Commissions, Requests, and Collaborations Part 2: Requests
We've talked about commissions. So lets talk about requests. (This is the second installment the first can be found on the side bar.) The thing about a "request" is that it is often confused in both the the mind of the customer and the artist with a commission but there is a BIG difference. As seen in part 1 of these posts, a Commission is where the costumer has an exact idea of what they want and they want it made to their specifications. They want it to look "like" something they either already have or some image they have in their head and they want the artist to be the vessel that will bring it into being. This leaves the artist without much (if any) say in the final product. With a "request" the costumer comes to you with a general desire: a dinner set, wedding favors, Christmas gifts, but they want it made in your style. They have seen (and probably bought) your work before and want more of your work but it needs to fulfill certain requirements.
I have fulfilled several requests for both ceramics and paintings (though at the time I called them commissions). One of these was for my cousin, Emily (mentioned in part 1). A few years ago my cousin and her fiance, bought a house together. In this houses was a large empty wall which she showed me; we agreed that it just called for some monumental paintings. A few months later she called me and asked if I would paint her four abstract paintings inspired by the four elements -- earth, water, air, and fire -- to fill that space on her wall.
I had to take time to consider this "request" as I had never willingly painted abstract paintings. (I had been required in art school to experiment in the abstract). Still that big empty wall called to be filled and I couldn't resist the call, so I accepted. I went straight to work searching for inspirational pictures and sketching ideas. I built and stretched four 4x5 canvases and set them up on my easel. I assumed that here the real work would begin.
I would be lying if I said I didn't struggle at times, but oddly my struggle was not as I'd expected with being abstractly inspired, but as with all my paintings the problem was getting the image in my head translated to canvas. It was a gargantuan effort and "air" has gone down in my personal history as one of the most frustrating works I have produced, but once completed
"The Four Elements" was beautiful and a satisfactions to both the artist (myself) and my patron. While painting them had still been more "work" than my average painting (and not just because they were so large, but because I was so far out of my comfort zone) and I never would have chosen that particular style or subject matter on my own, Emily had wanted my interpretation of the four elements abstracted. She wanted art by Deborah Lewitt, not "Emily's idea of the four elements as painted by Deborah Lewitt."
A relationship is key to the difference between a commission and a request. I have know my cousin, Emily, my entire life; this made it fairly easy to take her request and enjoy success. However, I believe a leisurely conversation over coffee, or a long chat over your table at a craft fair, can be sufficient to make the decision about whether or not you can work with (not for) any particular person.
A request means the buyer wants your artistic voice. So if you are going to accept their request, what they ask for must also inspire you, or it will become a joyless "job" and neither you nor your patron should want that. One of my earliest "requests" (disguised as a commission) came from Emily's fiance; he wanted to give her a vase and requested that I make it. He said he wanted it to be tall enough to fit the long stem roses that he wanted to be put in it (apparently all their vases were too short, they had to cut roses to make them fit in the vases they already owned). He added that he knew that I knew what she had liked and bought from me, and so he felt comfortable setting me free to make a vase
designed specifically for Emily. I could be as creative as my heart desired.
The truly wonderful thing about requests is that it can so easily slip into collaboration. Your patron comes to you, with something more like inspiration, rather than a list of requirements.
Working with someone is so much better than working for someone, and sometimes even better than working for just yourself.
Stay inspired my friends... till next time when we'll talk about collaborations.
