Head over to the Contact page and submit a commission contact form, which gives me an indication of the subject matter, size, etc of the commission. Alternatively you can email me on lucymilliganart@gmail.com.

I will get back to you with availability and request that you send me the photo(s) that you would like painting. The higher quality the better.

We will discuss the details of the painting via email and I will provide you with a quote.

Upon agreement of the commission, a 50% up front payment will be required before I start the painting.

I will complete the painting over the following weeks, and send you a photo when I have finished the painting to make sure you are happy with it. I am happy to make a couple of minor tweeks if required. The remaining 50% will be payable upon completion of the painting.

The painting will then need a few weeks to months to dry. I will contact you again when I plan to post/deliver the painting.

From start to finish, it may take up to 3 months to complete and receive your oil painting. This is due to the long drying times of the oil paint and the amount of time it takes to paint the piece. However, I will aim to complete it in a shorter turnaround if availability / drying times allow.

Yes! This is an integral part of my painting process and the higher quality photo I have to work from, the better. Ideally these should be in good, natural lighting.

Unfortunately, unless they are small changes, I am unable to 'make up' significant additional details from my imagination.

This isn't a problem. You can send a few photos and I can recommend which I think would work best as a painting, with a few examples of how it could be cropped.

Yes, in certain circumstances. However, it can become tricky when combining different elements from different photographs as the painting will not 'work' or 'look right' if the lighting is different in each photo. I therefore prefer to work primarily from one image.

If you would like multiple portraits but do not have a photo of everyone together, I would recommend commissioning multiple paintings that can be hung next to each other.

If you are commissioning multiple paintings together (for example in the above scenario), a 10% discount is available.

I use high quality artists oil paint in a variety of brands. All are lightfast and permanent, meaning they will last many decades and hopefully into future generations.

As standard I use premium gallery wrapped canvases (linen or cotton depending on availability), with the edges painted as a continuation of the image. These are ready to hang on the wall. I am also happy to work on other surface if required, such as cradled wooden panel or oil painting paper.

No. Due to personal preferences, I do not frame the paintings. However, they are on stretched canvas which do not require a frame and are ready for hanging.

Yes, however there will be an extra charge for postage outside the UK. This will be included in the quote.

Although oil paints, materials and underlying business expenses are costly, the main thing you are paying for is the artists time. It takes many hours to liaise, plan, paint and package a realistic oil painting commission. Every artist is different, but for me this starts from around 10 hrs for a simple, smaller painting to upwards of 40 hrs for a larger or more complex painting. You're not only paying for the artists time and materials, but also years of experience and many thousands of hours of practice.

Yes! If you have a landscape that is special to you, love certain flowers or want a one of a kind water piece, then I am happy to turn these into beautiful paintings for you.

Realistic oil paintings are larger, painted on canvas and look/feel more luxurious. They take longer to complete as more of the details are painted, and are therefore more expensive.

Stylised acrylic paintings are smaller, painted on heavy weight paper and more affordable. However, they are still beautiful and perfect for framing.

This depends on the subject of the commission.

In general, the background will be blurry on portrait commissions, in a similar colour to the original background on the photo. This is so that the background does not detract from the portrait.

However, if the background is an integral or important part of the piece and required for context, then it will be painted in more detail.