A commission almost never begins with 'I want a portrait.' It begins with a story: a father's seventieth birthday, a grandmother the grandchildren never met, a beloved face the family wants kept close. My first job is to listen. The photograph comes second.
When the reference photographs arrive, I study them the way a detective would — not for likeness yet, but for character. I ask for several if I can: the formal one, the candid one, the one where they forgot the camera existed. The truth of a face usually lives in that third photograph.
From sketch to yes
Before any finish work, I make a small composition study — the crop, the turn of the head, where the light falls — and share it for approval. This is the moment the portrait stops being mine alone. Adjustments are welcome here; a nudge at sketch stage saves heartache at varnish stage.
Then we choose the medium together. Charcoal and graphite for gravity and timelessness; pastel or acrylic for warmth and colour; watercolour when the person calls for lightness. The medium is not decoration — it is temperament, and it should match the sitter's.
A portrait commission is really a loan of trust. The work is my way of paying it back, with interest.
While I work, I send progress photographs at the honest stages — not only the flattering ones. Families watch the face emerge from the first structure lines to the final layers, and their responses sharpen the work. A daughter will say, 'that is exactly how he looks when he is about to laugh,' and I will chase that fraction of expression for days.
Varnish, frame, handover
The finish is quiet: a last slow sitting with the piece, fixative or varnish as the medium asks, and framing chosen to serve the work rather than compete with it. Then the handover — my favourite and hardest moment, because the portrait leaves my studio and joins its family.
If you have been carrying the idea of a portrait — of a parent, a partner, a self you want to remember — the commissions page explains the timeline, five to six weeks from beginning to handover, and how to start the conversation. Bring the photograph and the story. I will bring the patience.
