Analysis of a Commission

Painting commissions is always a fun challenge. Instead of finding a subject that resonates with me I must work with the client's choice. I need to arrange and install elements that will result in a pleasing painting while considering and respecting the wishes of the person paying for the exercise.

In this case a lady commissioned a surprise gift for her husband based on the little beach house below. They live overseas now and this cottage is full of good memories for them, summertime holidays and the place where they were engaged.

My first word thoughts were colourful and fun. I know what this area, Skaha Lake, is like in the hot and active summertime but my first impressions were made on a grey, dreary and freaking cold winters day. I normally would set up on site and begin roughing in some paint but in this case no one was home and without permission I didn't feel comfortable setting up on private land. Also there was a big dog dish and a hefty chain augered into the house.

So I took a few photos and did some quick thumbnail sketches, then headed to the comforts of my studio to begin.

We had decided on a 16X20" canvas as the clients will be moving around the world for a number of years and this scale won't be any problem to pack for air travel. The house siding was originally pink but is pretty faded now. I decided to amp up the hue and also wanted lots of bright greens to compliment the little house. The background was painted very transparently and I knocked the trees' colours down to help them step back into space.

Impossible to see in this low res image but I have placed little touches of green and grey in the pink siding. Also I painted in some uneven texture. These acts will create a much more interesting and vibrant surface than if I had painted it evenly and flatly. I love using paint to create some ambiguity. This is important.

IF EVERYTHING IN YOUR PAINTING IS TAKEN TO A HIGHLY RESOLVED FINISH IT WILL BE LIFELESS AND FLAT.

You want to see some new things in your painting each time you view it . Without ambiguity there will be no poetry, only craftmanship. Without ambiguity you restrict the viewers' imagination. Okay, off of my soapbox and back to the painting.

Under the cantilevered roof and to a lesser degree in the shaded parts of the fencing I installed greens and yellows which are bouncing off of the electric green lawn. Of course in mid summer this lawn is probably clinging to life if not burnt and trampled to death........ but green is happier.
I pushed the lake up the beach towards the cottage and then decided to play up the reflections in the windows to suggest people swimming, tubing and generally enjoying the hot Okanagan environment. I set up one of our beach loungers in my studio, then created a little foreground story. I'm imagining that our couple have just stepped away from their chairs and have entered the water.

The grass areas are gradated as they recede and my paint is applied more thickly as I approach the foreground. While working to create an interesting picture I attempted to stay true to my original concepts, colourful and fun.

When my client "teared up" on her first viewing I breathed a sigh of relief and signed it.

Commissions can be a challenge but one of their great advantages is that the client has a built-in personal connection to the subject already so if we painters do a reasonable job their imaginations will do the rest.


I am continuing with my portrait project. Here are a couple of recent sitters, Brad and Lynda. I'm making a huge change , going from a horizontal to a vertical format. I know, pretty terrifying stuff. Seriously though, this is going to give me plenty of new problems and opportunities in my compositions. I look forward to painting hands! Great fun!



Also, next month I'll be showing at the LittleStraw Winery in West Kelowna. I'll post an invite next week.