Commissioning a painting is a collaborative process between the artist and the commissioner. Not sure what all is involved or how to proceed?

Here are the basics:

Once the painting is done I am happy to consult on or provide framing, and/or to help you find the best location for the painting in your home.

Read about how one commissioner felt about their experience commissioning a painting. Want to learn more? Please contact the artist.

We discuss subject matter and select a photo or arrange for a photo shoot.

We determine size and price and discuss any other preferences you might have. Price depends on size, complexity of the piece and number of figures if applicable.

If needed, I will prepare a few design options and present them to you.

We then sign a contract and you submit a non-refundable 50% deposit. I will give you an estimated completion date and then go to work.

Along the way I provide you with progress reports to ensure that you will be happy with the final product.

I can’t thank you enough for accepting the commission to create a painting of Elise on a swing.

From the moment I first saw your work, I was hooked. I love your still lifes. Seeing those, it was evident that you had technical mastery, but the painting of your grandson in the fire truck...there was something about that painting I found captivating, engaging... unforgettable. Then, more than a year later, I saw two other portraits you’d recently completed (your grandsons in front of your garden shed and “All He Wants”). Again, I found them both to have that special, unforgettable quality. They captured not just a scene, but amazingly captured the emotion of the scene. Like a great photograph, those paintings stopped time at the perfect moment. After seeing those, I knew you could create exactly what my wife and I were looking for in a portrait of our daughter. It was essential that the painting capture our little girl’s carefree spirit...the twinkle in her eye, as it were...at that exact moment...while she’s in mid-swing, looking over her shoulder, laughing. I can only imagine how daunting a task it is to attempt a portrait of someone you know. To do the same thing with someone you don’t know seems completely impossible to me...yet, you did it. Perfectly.

You very clearly described your process and our options for composition, size & pricing. You kept us informed of your progress and graciously accepted critical feedback about nuances that must have seemed so subtle as to be nearly insignificant, but to my wife and I, the minor tweaks made all the difference in the world. The process was enjoyable (you’re such a pleasure to work with) and the results are nothing short of incredible. We now have a beautiful painting as a reminder of our daughter while she’s away at college.

We can’t begin to thank you enough.

With gratitude.

Joe & Amy Cracco