An oil painting made for you: one person, two, a whole family, a scene that matters to someone. Worked from sittings or from photographs, at a size and in a setting we choose together.
Commissions do not have a Buy button, and that is deliberate. Every one of these is a different painting, and the only way to price it honestly is to talk about it first.
What it costs
Every commission is quoted individually, because the number of figures, the size of the canvas and how much setting goes around them all change the work substantially. These are the tiers most portraits fall into, as a starting point rather than a price list:
- Portrait of a single individual — from $1,200
- Portrait of two individuals — from $1,800
- Full figure portrait — from $4,000
- Multi-figure portrait — from $6,000
A full-length figure takes considerably longer than head and shoulders, and a group takes longer again. Larger canvases, elaborate settings and unusually tight schedules are quoted on top of these.
Murals, illustration and event work are quoted the same way. See Services for what those cost.
How it works
- Email me. Tell me who is in the painting, roughly how large you are imagining, where it will hang, and whether there is a date it needs to be ready for. Photographs of the people, even rough ones, help enormously at this stage.
- We talk it through. Reference material, sittings, size, setting, framing. I will tell you honestly what is achievable and quote you a firm price.
- A deposit books your place. Once we have agreed what the painting is, a deposit holds a slot in the studio schedule and covers materials. We settle the amount together when we agree the scope, and it comes off the final price. It can be paid by invoice, by check, or by Venmo or PayPal.
- You approve a sketch. Before any paint goes on the canvas you will see a composition study. One round of changes is included here, and this is the stage to speak up. It is much easier to move someone six inches to the left now than in three months.
- I paint. I will send progress as it goes, so nothing at the end is a surprise.
- The balance is due before delivery.
Important details
On reference photographs. Good reference is what makes a good painting possible, and I will tell you straight if what you have sent will not carry a painting. One thing worth knowing: if a professional photographer took the picture, the copyright is usually theirs rather than yours, and a painting made from it needs their permission. Worth checking before you send it to me.
On changing your mind. Up until I begin the sketch, the deposit comes back in full. Plans change, and I would much rather you tell me early than feel trapped. Once I have started drawing, it is committed: that is studio time held for you, and other work turned away to hold it.
On how I paint. A portrait is an interpretation, not a photograph, and mine looks like mine. There is a great deal of my work on this site, both in the paintings and in the studio journal. Please look properly before you commit. If my hand is not what you are picturing, far better we find that out over email than after a painting exists.
On copyright. You receive the painting and the right to display it, hang it, and photograph it in your home. Copyright in the image stays with me, which means I may show the finished work in a portfolio, on social media and in exhibitions. If your commission is private and you would rather it were not shown, say so early and I will put that in writing.
Get in touch
Email kat.knutsen@gmail.com and tell me what you have in mind.