COMMISSIONED ARTWORK
*NOTICE: the form submission button below is currently broken. I have contacted customer service to help fix this issue. Until then, you are welcome to submit a commission request via email to a.valley.b@gmail.com. Please write “COMMISSION” in the subject line and include all of the information requested on this form. Thank you!
Please read the following guide to my Commissioned Artwork Proposal form. Instead of setting flat rates for an established set of mediums and formats, or setting an hourly rate as I have in the past for commissioned work & tattoos, pricing for commissioned artwork will be negotiable based upon your tier on my sliding scale and the complexity of the artwork you desire. I am flexible with pricing during this uncertain time; I have made and sold artwork at a diverse range of prices and don’t want to set limits on what I can and will do at this time. If you have any questions or wish to discuss more flexible pricing, please note them in the “Description” field of this form.
Projects I select will be determined by availability of supplies at my disposal in quarantine, quality/number of reference photos (for portraiture purposes only), and how many other projects are on my schedule. If I cannot complete your project in the next 2-3 weeks, I will put your project on a waiting list in case I am unable to return to work in April, and will contact you then if I still have time for your project. For timely updates, please follow & subscribe to my Instagram account @v_a_l_l_e_y . Scroll down to the bottom of this page to read more about my experience and history making art, and why I am opening commissions at this particular time.
PRICING
SUBJECT MATTER
I am interested in a wide variety of subjects! Pet portraiture, all animals & plants, Audubon-inspired bird artwork, human portraiture, playing card/game illustration, botanical illustration, medieval, esoteric, and alchemical art inspired drawings, posters/flyers, illustrative merch graphics, album art, fursona/badge portraits, original character art & designs, landscapes, comics, architectural drawings. I’m open to anything, try me!
SINGLE SUBJECT: A single subject, with no background or additional content. No additional cost. See formats and medium to estimate the the cost of your artwork.
ADDITIONAL SUBJECTS: I will increase the cost of your artwork dependent upon the complexity of your piece (with consideration of your placement on my sliding scale). Additional subject matter means, for example, not just a portrait of your dog (1 subject), but your dog and your cat (2 subjects), or your dog and your favorite flowers and a background (3 subjects).
AVAILABLE MEDIUMS
FULL COLOR
Watercolor & gouache painting: $150-500
Colored pencil drawing: $75-250
BLACK & WHITE
India ink painting: $75-200
Pen & ink drawing: $50-200
Graphite/pencil drawing: $30-75
Loose sketch (~15 minute sketches that have not been refined enough to be considered finished drawings): no additional cost for work on paper, $10 flat for digital files
AVAILABLE FORMATS
DIGITAL- I can create a high resolution digital file using Procreate for you to print at your own local digital printing resource. Procreate is a digital painting & drawing app that enables me to mimic any analog medium listed above. Some examples of fine art print resources in Portland, OR are Pushdot Studios and Pearl Printing, although you can find similar resources online as well. You will receive a 300 dpi file in both TIFF & PNG formats, best for printing, as well as a 300 dpi JPEG for internet sharing.
FULL COLOR DIGITAL: + $10
BLACK & WHITE DIGITAL: no extra cost
WORK ON PAPER- I can create works on paper in a variety of mediums listed below. All works will be on archival-quality Bristol or watercolor paper and be shipped to you unframed.
WORK ON PAPER: + $15-25 dependent upon size/shipping
SLIDING SCALE TIERS
It is important for me to always offer sliding scale payment options, no matter the medium of the artwork. Although I am not using an hourly rate for commissioned artwork, please reflect on what you can afford to spend to support me and review my “SLIDING SCALE POLICY” (linked on my “Booking” page). Available for commissions are three payment tiers. Consider these tiers a loose structure to guide your thought process regarding purchasing original artwork. These tiers will not determine the quality of the artwork you receive, but will help me to determine appropriate sizing, details, and pricing for your work based upon your submitted proposal.
TIER 3: Your income and financial stability has not been impacted significantly by the Covid-19 pandemic. You are able-bodied and are able to financially support yourself and your community during this time, and would like to compensate me for my work at a rate that enables me to support myself and my community. At this tier, you will be paying at the top of my sliding scale because you are able and willing to support me during this time where I am indefinitely unable to work in my full-time profession, and want to help me regain financial security.
TIER 2: You are able and willing to purchase my artwork at a standard rate for original art.
TIER 1: Your health, income, and/or financial stability has been impacted, or is likely to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone who is not able-bodied, or identifies at BIPOC is encouraged to propose at this tier, but this tier is not exclusive to individuals who identify as such. You want to purchase artwork during this time but cannot afford to pay me my standard rate due to COVID-19 or other systemic factors affecting privilege.
*ARTWORK COMMISSION PROPOSAL FORM
CAN I GET A TATTOO OF THIS ARTWORK?
These commissions are for fine art/fine art digital files ONLY- *not* designs to be tattooed by myself or any other artist. However, if you’d like to add a $100 deposit to your commission payment to secure an appointment with me to tattoo a design based upon the commissioned art, I will consider this! Please mark on the form if this is something you may be interested in, and we can discuss scheduling possibilities in the late spring or summer to determine if you can add a tattoo deposit along with your artwork payment. I only work in black ink, no color, so please consider that some adjustments will have to be made when translating your artwork into a readable tattoo design.
PAYMENT
When I receive this form, I will email you letting you know your official quote for the artwork, as well as your position on my commission schedule so you can anticipate a delivery date. I am self-quarantining for 2 weeks as of March 17th, 2020, so may not be going to the post office until then.
Once you’ve received this follow-up email, please respond with as many reference photos as you’d like. Reference photos inform my work, and help me to ensure that I am making artwork you will love. This is especially important for portraits; I can only accept proposals for portraiture with sufficient reference photos. Once I’ve received and reviewed your photos, I will send you a link to my PayPal to make your payment. I will begin work on your commissioned art once I receive your payment in full. I cannot refund this payment if you are unhappy with the artwork. I hope that your interest in my artwork implies that you trust me to make a beautiful piece of art for you following the description and references you’ve provided me!
Examples of past commissioned or sold artwork in a variety of formats and mediums. Work here spans from 2009-2019, in no particular order.
Click the image to see the full size. Unfortunately, my full online art portfolio website was on a different server and is no longer online. Much of my past commissioned work is difficult for me to find right now, existing primarily on a damaged hard drive. Here’s what I could find!
Recent examples of pet & animal portraiture. Although the following images are mostly tattoos, these works demonstrate my drawing style and reflect my more recent work in pet portraiture.
I can create pet portraits in a variety of styles, from realism, to highly-stylized with an emphasis on pattern and line-based mark-making, or in styles reflective of art historical illustration movements. I can make portraits detailed or simplified, color or black and white.
Who I am and why I am opening commissions right now:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I am unable to work in my full-time profession for an indefinite period of time. I hope to be back to work in two weeks, but many tattooers are suspending work until May 1st. Because new information is unfolding each day and I cannot predict what the recommended public health practices will be in two weeks, I cannot guarantee myself that I will be able to return to business as usual any time soon, and may have to begin rescheduling and refunding more appointments. The uncertainty of this prospect is unnerving (to say the least) not just for me, but for so many others in my community and beyond. I appreciate your interest in supporting me during this time.
Tattooing is my full-time career path, and my destiny as an artist. I am so lucky to have found my niche in this industry, worked hard, and been able to support myself as a self-employed, full-time creative professional the last several years. I have invested so much in my business and my practice that I don’t have much to show for fine art over the past few years. I have been tattooing since 2013, and working as a licensed Oregon tattoo artist since 2017. Before that, from 2007, I was a part-time fine artist & illustrator (& a full-time service industry worker, of course), working in a variety of mediums from painting & drawing, to printmaking & sculpture. I received a BFA with honors from the Maryland Institute College of Art as a Painting major, and have exhibited work in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, DC, Oakland, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis. I am well-versed in contracted commission-based art & design, including book illustration, band merchandise & product design (t-shirts, album art, poster design), pet portraiture, illustrative logos, tarot card design/illustration, app-based digital illustration, game design, and portraiture. Although I have taken a break from fine art to focus on my full-time career the last several years, my time as a professional tattoo artist has only honed my technical drawing, art consultation, and creative problem-solving skills, and refined my personal artistic style.
I have opened up artwork commissions as a way to cover my list of monthly bills, including rent for Constellation Tattoo Collective, my taxes, as well as housing & food costs for myself, my partner, and our pets. As of this time (March 18, 2020), I am unable to fully support myself as I have done before the pandemic. I hope that by radically transforming my art practice from tattooing back to fine art, I am able to not only make ends meet to support myself, but to regain a semblance of financial security so that I can continue to financially support my community.