“Buy” – Commission Rates and Contact Info

After seeing my artwork on this website, you might decide that you would like an individualized painting for yourself or a loved one.  Perhaps you would like a portrait of a pet, a favorite landscape, or cartoon work, or even helping you write a book for commercial use or as a memoir for your descendants.

Most likely, you might want to give a gift of a portrait to a loved one for a special occasion (graduation, anniversary, birthday, or Christmas present).  No matter the occasion, there is no gift that is of as much value as a unique and personal work of art.

So, what would it cost?  My painting friend from my missionary service in France has made a career out of art.  He does it for a living and caters to the well-to-do and to banks and hotels in large cities.  I am retired and paint as a hobby.  He charges in the thousands.  Got to admit, that would be nice … so would owning waterfront property!  I charge enough to pay for supplies, maintaining this website, and something for my time (most paintings take 20 to 30 hours to create).

My fee is negotiable, based on the number of faces and the intricacy of the background.  However, it will be below minimum wage because my painting is primarily a hobby for me.  Personal artwork can easily cost $20,000 to $60,000. But that’s like professional baseball – only 1% of players have multi-million dollar contracts and only 1% of artists can charge that much. As I said, my artist friend routinely charges only a tenth of that: $2,000 to $5,000. That’s better – but still far too much for most people!  So, how about a tenth of a tenth?

How about $200 to $500?

That’s what I usually charge.

The low end of that scale is for photos that tell a story or show a relationship – i.e., not just a face staring at the camera.  Why?  Because that’s more fun for me to paint, and this is mainly a hobby now that I am retired.  Good thing, too, because $200 to $500 is far, far below minimum wage. As the source photo becomes more complicated, the price might increase toward the middle to higher end of that scale. But it is still very reasonable. So, if you are interested in an affordable and original painting, feel free to contact me.

I’d love to talk to you!