Since I shared my small studies I have been working on my Natural Bridge commission. Today I took it to the client to discuss any final changes and they only had one small thing they wanted me to change. They were very happy with the result and had many nice things to say.

Commissions are difficult and stressful. When you paint for yourself, no one has to like it but you. If you’re lucky enough to have someone else who likes it enough to buy it, that’s great. With a commission, someone agrees to pay you money for something before it’s created, and they have some expectations for what they want. As an artist, you need to figure out how to meet those expectations.

Fortunately, applying my design thinking background seems to help. Using DT methods with the studies I did allowed me to better understand their expectations. One of the things they said when the saw the almost finished painting today was that I had incorporated all of the things that they liked. Needless to say I’m pleased.

This is the fully complete painting. It is 18×24, the largest watercolor I’ve ever done. Painting that large was quite different but I made it work. I will deliver it soon and hopefully they will allow me to come over and photograph it once it is framed and hanging in the place they have chosen for it.