I am interested in commissioning a painting. What is the process?
I usually work from photographs, and the copyright to the photo must belong to you, to me, or to someone who is willing to assign me the rights to reproduce it. That is, I cannot make you a painting from a photo from a book or a magazine (unless we materially change it) or from a photograph taken by someone else, such as a professional photographer. So, while I could turn one of your favorite vacation photos into a lasting work of art, I can’t use your child’s school photo as the basis for a portrait. The copyright laws are quite clear about this, while they are not very clear about what a ‘material change’ is. An intellectual property attorney tells me that just changing it from a photo to a painting would be sufficient, but I don’t want to get embroiled in a lot of lawsuits in order to find out! I am glad to take suitable reference photos or the subject can pose for me in person. Any travel costs involved are in addition to the cost of the painting. Half of the total cost of the comm
