Do not think I know it all. Like others, I have doubts sometimes. This week I’m working on a self-portrait for an exhibition in the gallery in London. I showed two images of the progress on Facebook and have never had so many likes.
Progress of the self- portrait
A painting that is half finished is something magical. It has the excitement of the promise and the attractive dynamics of abstraction. Once finished, sometimes it does not quite accord to my high expectations. From experience I know this phenomenon, however, it takes me by surprise. So as now with this painting, it is completed but not finished. How do I proceed? The big question for this week. See also the finished version here.
As you already know, I work almost exclusively on commission. It sometimes happens that a client wants to see a detail added to the portrait. An object that the person is very attached to or something that refers to his or her profession. I am always careful about this and wary of it as I do not think it necessary. If I cannot dissuade the sitter, I make the object or detail as unobtrusive as possible. The girl in this portrait plays in a circus as a clown, in her spare time. I did not want to depict her completely dressed up. She only holds a red clown´s nose in her hand. It’s a reference to her hobby, but she herself is the protagonist.
Finally the family portrait is finished and it can be shipped to the gallery. A major job and I really enjoyed the work. Like always the challenge was to get all four protagonists in a credible way on the canvas, engaged in the same moment in time. And of course, the resemblance had to be complete; the main criterion of commissioned work. On this matter I was in close contact with the client as usual, willing to listen carefully and if necessary making adjustments. I will miss the painting that has been for some month on my easel. Eventually everything leaves the studio.
In my post two weeks ago I talked about portrait painting and the applause of uncles and aunts;the worthless fame. What you really need is a critical eye of someone who understands matters. Someone whose opinion you appreciate. Someone who does not give compliments just to please you. Formerly, before a painting left my studio, my daughter came to approve the product. And when she had critical points, she almost always was right. She is married now and lives in Madrid already for five years. This week she is staying with us. So I can call on her scrutiny. The family portrait, which I have shown you before, is in it´s final stage. Together we have gone over. Beside a few little things I got her approval and for her part the painting can be delivered. Of course I also sent an image to the client. They are very enthusiastic. (aside from some small comments). After these corrections the painting can be varnished and shipped.
Every so often people ask me how to start getting portrait commissions. And also someone asks for tips on pricing. Do not expect me to give you a presentation on business plans. I am not an expert, not in the least. I believe that it just comes down to using your common sense.
What do you want?
1. portrait painting as a hobby?
2. portrait painting as a full time professional artist?
It comes down to quality.
If it is just your hobby, mainly family and friends will be your clientele and prices will be relatively low in the beginning. If making a living from painting is your goal, then the question is: is your quality good enough? Is your artwork spiritual and essential? These are questions you need to answer yourself. Because in your immediate environment people always think you are fantastic (the so called applause of uncles and aunts; that fame is worthless). Self-criticism is important. You’ll have to decide where your level is compared with colleagues. The internet is a very useful tool. Look for good painters who do commissioned portraits. Relate their work to yours. Once again be very critical and honest with yourself, I can not emphasise this enough.
Well, assuming you think the quality is high enough to announce yourself in the market, then the next question is about the revenues.
What are my prices?
Try to find out what colleagues charge and adjust your price accordingly. You have to remember here that your geographical location plays a role. Do you live in a big city, in the US for example, or in a remote village in the interior of let´s say India. That makes a huge difference. Some more advice: try to find a good gallery that wants to represent you. Setting your prices that way you can still decide to increase them in the future. It is impossible to lower prices overtime. Clients from the past will feel cheated. If there is a lot of demand you may consider to raise the rates. If you hardly ever get assignments it means that you are too expensive or that your quality is not appreciated.
The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you’re sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.
Last week we returned from our short trip to the Netherlands. And back to work right away. The project of which I wrote in my post of August 13thwas already on the easel waiting for me. Everything well prepared before I left. The sketches approved by the client, the linen stretched, covered with three layers of gesso and the drawing carefully transferred in red crayon. So, immediately after returning I was able to start. I like to work from nine to five. I never have to wait for the inspiration that Chuck Close writes about. However, I do need to be well focussed and the run up to that sometimes takes days. Part of the concentration process is applying the underpainting. In the final version of this painting there is a lot of blue and green, and that’s why I like to use a magenta undertone.
