The most common thing I hear from people who have been thinking about commissioning a painting is some version of this: “I did not know I was allowed to do that.”

They have admired original art for years. They have a wall that has been waiting for the right piece. They know exactly how they want a room to feel. But somewhere along the way they got the idea that commissions were for corporations, or for people with unlimited budgets, or for collectors who already knew the art world from the inside.

None of that is true. And I want to tell you what commissioning a painting actually looks like — at least the way I do it — so that if you have been sitting on the idea, you can stop sitting on it.

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