What Is an Art Commission? How Commissioned Art Actually Works

An art commission is a piece of artwork someone hires an artist to make. The client asks for a particular subject at a particular size, the artist names a price, and the painting gets made for that one buyer. What makes it different from every other kind of art sale is the order of events: the money conversation happens before the painting exists.

That single fact shapes everything else about how commissions work. The buyer is trusting a description and a portfolio rather than a finished canvas they can stand in front of. The artist is committing to deliver something they haven’t made yet, at a price they named before knowing how hard it would be. Both sides are taking on a little risk, which is exactly why commissions run on deposits, written agreements, and progress updates instead of handshakes.

What is an art commission?

A commission is custom artwork, made to order, for an agreed price. The word gets used two ways in the art world, and they’re worth separating. When a collector commissions a portrait of their grandmother, they’re the one hiring. When a gallery takes a commission on a sale, that’s a percentage cut of the sale price. Same word, different transaction. This guide is about the first one.

Commissioned work is how a great deal of art got made for most of history. Altarpieces, royal portraits, and murals in public buildings existed because a patron asked for them and paid for them, under arrangements that would look familiar to any artist taking commissions now: a client, a subject, agreed terms, and a deadline. The scale has changed and the patrons look different. The structure hasn’t moved much.

How do art commissions work?

Most commissions move through the same six stages, whether the piece is a small pet portrait or a large abstract for a lobby.

1. The inquiry. A client reaches out describing roughly what they want. These first messages are usually vague, and that’s normal.
2. The conversation. The artist asks the questions that turn a vague idea into a specific brief: what size, what room, what colors are already in that room, what’s the deadline, and what drew them to this artist’s work in particular.
3. The quote. The artist names a price and a timeline. Nothing gets scheduled until both are accepted.
4. The deposit. Somewhere between a third and half of the total is paid before any paint is opened. The deposit covers materials and protects the artist if the client disappears.
5. The work and the updates. The artist paints, sending a progress photo at one or two agreed points. Updates at the sketch or underpainting stage are useful because changes are still cheap then.
6. Approval, final payment, delivery. The client sees the finished piece, pays the balance, and the work ships or gets hand delivered.

If you want the full walkthrough of setting this up as a working process, including how to write the inquiry questions and handle revision requests, that lives in the step-by-step guide to setting up art commissions.

What kinds of art get commissioned?

Portraits are the most commissioned category by a wide margin: people, pets, houses, and increasingly wedding scenes painted live at the reception. Beyond portraits, the common requests are large abstract pieces sized to a specific wall, landscapes of a place that matters to someone, and murals for homes and businesses.

The pattern underneath all of it is personal significance. People commission art when the thing they want doesn’t exist anywhere else. Nobody can buy a painting of their grandmother’s farmhouse off a gallery wall. That’s the whole reason the commission market exists, and it’s why commissions tend to be emotionally loaded in a way that ordinary sales aren’t. The client is rarely just buying a painting. They’re buying a record of something.

How much does a commissioned piece cost?

Commissioned work generally costs more than a comparable finished painting from the same artist, and the reason is time that never touches the canvas. Emails, calls, reference photos, revision rounds, and the risk of a client who changes their mind at the halfway point all cost the artist hours.

Most artists build a commission price from their normal rate for a finished piece, then add for that overhead. If an artist prices finished work using the square-inch method, that number becomes the floor rather than the answer. Pricing commissions well is a genuinely different calculation from pricing a painting you made for yourself, and it has its own guide: how to price art commissions. For pricing finished, already-made work, the step-by-step painting pricing formula covers the square-inch math and how to position yourself in a market.

Buyers should expect to pay a deposit up front. An artist asking for money before starting isn’t being difficult. They’re following the standard practice that keeps custom work viable.

What does each side actually owe?

The artist owes clarity, communication, and the piece they described. That means answering messages within a reasonable window, sending progress images at the agreed points, hitting the deadline or flagging a delay early, and delivering work at the quality level the portfolio promised.

The client owes decisions and payment. Vague answers early become expensive changes late, so a client who says “something blue, you choose” and then rejects the blue at the end has created a problem that better answers would have prevented. Clients also owe respect for the artist’s process: a commission is a collaboration with a specialist, not a set of instructions handed to a technician.

Both owe each other a written agreement. A one-page document covering subject, size, medium, price, deposit, revision count, delivery date, and reproduction rights resolves nearly every dispute before it starts. There’s a ready-made art commission contract template if you’d rather not draft one from scratch.

Why do artists take commissions, and when should they say no?

Commissions offer something most art sales don’t: money that arrives before the work is finished, and a buyer who is already committed. For an artist building a career, that reliability matters. Commission clients also tend to become repeat collectors, because someone who has already trusted you with a personal subject will come back for the next one.

The case against is real too. A commission that pulls hard against an artist’s natural style produces work that satisfies nobody, and too many of them in a row can leave an artist painting other people’s ideas exclusively. The artists who handle this well decide in advance what they’ll take. A landscape painter who accepts one detailed pet portrait usually regrets it by week two.

Saying no is a normal professional move. “That’s outside what I paint, but here’s someone whose work would suit it” costs nothing and protects the relationship.

Where do commissions come from?

Most commissions arrive through people who already know the artist’s work: past buyers, social followers, local connections, and word of mouth from a satisfied client. Public commissions for civic and corporate spaces are usually posted as open calls with formal application requirements.

There are also platforms built for connecting artists with commission clients directly, along with portfolio and marketplace sites where custom work gets requested. The roundup of art commission websites breaks down which platforms fit which kind of artist, and which ones are worth the time.

Whichever route brings the inquiry in, one thing holds: the artist needs to have said out loud, in public, that they take commissions. A surprising number of artists who want commission work have never actually told anyone they’re open to it.

The work of commissions is only partly painting. The rest is the conversation before it, the agreement that holds it, and the follow-up that turns one client into three. Artists who treat those parts as seriously as the canvas are the ones whose commission calendars stay full.

Frequently asked questions

What is an art commission in simple terms?

It's artwork made to order. A client asks an artist for a specific piece, they agree on the subject, size, price, and timeline, and the artist paints it for them. The buyer is purchasing work that hasn't been made yet, which is what separates a commission from buying a finished piece off a gallery wall.

How do art commissions work step by step?

A client makes an inquiry describing what they want. The artist asks questions about size, subject, colors, and where it will hang, then quotes a price. Once both sides agree, the artist takes a deposit, usually a third to half up front, and begins. Progress updates go out along the way, the client approves the finished piece, the balance is paid, and the work ships or gets delivered.

How much does a commissioned painting cost?

It depends on size, medium, and the artist's established prices. Most artists start from whatever they'd charge for a comparable finished painting, then add for the extra communication, revisions, and risk that come with custom work. A small commissioned piece from an emerging artist may run a few hundred dollars, while established artists price in the thousands.

What is the difference between a commission and buying a painting?

Timing and control. When you buy a finished painting, you can see exactly what you're getting and decide on the spot. With a commission you're buying a description and the artist's track record, and you get input on subject, size, and palette. Commissions cost more for that input, and they take weeks or months rather than minutes.

Do artists have to accept every commission they're offered?

No, and good artists turn work down regularly. A commission that fights the artist's actual style tends to produce a piece nobody is happy with. Most working artists define what kinds of commissions they take, then decline the rest politely and point the client elsewhere.

Is a contract necessary for an art commission?

Yes, even a short one. A single page covering the subject, size, medium, price, deposit, number of revisions, delivery date, and who owns the reproduction rights prevents nearly every dispute that commissions produce. It protects the client as much as the artist.