Green Artist

Some artists will never accept a commission to create a piece of art for a particular person or purpose. They feel that it violates their artistic integrity and places them in a straitjacket, strangling their creativity and freedom of expression. These artists create their art because this is the way they express themselves and not because they’re going to receive money for having completed it in a particular way.

While many artists will be able to see this point of view, most of them probably prefer to find a balance between self-expression and monetary income, especially where we are relying on selling paintings in order to cover the costs of expensive materials and more besides.

On the other side of the coin, an artist can feel quite flattered to think that someone likes their artwork enough to be happy to commission a special piece from them; and it can be nice to know at the outset that this is one piece of artwork you know you will be able to sell. Accepting a commission can put presure on you though, because working to commission is one time when you don’t get to choose how the work will look, in effect you are producing the artwork for somebody else instead of for yourself.