Prices are for a single individual. For additional figures, add 80% of the base price. Detailed backgrounds and pets may entail an additional fee in a amount determined after consultation with client. Prices do not include framing, shipping and handling, taxes where applicable, or travel and lodging expenses outside the artists local area. These expenses will be billed additionally as applicable. A deposit of 50% and a signed commission agreement are due at this time. The balance is due upon the acceptance of the finished portrait.

Procedure
I begin each portrait with a client meeting to discuss the portraits purpose and size, as well as details of the background, pose and clothing.I learn where the portrait will hang and something about the personal character of the subject. I need only one photographic sitting (lasting about one hour) at my studio or at the clients chosen location. This session involves experimentation with the pose, lighting, background, clothing accessories and expression. I work primarily from photographs. The photos are then used as reference for the portrait. This procedure produces more relaxed expressions than hours of “posed” sittings. The client can choose his or her favourite expression rather than being surprised by an artist’s choice. This allows the artist’s interpretation to be governed by the clients preferences, while still working under studio conditions. I prefer to take my own photographs, since my needs for composition and lighting are rarely met through commercial studio photography. For those rare instances where its not possible to take my own photos, I will assist you or your photographer in providing me the very best possible images. When ready, 2 to 3 selected proofs are shown to the client and a selection is made based on the best pose, lighting and overall appearance. In some cases where high quality photographs are available, I may do a portrait without a sitting. If a posthumous portrait is being commissioned, the client is encouraged to bring as many photographs of the deceased as possible to the first meeting. I do however reserve the right to turn down a posthumous commission if the reference materials do not provide the information I would require to produce a satisfactory likeness.

Artist’s Statement
In museums and galleries the world over are found portraits that exceed three, four, even five hundred years in age. I use the best available materials and apply the techniques that were employed by the masters to create pleasing and lasting portraits. I can confidently say that, barring a catastrophe, my portraits should last, conservatively, three hundred years. That fact obligates me to portray the sitter in a manner that rises above the fashions and concerns of the sitters contemporary milieu. I strive to execute a portrait as objectively and truthfully as I can, to capture and display what is inherent to the sitter’s character and temperament. My portraits are such a personal piece of fine art, which stays in a family for generations, it needs to speak across the years. The point is not to simply capture a likeness, but to also record a moment in time that will communicate to the viewer today and throughout generations. My goal in doing a portrait is to delight those who know the subject, and to intrigue those who do not , to give them a telling glimpse of personality.