Originals & Commissions

TIMING

Originals leave the studio in batches, primarily when we finish a new collection and the whole lot, the originals to be published and the extra pieces, end up with the publisher. These are then allocated galleries and online slots to be put forward for sale, you can of course jump the queue a little bit by popping your name on a waiting list and this way you will get first dibs on any new work but pinning down originals can be an art in itself.

THE ULTIMATE PIECE

Owning an original from any artist is the ultimate acquisition; you are getting a piece of the artists life along with the time and skill that went into it's creation and the journey that led them to this point. Sounds a bit dramatic doesn't it? But basically that's what it is - time, tears and skill in an attractive package. Getting something to a stage where it is desired and commands attention on a gallery wall is not an easy task which is why originals remain the ultimate collecting item when following an artists career.

I'm no Banksy or Picasso and I've no doubt that billionaires won't be fighting over my creations after my demise but the truth is, most originals are never seen and disappear into collections so I thought it'd be rather fun to sneak a view at some of the hidden gems.

COLLECTIONS

We never just produce an individual painting just because we can; every painting we produce is always part of a collection so although there may be ten or more pieces in a collection, publishing timescales may dictate that only half can be published, it's at this time that tough decisions have to be made on which originals to include or leave out of a release.

Sometimes an entire batch of paintings will become an unpublished collection, this is not a bad thing though as you shall see. Occasionally it's because we are ahead of our ourselves - (2008 Time, 2010 Boutique, 2011 Land Of The Lost, 2011 Street Impossimals, 2017 Seven Sins Of Alice ) are all collections that were pulled because the market wasn't ready for where we were going at the time, although elements from all went on to help create future published collections.

Other times we become too edgy, controversial or too rude (yes, really!) for the galleries (2011 Macabre, 2013 Dark Impossimals, 2019 Triple X, 2020 Cult, 2022 Cover Versions, 2023 Sauce) were all too much, although when this happens the originals seem to sell faster!

Commissions allow you to dictate the content of an original, either to make it more personal or to depict something or someone in particular. The plus side is that you can pretty much get what you want, the down side, if there is any, is that commissions are traditionally a little more expensive than an off the wall original and take a little longer to produce. A commission, if sold, becomes just an original to anyone else as the personal bit is left behind whilst an original remains an original to all but both are still as desirable as each other.

Commissions can be a rich seam of inventiveness due to their random nature; if you look at 'Jammy Blasters' you can see a painting we produced for a strawberry jam farm that contained lots and lots of elements the client requested and because we were given free rein, we went to town.

Weddings commissions translate well to novel pieces, half the fun is designing what you can get away with and then painting the resulting chaos such as the Camel Alley and surfing inspired piece shown here. When you have so many elements to include you can add situations and reactions that you would normally stay away from when designing a commercial collection and you focus entirely on making sure it amuses the client as much as possible as opposed to as many people as possible.

You can also really go off menu too if you like. Combining family members, food, favourite films, characters, hobbies and a host of other things lead to images like a Star Wars inspired caravan dragster with Wacky Races overtones!

Originals & Commissions

ORIGINALS

COMMISSIONS