique and the client wanted this very specific type mosaic paint application in these colours.  It gave me the chance to try a new way of applying paint as well as using some fluorescent paint (the red and the orange). Had I tackled the subject matter on my own, without the strict guidelines from the client, I would most definitely have explored a more realistic study of the brass coffeepot much like my other still life paintings.

Although I had never painted boats before, this particular technique of painting was definitely something I was familiar with, and I think at the end of the day, the artwork reflects that.  I have painted sunsets and seascapes before, and I am very familiar with using various gel mediums to create a specific effects like in my abstract organic landscapes.  First of all I plotted out the drawing on the canvas in pencil, and then applied the heavy structure gel medium.  This allows you to create a heavy impasto effect for the clouds, and foaming choppy waters of the sea without having to use tubes and tubes of paint to get the same result.  A very handy technique when using acrylic paint.  The colours and style were very specific requirements for this particular painting.