I just received the original art for a commission from Petar Meseldžija titled “Unk!” Needless to say, I’m a satisfied customer. I laughed for quite some time when I first saw the piece. Petar told me he experimented with this drawing in using more tones than he normally has in the past. I love what he did.
My only direction to Petar was the elements I wanted in the piece. I asked for a tree (he does amazing trees), a giant, noble hero type and a woman. As far as the composition and direction I gave him no feedback. I’m not an artist, so why limit him with my imagination.
I’ve seen people give artists lengthy instructions and even stick figure sketches showing what they want for a commission. I would never do this. To me, when you commission and artist to do a drawing or painting you are not only getting an artists original work, but their creativity and imagination. I do everything possible to keep myself out of it. I’ve heard the argument that if you are going to pay money for a personal commission (and at times this can be a substantial amount) that they want to get exactly what they want. I understand this, but it isn’t my style. Outside of the subject matter, I don’t want exactly what I want, I want exactly what the artist envisions. (Art for publication is a different matter, as there are certain factors and goals in mind that an art director will want met. That’s another topic.)
Another thing is I want to make sure the subject matter is something the artist will get excited about, pushing them to do their best work, with creative freedom.
Petar has posted some notes, the initial sketch and big views of the art on his latest blog, which you can read here.
Thanks to Petar for doing this beautiful drawing for me! Oh, and by the way, Petar is taking on commissions. You can contact at petarmeseldzija@planet.nl for inquiries and pricing.
Enjoy!
John
John Fleskes
Flesk Publications