Commissioned artwork – the artistic challenge
The artworks I create for a specific occasion (anniversary, new home, birthday, wedding etc.) or for a specific premise (home or office), as requested by a client, I call commissions.
Let me make two very important clarifications – in my practice painting commissions are not portraits of real people made from reference photo (I explicitly don’t do such things), and they are also not copies of other paintings, mine or anyone else’s (if you want a copy of a particular painting of mine – you can always order a Limited Edition Print).
Over the years I have various cases of commissioned artworks – sometimes the interior design gravitated around a larger painting, that is the focus point and acts as a central piece in the interior. Sometimes the commission may concern a few paintings for the same room, and sometimes they even might be for different rooms.
Regardless, for me all commissions are an artistic challenge in the best meaning of the word, they challenge me to look through the eyes of the client, creating something beautiful and unique especially for them, and the thrill, whether the client will approve the project, persists til the end, til the client sees the finished artwork.
Here is a selection of a few examples of commissioned artworks, but keep in mind the paintings always look smaller in the photos then they actually feel in reality.
Commission of a figurative painting:
The client wanted me to create an oil painting for the shared living room and dining area in her new home. She really liked my the painting “Dreamed”, and we took that as a starting point, then discussed colour and design changes. We also took into account the interior project and part of its colour scheme. The size of the painting was determined by the particular location that we knew in advance, and the other elements around it. We chose the black floating frame so that it corresponds with the dark elements in the interior.
Realization: 2023 – 2024. You can learn more about the order in the article “Creating the commission artwork “Paint me Love”.
Two Flamenco series paintings commission:
A client of mine has bought an original painting from me, one of my flamenco series, and then commissioned me to create two more paintings in the same style (and series) and in the same size, which would be arranged as a triplet, serving as the artistic accent in the living room in her new home on Oborishte Str. in Sofia.
It was important for the client that the poses in all three paintings are a continuation to one another, but we decided to go with different colour pallets, so that every painting to have a different feeling.
This project is still in process. I will share photos from the interior as soon as it is finished.
The paintings have been done in the period: 2020 – 2021
Art commission for a birthday:
An oil painting for the sister of a client of mine. In this unusual (but beautiful) case I had the full creative freedom to choose the subject, the size and the framing, since the client requested to be surprised by the finished painting.
Although, as always, I created a small study project to visualise the idea, this time it was purely for my own reference of the design and the colours.
Realised in 2021
Landscape with abstract feel commission:
A large oil canvas from the seascapes series with a little bit more abstract feel, intended a coloured wall in a large combined premise, consisting of a living room, dinning room and kitchen. Since the interior needed some more warm colours, we decided to go with a caramel pallet. And since the windows in the room look towards another near building (i.e. there is not much of a view), the idea of the subject was to act as a “window” with a restful and dreamy influence.
The project was realised in 2020
Four paintings for an office commission:
Creating four oil paintings for an office in Unicredit Bulbank’s central Sofia building on St. Nedelia 3 square. Three of the paintings are part of the flamenco series and one is from the Mediterranean series.
The project was realised in 2015.
Two soft pastel paintings for book covers:
Creating a few commissioned paintings to be used as cover artworks for two poetry books: “South Blood” and “The fire of Love” with the beautiful poems of Dr. Jordanka Gospodinova.
For the cover of “South Blood” I specifically painted the painting with the same name – “South Blood” as well as two others – “A Vine” and “Raised by the Wind”.
For the cover of “The Fire of Love” I painted two artworks – “Bewitching” and “The Embrace”. All of the paintings were inspired by specific poems of Jordanka Gospodinova, and all originals are her property.
