Some commission painting by Amanda Dagg 2015

Last year was one of my best years yet! I got to paint some amazing paintings for some lovely customers. I was commissioned to integrate a variety of new subjects into my current art style. I know as an artist in order to develop it's imperative to get out of your comfort zone and take every opportunity that comes. This is the precise reason I love painting commissions. So here are four commissions with animals or figures that stood out for me last year.

Lest We Forget

My client had recently moved into a house only to find out after moving, that her new home was once a hospital for Shellshock victims. Soldiers from the Somme were transported there during WW1 to recuperate. She requested a painting which would be respectable to those Soldiers

Lest We Forget WW1 soldier commission Sep 205
'Lest We Forget' Sept 2015 20x36"

Joyous Autumn

A collector requested 4 large paintings for her galleried hall. The four paintings I got framed along with another painting she owned of mine that was to hang with her new four pictures. In the commission piece, my client wanted her two beautiful English Sheepdog in the distance in the field.

Joyous Autumn Commission with English Sheepdogs Sept 2015 48x30"

Freddy & Chocky

I was contacted by a customer whose partner already had some of my paintings and he wanted a unique birthday gift for her. Her love in her life was her horse. So I decided to paint his and her horse together in an autumn field.

Freddy & Chocky commission painting Dec/2015

Freddy & Chocky commission of two houses in an autumn field Dec/2015 40x20cm

Singing Robin

At the end of the year, I was commissioned to paint a Christmas present for my client’s wife, who loved poppies and robins. I’d not painted birds since my late teens. My studio is surrounded by bird tables that attract a variety of birds. In the spring of this year, I had Blue Tits nesting above the door of my studio. It was a delight to paint and listen to the babies tweeting for food. My daughter also bought some rescued birds in the studio. Whenever she went for a walk, she’d find something for me to look after. I had to hand rear baby Great Tits. Look after a Rook with a broken wing and even had a pet duck in the studio that somebody dumped in the canal at the back of the house. So it seemed fitting to end the Year painting a singing Robin.

I love birds, and I dearly loved painting this singing robin. I forgot how wonderful it is to paint birds, so I will plan to paint more birds this year.

Singing Robin commission December 2015