The process
If you are thinking of commissioning a drawing, please email me a picture, together with details about your preferences. This page give details of the options, and you can use the checklist page to ensure that you provide me with all of the information that I need to deal promptly with your enquiry.
I will then make some suggestions for how it should be done, maybe with some queries about details. Once any uncertainties have been eliminated, I can give you a firm quote for the work.
If you decide to go ahead, I can normally complete a regular portrait within a few days, then I will email you a scanned copy of the drawing, with the word "proof" overlaid. If you are happy with the drawing, you then pay the agreed fee. As soon as that's done, I will send you the drawing: it should arrive with you within 1-2 weeks.
Photographs
For a perfect portrait, I need a high resolution digital photograph that is clear enough to see the eyelashes in at least one eye. Ideally, the whole face should be illuminated evenly, unless you particularly want an atmospheric, "shadowy" look. I can deal with redeye, but it is difficult to do a nice portrait of somebody that is squinting into the sun.
More than one subject
I can easily combine more than one subject in a drawing- either from the same photograph, or from separate photographs. So if you want a portrait of you with Barack Obama, or Paris Hilton, no problem. It is generally best to use a larger paper size for this.
Paper size
The fee for the drawing is based on the paper size. Most portraits work well on A4 paper, and this is convenient if you want to scan the drawing for use on web sites, etc. If the subject has a lot of hair, or you would like more than one person in the drawing, a larger size is recommended.
If you have a specific place where you want to hang the drawing, just let me know the required dimensions and I can produce something that will fit exactly. See the fees section for information about standard sizes.
A typical A4 portrait has a 2-3cm border around the drawing. If required, I can use a larger sheet of paper to give a bigger border at no, or minimal, additional cost.
Paper texture
Many artists use grained (textured) paper: this gives a distinctive character to the marks that you make on the paper too. Smooth paper gives a clearer, smoother picture.
Paper colour
White paper makes for a brighter image and looks good with filament lamps, but can look grey under fluorescent lamps. A cream paper gives a warmer look, but does make the image a little darker.
Pencil or ink
An ink drawing is crisp and clear, black and white- easy to see from a distance. A pencil drawing offers an infinite number of shades of grey, giving a much softer, warmer image.
For darker images, it is possible to mix the two, so that the edges are well defined but other areas are softer: working like this, though, the whole image tends to be darker so that the ink and pencil match nicely.
