Fees and commissions, a general guide.
Each commission is a one-of-a-kind personalized creation requiring a different amount of work and time to complete.
- A painting commission, specially if it involves particular people, involves preliminary studies.
- Firstly Phillip will do pencil sketches to balance proportions of the work and/or composition.
- Then come the color studies the way they should look in the final painting.
- During this studies you will be consulted so as to create that special work that you will love the most.
- The time to produce this studies is included in the price but Phillip will have no further use for them. You can get them at a minimum cost.
Please contact Phillip to discuss what you have in mind for your painting or drawing. He will figure out the best way to provide you with a portrait you will love. Phillip will give you a quote based on your particular desires and your reference photos. He wants you to have a portrait that you and your family will treasure for many generations to come.
- Please use the scales below as a guide only.
- Phillip will usually manage a better price than the sum total.
- Discounts often apply on subsequent work when more than one commission is involved.
| Portrait Type | Drawings | Pastels | Oils |
| Head and shoulders | $400.00 | $600.00 | $800.00 |
| Head to waist | $600.00 | $900.00 | $1200.00 |
| Full body | $800.00 | $1200.00 | $1600.00 |
| Background | (To quote) | (To quote) | (To quote) |
| Additional person/ea. | $300 | $450 | $600 |
| Scape, Still Life | (To quote) | (To quote) | (To quote) |
| Shipping/post office | (To quote) | (To quote) | (To quote) |
| Picture over-size | $300 / m2 | $300 / m2 | $300 / m2 |
Size doesn't affect price. Large or small, it takes the same work.
I prefer to work on 60cm x 80cm (24" x 32") minimum. Larger than 1 sqm cost $30.00 more per 10cm.
Freight will be added at the cheapest and safest rate (... commissions sent by air mail are painted on un-mounted canvas that is sent rolled into a tube for later stretching and framing)
A word on portraits:
- Drawing portraits: Done in graphite pencil and vine charcoal. The drawing consists of a portrait on fine art watercolor paper or illustration board of any size desired up to 30×40 inches (80cmx120 cm).
- Soft Pastels portraits: Phillip uses the finest sticks available, mostly Schminke and Sennelier with a only a few select Rembrandt, A.S. and Conte thus ensuring purity of colour and soft blends to achieve a true realism.
- He paints on fine pastel paper or illustration board of any size you desire up to 30×40 inches. Phillip often prepares his own surfaces on rigid, museum quality boards to ensure sensitivity to fine detail.
- Soft pastels are too delicate to ship, so he tends to accept only local commissions.
- Portraits in oils:
- They consist of a portrait on primed board, canvas board or stretched canvas of any size desired.
- If the painting will be shipped overseas it will be done on canvas that can be rolled and packed in a tube.
- Paintings on board or canvas larger than 40×60 inches or 1 square meter cost additional.
- The over-size calculation is $300/sq m. above 1 square meter. That’s about $30.00 every 10 cm of 1m wide “over” 1m high.
Each additional person is half price
Part-people portraits in oils or soft pastels:
- Head and shoulders, head to waist, full figure.
Backgrounds:
- The basic price includes an abstract background.
- The word “Background” is generic. It means elements other than the clothed human figure, like lettering, logos, balls, hurdles, spectators, ocean waves, bicycles, etc, etc
Emailing photos to Phillip is the easiest way to get started.
- As a rule photos in good focus allow Phil to produce better paintings.
- It doesn’t matter if they are in black and white as long as they are in focus.
- The sharper the focus the better the painting.
- Blurry pictures are not good, please avoid.
If you would like to take new photos and plan to be in the area, make an appointment to visit Phillip at his Currans Hill studio in Sydney NSW, to be photographed for your portrait at no additional charge. Photo sessions at your location are available. We need to organize suitable date and time.
Please call Phillip for information— 0401 128 334 or via the Contact Us form.
Prints of your Art:
Additional hand-signed prints, on any size canvas or watercolor paper up to 30×40 inches, may be ordered. These are great for your office and make wonderful gifts. Please contact Phillip for more information.
Framing:
Custom framing is always recommended for Phil’s portraits. If possible, images on watercolor paper have a border of watercolor paper to fit a standard frame size. Canvas paintings will require custom framing.
Framing is very personal and moldings differ greatly in price. For that reason Framing is your responsibility and is not included in the price.
Down payment:
On acceptance of your quote, a non-refundable deposit of 20% is required before commencement of your portrait. The balance is due upon completion, or at any time before or after so you can take as long as you need.
The finished work will be shipped upon receipt of balance.
PayPal, American Express, Visa and MasterCard are accepted. EFT also possible upon request.
Urgent commissions:
If your portrait is a surprise gift that you plan to present at a special occasion, please let Phillip know so as to make special scheduling arrangements. He will be happy to plan the preliminary studies and the final work to be ready in time for your special event.