Two for Joy - My first art commission

When I first started getting more serious about my art I started to paint things like birds and bugs and posted more to instagram. I had put up a question box about what to paint and got some suggestions including some magpies. Later that day my friend Leah then sent me a message which both excited and terrified me - would I do a commission for her?! It took me a few minutes to pluck up the courage to say yes but of course I wanted to do it! It was such an exciting opportunity to create something from someone else's vision. We got to work discussing what Leah was looking for and decided on 2 magpies (for joy of course!) and a golden frame. I sketched out some ideas and Leah had the fantastic idea for the magpies to be flying around the frame.

I spent the next few days sketching and painting and then added a layer of metallic watercolour to the gold frame and then to the magpies to show off their beautiful shimmery feathers.

Once it was finished we kept it a surprise and I filmed the reveal (you can find it on my instagram reels page!) and Leah had such a lovely reaction thank goodness as I was obviously still terrified haha!

Since then I have taken on several more commissions and can't wait to work on more in the future. Right now I'm commissioning myself to make my own wedding invites!

Nic x