Taking commissions from a distance / posting artwork

I'll come back to this later, time for bed now and - one needs one's beauty sleep. Just one thing occurs to me at this stage, though, and that is to get the money in the bank before you send anything, however you choose to send it. And if your customers send you more money than you've asked for "in error", and ask for the balance back - be deeply suspicious, because that's been tried before: you send the balance, and the original cheque from them bounces, meaning that you've fallen for a well-known scam. Your customers may be perfectly genuine, but beware.

Hi Lucy - You may be feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment because you have only just set up your other business and the art which I take it is your hobby. Perhaps you may feel you are not quite ready for this challenge - and that is fine because you have to be sure of how you want all this to go, and not be swept away. Robert's advice is sound and you have to be really careful, even if you know the clients. However, don't let that put you off. Take a breath, sit down and work it all out and use all the advice you can get here.

To return ... sometimes people who commission paintings are very exact in what they want, some are extremely vague and "I'll leave it to you"; the ones who genuinely WILL "leave it to you" are the ideal; those who said they'll leave it to you and then come back with endless quibbles are a pain in the teeth and run the risk, so far as I'm concerned, of having the canvas rammed over their heads. A sadly late friend of mine was known for his broad, impressionistic landscapes, painted one on commission, and was then asked to add a bit of detail - well he did, but all the pleasure had gone out of it for him and he felt he'd compromised his painting. I hope he stung the client for as much money as he could... You can obviate this to some extent by sending your client progress reports - photographs of the painting in its various stages. They won't necessarily like the early ones - most of us working in opaque paint reach a stage where the picture looks pretty horrible - but they'll be able to see how it's coming along; and if they must make suggestions (which can occasionally be helpful) this is the time to make them: not when the thing is framed and perhaps varnished. What you need to know is: the medium required; the size; whether framed or unframed; the nature of the support required - and you need to let them know the technical things they can't be expected to know, eg that a stretched canvas might not be the best support for an oil painting; that if it is an oil, they'll have to wait for it to dry before it's shipped, and you - or someone else competent - will need to varnish it for them after 8 months to a year, and make a note on the back of what you've used. You can write a succinct list of bullet points on the back of your invoice or receipt. Always keep records of sales for taxation purposes - even if you're not earning enough to pay tax, it's still a good idea to keep a written and photographic record. Get a deposit upfront and while you can accept payment in instalments, still don't send the work too soon - for instance, if you've agreed three instalments, send the painting on receipt of the second. Until you get to know the client of course, and a relationship of trust exists. And do be very careful of emails that arrive out of the blue referring to having seen your paintings and would just love to have one ... what painting did they see? Where did they see it? Did they want a specific one? Once you start asking these innocent questions, the fraudster element tends to realize it's been rumbled, and creeps away. It's a pity you have to think about this sort of thing, but that's the world we live in. They find our names on sites like this, but having no interest in the art, just in the money, they're rarely able to answer specific questions. Finally, be honest with yourself about your own abilities: genuine inquirers will have a good idea of what you can do and shouldn't ask you for paintings of, say, racing cars if you're known for painting portraits (but some will). If you receive an inquiry like that, and you know in your heart of hearts you can't make a good job of it, you're only going to give yourself hours of misery if you accept the commission - sometimes you can surprise yourself: have a go at a few small studies first, to see if you do after all have the ability to paint the Palace of Versailles even though you've never tried anything more complex than a distant cottage in a landscape before. But there's no shame in saying this isn't your subject - you're not experienced in that line of work and a potential customer might be better advised to try elsewhere. Even recommend someone else, if you can - it all helps build up relationships, with potential customers and other artists. (Suggest me, for instance! The only things I won't paint are giant spiders, because they give me the willies.....)

Oh and PS - posting oil paintings: be very careful with Retouch Varnish and preferably avoid it. I knew someone who wrapped his paintings in newspaper, having applied a temporary varnish - he got newsprint stuck all over them: ruined the lot and wrecked his planned exhibition.

Excellent that you intend to use paypal Lucy - I was discussing your situation with my beloved at breakfast and the first thing he said was "tell her to use paypal"!

Don't worry at all Lucy - my "beloved" also puts his paintings on the gallery although he does not contribute to the forum. Hearing the views of one Elgood is enough for the forum - take my word for it.

It's under Charles Elgood - he uses coloured pencils.

Thank you very much Syd - I shall pass your comment on to him.

Don't forget to write in your agreement with your clients, that they do not own the copyright to work, even though they will own the original painting.