Mark's Commission

Commissions are not Mark's favourite, he doesn't enjoy the confinements of having to paint for someone else, always worrying that all the effort he puts into a painting will not be liked. And he puts a lot of effort into a painting!

When Mark paints a picture he lets the painting lead him, having a basic idea on how he wants the image to look, maybe even doing a ruff sketch first, but not really having an idea on the colours he wants to use or the intricate detail that will end up in the final piece.

So it is not often he takes them on.

But we were approached by a customer or should I say admirer of Mark's work, who already had purchased several pieces of Mark's work to have a painting done for him and his wife, as a wedding present (using money they were given), the spec was to be a tree, which would feature a love heart and their initials, as if it was carved in the trunk and their wedding date by Mark's signature. Apart from that they said they liked Tree 1 and 2 and Groovy 2.

Tree 1, 2 and Groovy 2, although all of a tree are all very different in their own right.

So after much deliberation it was decided the background would be like Groovy 2 and that somehow insects from Tree 2 would need to feature and flowers from Tree 1, but also to create something very new and different.

As Mark progressed with the tree, it became clear, it was going to be amazing and colourful! But as he neared the end and the detail was to be completed on the trunk it became tricky to decide how to do it, all three trees that were mentioned had natural looking trunks and my input was that if it was a tree to have a carving it should look natural too, but how big should the heart be? The first one was too big and not right, so this was painted over, in fact the last part of the painting took over a week to decide how to finish, as this was the most important part and had to be right, which put the pressure on.

Finally Mark finished the painting and after sending the image (before the initials were included to personalise the painting) to the customer we all breathed a sigh of relief when it was confirmed they liked it.

On Saturday Marcus came to collect his painting and I think he was pleased, by his reaction. I told him how Mark is actually a little upset this painting is already sold as he had grown very fond of it, Marcus' answer was "Its mine now!"

The finished painting (before it was personalised) is available as greeting cards and prints soon.