Your first commission?

[Katherine Annon]

Thanks to Chris for starting this topic. I'm entering first "serious" commissions territory, and was curious to hear any anecdotes any of you might have. Do you long-time full-time pros remember your first commissions? Do those of you in the same boat as I am right now have any recent experiences you'd like to share?

I imagine there are all sorts of stories out there, funny or moving or crazy-making or sad. And any mixture of the above.

I actually had an out-of-the-way commission about a decade ago. Although I was not a professional artist, a pediatric nurse saw some of my drawings and commissioned me to draw a posthumous portrait of a four-year-old girl who had succumbed to cancer a short time before. It was to be a gift for the child's mother, who had moved from the state in a fit of grief.

The nurse supplied me with a photo. She then tentatively asked if I could add angel wings. And hair.

If I do become a successful portrait artist, I can't forsee laboring over any commission as hard as I did that one. Angel wings are not at all my cup of tea; sentimentality usually leaves me a little cold. But I'll never forget that little girl's eyes.