The Artist's Journey - An Introduction
Insights into my creative process that connects humanity with nature.
The Artist's Journey: Crafting Your Custom Commission
An Introduction:
Hello and welcome! I'm Manassés, a former lawyer and business professional from Brazil who has found my true passion in fine art painting here in the UK. I love creating whimsical, beautiful scenes, where friendly characters are infused with layers of meaning and symbolism.
Over the years I have developed a special process that very few artists offer: collaborative custom commissions.
My custom commissions are entirely original pieces of art that you help to create, with vibrant characters and scenes tailored to be deeply meaningful to you. The result is a special, joyful-yet-deep artwork reflecting your experiences, core values, and dreams brought to life through the lens of my artistic expression. (Discovery Interview Form Here)
While you will receive the original physical artwork in your home, I professionally photograph the painting and offer prints for sale to a wider audience. It is especial approach to tell your story on canvas in a way that deeply reflects your truth, whereas the creation of fine art prints allows your unique narrative to reach and inspire thousands of others while also supporting my work as a full-time artist.
Together in this blog, we will explore the process I developed to turn our shared ideas into reality. I will answer the main questions most people wonder about when they look at my art. I will reveal the making of some of my most popular artworks and my clients’ stories (with their permission). From inspiration to final creation, each blog article will be a dive into one of the steps of bringing my collaborative custom commission process to life. I hope they will inspire you to reach out, connect, and join me on the journey.
Below is a summary of the six steps that make up my personalised commission process.
Step One: Discovering Your Uniqueness
After completing a simple online form, our journey begins with a relaxed conversation, where I listen to some of your life experiences, personality, and aspirations. Through this heartfelt dialogue, we uncover the essence of your story. We draw inspiration from the rich landscape of your life, and use it to create a powerful narrative. In these chapters of my blog, I will go through some of my conversations with my clients, covering how themes for an artwork naturally arise as we get to know each other on a more personal level.
Step Two: Crafting The Vision
Using notes from our conversation as my guide, I take some time to digest them and dream up a concept designed to speak to your most genuine self. I then share a written description of the initial concept, blending my passion for nature, wisdom, and storytelling. I aim to transform abstract ideas into visual concepts that pulsate with life and meaning. The concept will include and transcend your life experiences, reflecting positive universal messages. You will review the written concept, which is open for suggestions and tweaks before we jump into the next step. In these chapters, I will share my thought process and how design ideas come to me.
At this point, we decide on the size and price of the custom commission, and I request a 50% deposit to proceed.
Step Three: Line work and Composition
Once we have a solid concept, I start drafting the artwork in my unique style, incorporating the main elements in a line drawing. The goal is to give us a glimpse of what the completed artwork will look like on canvas. This sketch will be loose and with minimal details, allowing the artwork and characters to develop naturally on canvas. It’s a soft guide, not a hard constraint. We can discuss edits, such as adding some elements and removing others. The goal is to get both client and artist excited about seeing this sketch come to life in full colour. In these posts, I will share my composition considerations and how I try to make them clear, and focused on the main concept with a touch of whimsy and fun.
Step Four: Bringing Our Vision to Life
With a strong sketch, we embark on the journey of creation. This is when I allow myself to be fully immersed in my craft, translating ideas into reality with brushes and colours. With care and precision, I refine our masterpiece, infusing it with depth, emotion, and vibrant energy. In these chapters, I share some of the mental obstacles and design challenges I face, and the reasons behind the substantial changes we may need to make to a piece along the way.
Step Five: Capturing the Essence of Your Story
As the project approaches its completion, you will review our collaboration to make sure you love the final artwork. I add final touches and varnishing the canvas to protect the painting. The artwork is photographed professionally, to be transformed into fine art prints, which will be available online, to inspire a wider audience. Finally, I write a custom short story for the artwork which will encapsulate the concept and be included in the delivery of the painting with a certificate of authenticity. In these chapters, I will cover how I prepare the artwork to be shipped to its forever home.
When you are fully satisfied with the final piece, you would pay the remaining 50% of the commission price before it is shipped to you.
Step Six: Confirming Your Satisfaction
At the heart of our journey lies your satisfaction, the key to the success of our collaboration. With each step of the process, I am committed to ensuring that our vision is realized with precision and care, exceeding your expectations, and leaving you with a masterpiece that speaks to your soul and that will be treasured for years to come. In these chapters, I will share more about how the artwork was received, some words from my clients, and how the artwork is settling in (spoiler alert: we have no bad reviews as of yet). I will also explore common questions about pricing, clients who may be intimidated by the process, and those worried about me sharing their personal details with the world. All legitimate questions, which we try to minimise and eliminate as much as possible.
Interested in learning more about a custom commission?
If this post has piqued your curiosity in exploring a custom commission art journey with me, please fill out the initial interest form here. I’d love to hear from you.
You can find a sample of some of my past custom commissions below.
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Don't forget to subscribe to receive new posts in your inbox. You can expect them every Wednesday initially, then twice a week. Can you think of one or two friends who might also be interested in learning about my creative process and who may enjoy my visual narratives? Please share this article with them too. I truly appreciate your support!
Sending you love and light, and wishing you a wonderful day!
Manassés
