2007-01-14 Chris and Vicky

2007-01-14 Chris and Vicky, originally uploaded by royblumenthal.

Chris came across my photostream some time ago, and asked me if I do commissions. At that point, I did them, but for free. So I said, 'Sure! Email me some source pics, and I'll see what I can do.'

So he emailed me some pics, and they weren't really what I required. And he said he'd mail me some more. And I said I'd look at his photostream, and somehow it turned into a stalemate.

Then I actually WENT to his photostream, and found several dazzling pics of Vicky. But not too many dazzling ones of him. And then I came across one showing them having a picnic.

It's a terrrrrrrible picture to work from, cos their faces and bodies are half-in, half-out of light. The trees are casting dappled shadows over them. So it's reallllly tough to get any sort of detail out of it.

So I used it as a basic placement reference, and used some of the other pics of them to estimate the details. I THINK I've captured Chris quite nicely. And I've got Vicky's basic facial structure. But I'm not entirely certain she'll be flattered by my depiction of her. (Vicky... I apologise in advance!!!)

Hold thumbs with me! Heheheheehe! Cos I'm sending this to them tonight.

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Over the Christmas holidays, and in particular, while I was sick with stomach flu, I pondered this whole issue of payment for my artworks.

As you possibly know, I'm a firm supporter of the Creative Commons movement. And almost all of my recent pics are online on my Flickr gallery at very high resolution. Big enough for them to be printed out on A2 paper with NO loss of sharpness.

So here's what I've come up with.

If anyone asks me to do them a portrait, I'll happily do so. I'll treat it as if it were a paying job. Which means I'll crack it within a week of 'being commissioned'. (I apologise for taking so long with this one, Chris and Vicky.)

What the person will get for free is the high resolution image. They can then make prints of it, put it on t-shirts, mugs, bedroom ceilings, whatever. That's their business.

And here's how I can possibly make a little income from doing the stuff I love...

I will happily make A2 prints on acid-free art paper, using archival quality inks, and sign the print. This will be part of a limited edition. I'm not certain how many prints I'll limit each edition to, but I'm thinking 50 prints on art paper, and that's the end of the edition.

The person who'll do my printing is Dennis da Silva at Silvertone Fine Art Photography Printing. HIs international artist clients include an acquaintance of mine, the extraordinary photographer, Roger Ballen.

I'm thinking of pricing my prints at around R1 500 per print plus shipping, in an edition limited to 50 art prints. That's approximately US$215, GB£110, EURO170.

How does that sound? Please leave comments, and let's start a conversation on this. I'd love to know if this sounds realistic to you. Or if it's complete lunacy. The market must speak to me!! Heheheheeh.

This painting was made in ArtRage 2.2 on my beloved Toshiba Tecra M4 tablet pc, over many days, in different coffee shops all over Johannesburg.