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Commissioning a portrait is a special experience.
It is surprisingly easy and very enjoyable.
‘Seeing a likeness of somebody you love so much, created for you…you have that to cherish…I love it!
The portrait was commissioned by Jessica’s Mother, Anna who had been thinking about it for a while but was struggling to narrow down a list of artists who she might want to commission.
Choosing a Portrait Painter
For guidance she sought the help of Annabel Elton, our head of commissions. With over 50 artist members available to choose from, Annabel takes you through their range of styles, prices and process’. She knows all the artists well so can give an in-depth feel for them and their work.
For both Jessica and Anna, Simon Davis was the one, they were enamoured with how much life there was in his portraits: ‘they are very striking, it’s not what people might class as a typical portrait’.
Annabel put Jessica and Anna in touch with Simon to discuss the portrait further. Simon got to know the two of them, discussing what they wanted the portrait to represent and look like, as well as logistics that would suit them all.
Sittings
Simon works from photos, ‘they aid real life quite well and together can help you to create something quite good’. He set up a shoot with Jessica and took a lot of pictures to really try and capture her essence. Once the shoot was done Simon sketched up a number of compositions to run by Jessica and Anna and see which they liked most. Jessica recalls how involved she felt throughout the process and that she ‘actually didn’t expect it to be so enjoyable’.
The reveal
After about three months later the piece was completed and the response was overwhelmingly positive: Anna commenting ‘there’s a lot of depth to the piece, he captured her and the strength she doesn’t see, so well. Seeing a likeness of somebody you love so much and it having been created just for you is a wonderful thing’.
The final portrait will be featured in our annual exhibition on the 16-26th September alongside a variety of other portraits and artists’ works. If you are thinking of having a portrait commissioned for you or a loved one, there is no time like the present. This year’s exhibition has a wonderful selection and might even spark an interest in commissioning a portrait… For more information you can contact Annabel Elton via [email protected].
Image: Simon Davis ‘Jessica’ (detail)