Do you want your own painting or drawing?
This page gives details of how to commission an original artwork from John.
Prices start from £200 for an A4 pastel drawing with a 20% deposit payable prior to work commencing – see the section ‘how much will it cost?’ below for more details.
How do I get started?
The first step … you can phone me for an informal and no obligation chat to discuss your requirements; alternatively send me an email or even text me to get the ball rolling! It couldn’t be simpler and if you want to proceed further, I will send you some more detailed information about the process of commissioning.
John works for you, under contract!
John works professionally with a written contract which is signed by both parties. This is nothing to worry about, but it gives you the client and John something concrete in terms of our agreement together and protects us both. A price will be agreed before the work is started and that price will be honoured, regardless of the time involved. John does not charge an hourly rate.
You can view a sample contract here. Please note this is an example contract for information only and that details can vary according to what is involved in the job. Work cannot commence until this agreement is in place.
Commission subjects
The range of subjects covered by John’s commissions over the years has included: pet and equine portraits, family groups and individual portraits, newlywed couples in wedding attire, paintings of public houses and even house portraits; as well as architectural & topographical series of paintings.
As well as these themes, John is able to consider virtually anything that is within the bounds of good taste and decency as a subject for a painting; and as he largely works from reference photos, you can even have a painting produced of your favourite holiday snapshot, such as a sunset.
How long will it take?
As you can see, John’s painting & drawing style often verges on the photo-realistic. All artworks are labours of love for John and take many hours of meticulous work to complete. This means that the timescale depends upon what is involved in the piece of work you are asking for.
When your commission is commenced will be dependent upon work already in progress and jobs booked into the diary. I will always advise you of such factors in our initial conversation or email exchange. That way, you always know where you stand with me from the start.
Out of respect for you as a customer, I won’t give you an unrealistic completion date which I cannot meet. For example, if you wanted something to be ready in a few days or a couple of weeks, I will usually have to tell you that this is not going to be possible because of the hours that are involved in completing the vast majority of my artworks. I will always advise you early on in our discussion whether I can start something straight away or whether there will be a delay before I can begin. This gives you the option to look elsewhere if your requirements are urgent.
How much will it cost?
John’s prices start from £200 for an A4 (29.7 x 21 cms) pastel drawing and increase from there; dependent upon the size you require and the medium used. A pastel drawing is the most economic option, because the hours involved in producing a work in pastels are, in most cases, less than the other mediums I use regularly .
A non-refundable initial deposit of 20% of the overall cost is payable at the beginning of the job, with the the remainder payable upon delivery.
Should you not be happy with the end result – a situation which has never arisen – then you would not pay the due balance and John would retain the artwork.
What mediums does John use?
John works mainly in pastels, pencils and gouache with pictures in gouache taking the longest time and therefore being the most expensive to produce.
Your peace of mind
Please be assured that John always takes a real pride in his work and demands only the highest possible standards of himself.
His maxim has always been to aim for a happy and 100% satisfied customer and this has always been achieved.
Copyright on artwork
With regard to copyright, any artist as originator of any piece of artwork, including a commission, retains copyright in the work together with all rights to reproduce it as Limited or Open Edition prints, reproductions, cards etc.
Prints, reproductions and cards
In recent years, John has made a digital scans of his artworks and commissions before handing the finished items over to the customer. This means that reproductions can be produced without needing further access to the original.
Obviously for very personal commissions such as people portraits, these would not be publicly available as prints, though I reserve the right to use to publicise my services unless a customer has specifically requested otherwise.