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Getting Started in the Business of Portrait Painting

Man with a Cat (Henry Sturgis Drinker) Cecilia Beaux National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Comedian Steve Martin once said, "It's easy to be a millionaire. First, get a million dollars."

I would say to you, "It's easy to be a successful commissioned portrait painter. First, paint a thousand portraits. Then paint a thousand more."

Commission portraiture is not a business that can be developed in a matter of weeks or months. It takes years to establish yourself as a commissioned portraitist, and a lifetime to fully realize the excellence in your potential. I do not say this to be the least bit discouraging, but to convey a sense of excitement and optimism because I am confident that with practice, both you and I will continue to become better painters.

In most other careers - whether in fields of retail, hospitality, accounting, or nearly anything else you can think of, forward progress is often marked by pay and title, but not always by the capacity to become continually become better at the work itself.

That being said, we all need to get started somewhere, and this seems to me a fine time to begin.

Having made the decision to become a professional portrait painter, there are a few basics or "bare essentials" to consider to get started in this business of portrait painting. As your business grows, you'll want to begin converting the essentials into "optimals." This article is focused on the essentials.

The 'essentials' - the bare bones -are somewhat simple and quite straightforward.

1. The original portrait sample
2. The presentation of your original work.
3. The photographed original sample.
4. The business card.
5. The price list.
6. Start-up costs.

1. The Original Portrait Sample

You'll need to create at least one sample portrait in each size and in each medium you'll be offering. Your first original samples must be the best portraits you've ever created to date. They need to represent the size and complexity a client can expect by commissioning a comparable portrait. Make a commitment right now to produce work that can be framed in standard size frames. You'll give your clients (and yourself) the option to buy a custom frame, and avoid forcing unnecessary expense on anyone's part.

If you are planning to offer only charcoal or pencil drawings, and aren't comfortable working in color, don't be talked into color. As a matter of fact, don't let yourself be talked into any thing outside your current skill level. Likewise, if your skill is in drawing heads/shoulders, but you struggle dreadfully with hands - offer only heads/shoulders to begin. Work on your area of weakness constantly in the studio or classroom settings - but don't use learning time to experiment on your client's portrait. When you feel your skill in drawing and painting hands is at an acceptable level, then broaden the scope of what you offer. I use hands as an example, but then "practice-on-your-own-time" concept goes for any area of weakness whether fabric, foliage, flowers, furniture, architectural features or any other background supporting visual elements.

When you're ready to offer the half-figure with hands, create an new original sample to depict the size and complexity your clients can expect in commissioning a larger, more complex portrait. Of course, by the time you've painted enough additional portraits in the half-figure with hands size, your heads/shoulders will be much better too. Then you will add to or replace your first original samples with newer, better paintings.

Continue to replace or add to your original samples, one in every size and every medium you will be offering. Vary the samples by age and gender. It's not only difficult to expect a client to look at a charcoal head/shoulders and imagine a full-figure oil portrait, it's unreasonable. As you progress over time, offer as much variety in your portfolio as possible. It's difficult for some clients to look at an adult blond woman's portrait and envision a three-year old redheaded boy.

And, since you've already committed to painting in standard sizes, you can re-use the first frames, provided they are still in suitable condition.

The point is, you don't have to do it all at once. Build your foundation at the pace that works for you, and where you see your skill level. You're only going to get better.

2. The Presentation of your Original Work.

Yes, that means framed. If your original sample requires matting, the mats need to be acid-free, clean and properly cut. You can have framers cut the mats for you, but you can also easily learn to cut your own mats, which will quickly save you a small fortune. I have always cut my own mats with a small hand-held cutter and a ruler backed in cork (prevents slippage) up to a certain size. After about 18" x 24", I'll get a wavy line, so for larger mats, I'll just get them professionally cut. Depending on the scale of your works under glass, you can get a table top mat cutter that will let you cut larger size mats as well.

Use a frame that is simple, of a color and scale that supports the portrait, and is free of scratches or nicks. The frame needs to present your portrait at its best. This does not mean picking up cheap, mismatched frames at garage sales! A frame doesn't need to be expensive in order to look expensive.

3. The Photograph of your Original Portrait

Obviously, you can't carry your framed portraits with you where ever you go, or ship them around the country to show potential clients your work. High quality photographs of your finished work are essential to show your portraits at their best, and will constitute the beginning of your portfolio.

Although I'll address photographing art work in a subsequent article, suffice it to say that your photograph needs to be in focus. It needs to represent color as accurately as possible. It should show the portrait only (with or without frame) - not your assistant's fingertips, shoes, background clutter from your yard or garage, or anything else that you would not see when viewing the portrait. The choice to show the frame with the portrait is a personal one, but I generally recommend against it for a couple of reasons. First, it sets a subconscious limit on the ability of many clients to imagine the portrait in its home (or other) setting. Second, it's very difficult to photograph a framed piece without showing the small shadows cast on the canvas by the frame. Whatever your choice, be consistent.

As your body of work grows, you'll be adding photographs to what is now becoming your portfolio.

4. Your Business Card

Potential clients need to know how to contact you. To begin, you need little more than a white or ivory card with your name and contact information. They're simple and easy to print from you own computer or you to can go your local Staples, Office Max, or other office supply store to have them typed and printed for you.

The font needs to be of a type and size that are easily read.

Full color business cards are readily available, inexpensive and quickly printed from a variety of businesses. Check your art magazines or conduct an internet search to find them. If you plan to have a portrait image printed on your card, always order the color proof. Always.

5. A Price List

I don't mean to be overly simplistic, but you'll need to price your portraits at a level where enough people buy them so that you're covering many walls in your community. But you don't want to price them so low that people begin to think that work that's too cheap can't be good - particularly if the artist devalues its worth. In the beginning your price may not necessarily have any relationship to your cost in producing the portrait. Ultimately, of course, you'll need to understand the nature of your cost of doing business and how to manage it.

To begin with, you'll need a price that is specific to every size and medium you offer. You'll need to determine whether you'll offer a framed or unframed price. If you're just starting out doing unframed pencil head and shoulders, then there will only need to be one price on your list!

You'll need to determine at what point you'll need a business license (state and local) and to begin charging tax. Contact your local tax jurisdiction for information.

6. Start-up Costs

In comparison to nearly every other type of business, the start-up expenses for a portraiture practice are ridiculously low. You don't need retail space, retail inventory, personnel, working capital loans, an advertising budget or any of the other expenses normally associated with new business development. You may choose to add some or all of these elements in the future, but they're not required to start. There is no better sales tool that having happy clients with well-painted portraits on their walls.

None of the things I've mentioned throughout this article are expensive, either in terms of start-up costs or ongoing expenses. The most important equipment you'll need is a good easel and a camera that can produce suitable photo references. If you'll be painting in other than natural light, you need suitable lighting.

In closing…a note on practice:

Teachers routinely stress the importance of practice. They aren't just talking about repetitive acts; they are talking about the concept of "perfect practice."

In math or chemistry, perfect practice means systematically and accurately showing the steps involved in getting an answer. In vocal training, it means vocal exercises and scales that incorporate proper breathing, posture, mouth and tongue positioning - not just hitting the notes in a song.

In portraiture, perfect practice means working with proper tools and under conditions that enable growth, rather than truncating your potential from the start.

Some of the worst culprits:
-poorly lit models in live sittings;
-bad working light;
-inadequate photographic resource material; and
-incomplete or poor quality materials.

What's especially troubling is that each of these roadblocks are within our control to eliminate.

Give yourself the best opportunity to make the first thousand portraits count. Paint from life as often as you can. When you paint from photographs, paint only from suitable resource material. This work of portrait painting is really difficult, and our time is too valuable to waste.

See you next time.

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