Debra Keirce

I'll just come right out and say it. Commissioned paintings are by far the best value for a collector's money. There.

It's not just my opinion. It's fact. Even if the painting doesn't turn out exactly the way the collector hoped, it's hands down the best value for their dollar. 

Why?

Two things - IMHO and YOLO. (For those of you like me who aren't up on the latest texting acronyms, I got these from my kids. In My Humble Opinion and You Only Live Once)

IMHO, commissions are the product artists create when we are trying our best to be the eyes and arms of the collector. We try to create art that the collector would create if the collector could paint. That means, we are instruments. We of course are painting in our style, with our own spin, but the concept for the art is not our own. The collector is instructing us. Think about this. We are doing our best to get into another person's head, read their mind, and portray what they are thinking. It's almost a supernatural feat! 

So why don't we all just stay in our studios painting what we want, and not even bother with the challenge of developing our psychic mind reader powers? Why do we work at Vulcan mind melds with complete strangers to pull ideas (like the pulling of memories in Harry Potter) and apply them to our canvases? Why do we tirelessly rise above blurry reference photos and try to interpret things like "Please give them fewer wrinkles." "Can you make them look thinner?" "In real life, his hair is grey, not black." "I know this shows my house in winter, but can you paint it in the spring?" "My cat is always smiling...but not in this photo. Can you paint her smiling?"

YOLO, so why not try for the biggest rewards we, as artists, can experience? There is no bigger reward, accolade, endorsement or compliment of an artist's work than a wave of emotion when the collector first lays eyes on their finished commissioned painting. Whether they have tears of joy, a look of awe, or a simple "Yes, that's it. You captured it." There's no better feeling for me than to touch someone's heart with my art. It's why I get up every morning, and I cherish those moments so much, it makes the challenge worth it!! 

So, we work up our courage, face the challenge of a commission, do our best, worry about how the collector will react, and finally....FINALLY, feel the love. It's magic and it makes me so proud to do what I do.