Completed Natural Bridge Commission

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.

Natural Bridge Studies

I mentioned in my last post that I am doing a commission for my friend Jo Ann, who lives here in the neighborhood. She wants 24×18 watercolor of Natural Bridge, Virginia in the springtime. I went and took pictures a few weeks back. Jo Ann and her husband Morgan chose this picture as the reference photo for their painting.

As promised, I have done three small studies in the same aspect ratio as their painting. I do this to get client feedback. I took them and showed them to Jo Ann and Morgan today, and the good news is that they liked them all. They gave me some ideas of what they liked and didn’t like. While there is no way I can get exactly the same result this still gives me good guidance as I proceed with their real painting.

Here are the three studies (click on image to see larger version):

Study 1
Study 2
Study 3

While the clients’ opinion is the most important, I like feedback from multiple perspectives. Please share what you like and don’t like about each painting.

I’m getting ready to start on the final painting. This will be the largest watercolor I’ve ever done, so that’s making me a little nervous. I will share the result, hopefully in a few weeks.