What is the finished piece? - The first phase in any portrait commission starts with the concept answering the question ‘What is the required finished piece?’

The Content - Some prefer a traditional posed portrait, perhaps showing just the head in detail, or you might prefer a portrait of the whole subject.    Others prefer something more natural, either a relaxed pose, or an action shot.  The other main consideration for the content of a portrait is, what, if any, background you would like including.

The Media - Some of the decision about what the piece will include may depend on the media you prefer.  Detailed pencil studies and chalk pastels suit a head portrait, or your preference might be something more personal to your taste and include a mix of media with a black and white background and colour subject, perhaps using pencil and watercolour.  It is always possible to tailor media and content to provide a piece that fits in with your own tastes, and no one commission is the same as the next.

Artistic Licence - When commissioning a piece, you may want to alter the look in some respect, perhaps matching the backgrounds when commissioning more than one piece, or using a completely different background.  Perhaps you want a portrait to show a dog retrieving, but haven’t got a photograph of them exactly how you want?  Again, it is possible to work from a set of photographs and put together a final piece to fit your concept.

Each piece is entirely individual to the commissioner the concept stage gives the opportunity to put together a composition that is going to fit exactly what they want.