PLEASE CONSIDER HIRING ME FOR COMMISSIONED ART!

After browsing through my artwork in this site, you may find yourself interested in discussing with me an idea you have for an art project you would like me to work on for you or as a gift for a loved one. I would be happy to discuss this with you. Begin by emailing me at bwebber@wi.rr.com and include in your note your contact information (email, phone and address) along with a basic description of what you have in mind and any questions you might have.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES?

My specialty and greatest passion is portraiture and figure drawing. While I prefer to work with a live model, during this pandemic, that might not be an option for the foreseeable future. So I am open to working from photographs that I judge suitable for my purposes as an artist. But realize that for an artist (and especially me) even the best of photographs is not a substitute for having a living, breathing human being in front of oneself. The reason being (particularly for me!) two-fold: one is the emotional connection that is so essential to ensouling one’s subject, and secondly, a real human being is three dimensional and has a shifting play of light and shadow that cannot be accurately be captured by a photograph. With that caveat said, I would be excite to draw and paint you and/or loved one.

A second possibility is to hire me to draw or paint your pet. While I have less experience to date in doing pet portraits compared to my experience of working with the human subject, I have certainly successfully drawn my own pets over the years, and, as you can see in my Animal Collection, I have garnered a good amount of skill of drawing animals. And as one who has grown up with dogs and cats myself, I know how pets become essential parts of our family. So I would be excited to discuss the possibility of doing a pet portrait for you. But once again, this will likely have to be done through the use of photographs, particularly during this pandemic. But many pets are not patient sitters anyway!

A third possibility is to commission me to create images of sacred art for you. If you have spent time on my site, you probably have gathered that I am a deeply spiritual person. My faith informs everything I do. My degree work, career and vocation for most of my life was, in fact, in religious education and ministry. And when I returned to my first love as an artist almost ten years ago, I found my faith and art entwined more than ever. So creating sacred art is a true joy for me. And note that I bring an ecumenical spirit to it. I am happy to work as I am able across the lines of religious tradition. So if you have a religious subject or an idea for a religious icon you would like me to consider creating for you, feel free to talk to me about that!

Other possible art project ideas you might propose to me might include the following: Artwork for you CD or album recording; designing an artsy Facebook profile picture for you; designing a poster; illustrations for your publication; humorous drawings or cartoons; drawing or painting a favorite object for you, or perhaps a still life setting; drawing or painting a scene from nature. These are just a few examples. Just discuss your ideas with me, whatever they are, and I will let you know if I think I could do a good job for you. I enjoy the challenge! And I will always be honest with you about any limitations I might see, be it cost considerations or my own limits as an artist.

This will all depend on the particular project you propose, the time and materials involved, the difficulty involved, and cost considerations (e.g., your own budget). But here is a guideline I created over the years for portraits (before the pandemic where having a live model was possible), so it can still be used somewhat as a guideline for understanding my approach to deciding the cost of a particular project:

Informal sketches: (charcoal, conte’ crayon, pencil, pen and ink, or drawing on my iPad). COST: $50 for 30-45 mins of work.

Semi-Formal Portraits: (charcoal, conte’ crayon, pencil, pen and ink or digital). COST: $100 for 60-90 minutes

Formal Portrait Drawings: (charcoal, conte’ crayon, pencil, pastel, sometimes watercolor added) COST: 2 hour sitting = $200; 3 hours sitting = $300; 4 hours sitting = $400.

Formal Portrait Painting (acrylics, pastels, or oil as best fits the subject) COST: 2 hour sitting = $250; 3 hours sitting = $375; 4 hours sitting = $500.