My prices and sizes
You’ll find a list of typical sizes on this page, to give you a guide to the cost of a portrait. However I can also work to a particular size you may have in mind (for instance if you are matching another portrait or want to fill an existing frame). If so please get in touch and I can give you a quote.
Commissioning a portrait is usually a new experience for my customers and can feel like a bit of a leap in the unknown! To help, here’s a summary of the process of commissioning a portrait.
Take some photos to give me a rounded image of the subject, and so that we can choose one key image amongst them for me to work from. I’ll need a picture taken on a digital camera (not a phone camera) that’s nice and close up and clear.
When you have some pictures you think may be suitable, email them over and we can have a discussion about which might work best. Usually it can take quite a number of conversations or emails to sort out the photograph reference but this is all part of the process and well worth the effort. When we’ve decided which key photo I’ll be copying from, I’ll begin the portrait. Depending on the commission, a deposit is not normally required in advance until you’ve seen and approved the final artwork.
The smallest available size is 10 x 12 inches which is a similar size to A4 but a little wider, to give a more pleasing proportion. Any smaller than this would really be too fiddly for me to draw or paint (for my European customers, 10 x 12 inches is approximately 25.5 by 30.5 cm.
I usually advise that for a head-and-shoulder portrait of a single child, the 10 x 12 inch size is amply big enough. You could also consider a 12 inch square which is a nice shape for this type of upper body portrait. Remember that when your drawing or painting is framed the mount (mat) will add quite a lot of size to the portrait.
If you prefer a larger portrait – maybe for a portrait of a teenager or an adult – you could go to the next size up of 14 x 16 inches (similar to A3 but a little wider) or a square of similar size. For a whole body portrait I would suggest choosing the 14 x 16 inch size so that the face isn’t too fiddly for me to achieve a good likeness. I wouldn’t advise going larger than this for a single subject however, unless you particularly want a big statement piece. This is because I have a general rule of thumb that the subject’s head shouldn’t appear larger than it is in reality.