Painting a portrait commission, having someone put their face in your hands!

Painting commissions is a big part of what makes it possible for me to survive as an artist. I always feel very honored every time someone trust me enough to let me recreate their faces. In other words, make sure they don't look like a bad version of them self for future generations to remember them by, heheh..

Majority of the commission work I get is from parents wanting portraits of their children, children meaning everything from babies to adults. It can be especially daunting to paint someone's loved ones that they've known for big parts of their lives. They will instantly see if that smile is not right or if the eyes don't have that same glow. In my experience its not just about likeness but also about a presence.

Some people have a very clear idea about what they want others have seen my work and leave it up to me to decide what I think will be more fitting. I always love the last!
For the past few weeks I've been working on some commissions I painted for the parents of a dear childhood friend of mine.
The commissions are of my friend and her two younger siblings. The parents gave me total freedom, even when it came to the choice of frame! What a treat! It always feels good to be able to give away a product that I feel has been put together exactly the way it was meant to.

The portraits are still in work in progress, but here are some pictures of previous commission work during the years.

:-)