Painting
Developing a consistent workflow for receiving and interpreting portrait commission briefs and reference materials.
A clear, repeatable workflow helps artists manage commissions with confidence, aligning client expectations, timelines, and creative decisions through structured briefs, organized references, and thoughtful interpretation.
Published by
Robert Wilson
August 09, 2025 - 3 min Read
A reliable workflow for portrait commissions begins with an intentional intake process. Establish a standardized brief form that clients fill out before you start any work. This form should request basic details such as the sitter’s age, gender presentation, and preferred mood, as well as practical constraints like size, medium, and delivery timeline. Include prompts for reference materials, color palettes, and lighting preferences. To ensure consistency, draft language that invites nuances without ambiguity, so clients feel understood while you gather essential data. Once the brief lands, assign it a project code, schedule a kickoff review, and confirm a shared understanding of deliverables to prevent scope creep.
After the initial brief, create a structured plan that translates client wishes into a workable production path. Break the project into stages: concept discussion, reference curation, preliminary sketches or studies, color and light blocks, refinement, and final delivery. For each stage, set concrete milestones with dates and approval points. This roadmap acts as a transparent contract with the client, making it easier to recognize when you’re drifting from agreed parameters. Use a collaborative tool to track progress, share visual updates, and collect feedback in a centralized, timestamped thread for future reference.
Reference management should be organized, accessible, and respectful.
The intake phase should also clarify restrictions that affect execution. Confirm the sitter’s facial features, hair texture, and expressions that are permissible to alter, if any. Discuss the sitter’s age range and cultural considerations with sensitivity, ensuring consent and ethical handling of likeness. Record lighting preferences—soft, dramatic, or neutral—and note any wardrobe or prop ideas. Establish whether the portrait is a standalone work or part of a larger series, and decide on the framing, orientation, and background complexity. With these clarifications, you prevent misinterpretations that produce costly revisions later.
As you move from brief to visual strategy, begin the reference-management process. Instruct clients to supply high-resolution photos and a few preferred images that illustrate mood, color relationships, and composition. Create a reference library with tags for mood, lighting, color temperature, and facial characteristics. Maintain a balance between client-supplied imagery and your professional interpretation to avoid copycat results while honoring the client’s vision. Regularly prune, organize, and back up the reference collection to ensure it remains accessible and relevant at every stage of the project.
Early exploratory studies guide clear, focused revisions.
When curating references, translate visual cues into design decisions. Analyze lighting direction, whether it’s side, top, or diffuse, and how it shapes volume and texture on skin. Decide on a color strategy that harmonizes skin tones with the backdrop and wardrobe, selecting a palette that supports the intended emotional impact. Consider brushwork or edge treatment that communicates personality, whether crisp realism or painterly softness. Document your rationale in a brief that accompanies the reference set, so you can revisit the intent if the client questions outcomes later.
Translate client references into draft visuals that invite feedback. Start with small, non-committal studies that explore composition, proportion, and focal emphasis. Use grayscale or value studies to assess contrast and form before committing to color. Offer two or three composition options or lighting variations to spark dialogue, but constrain choices to what is feasible within the agreed timeframe. Clarify which elements are fixed and which are flexible so revisions stay productive. Use client commentary to refine rather than reinvent your approach.
Regular updates and focused feedback keep projects moving.
As you draft, maintain a disciplined approach to material selection and surface. Choose media and supports that align with the client’s expectations and your own strengths. If oil paints are selected, map drying times and varnish cycles; if digital, outline file formats, layers, and export requirements. Establish a studio workflow that accounts for bursts of creative energy and quiet periods, ensuring steady progress without burnout. Keep a running log of decisions, materials, and test results so you can justify choices during reviews and confidently defend your process to clients.
Build momentum with regular, scheduled check-ins. Communicate progress through concise, image-rich updates that show both progress and intent. Provide rationale for each change—why a color shift or a reconfigured pose improves likeness or mood. Invite focused critique from the client, avoiding open-ended requests that can dilute direction. When feedback arrives, respond with a clear plan: what you will adjust, what you will preserve, and why. This disciplined dialogue prevents endless loops and keeps the project advancing toward approval.
Delivery readiness combines presentation and documentation.
Prepare a formal approval system that protects both client and artist. Establish milestones that require explicit sign-off before advancing to the next stage. Use written confirmations, not casual notes, to lock in decisions about likeness, emotion, and overall composition. Include a simple revision protocol: specify the number of acceptable iterations, the scope of adjustments, and the impact on delivery dates. This structure minimizes ambiguity and fosters trust, because both parties share a clear map of expectations and responsibilities from beginning to end.
Finally, craft a compelling delivery package that delights clients. Present the final portrait with high-resolution images, accurate color profiles, and optional framing or presentation suggestions. Provide a short artist statement that explains your approach, choices, and the evolution of the piece from reference to finish. Include care instructions, installation tips, and a note about archival durability to reassure the client about longevity. Deliver a living document that records the process, so future briefs can reference proven methods you’ve used successfully before.
The post-delivery phase consolidates learning for future briefs. Conduct a retrospective that compares initial goals with outcomes, noting where the workflow excelled and where it stalled. Collect client feedback through a structured survey or a brief interview, focusing on clarity of communication, timeliness, and overall satisfaction. Translate insights into concrete adjustments to your intake form, reference guidelines, or revision policies. Maintain an evolving template library that reflects best practices, enabling you to scale the workflow across different commissions while preserving the integrity of your personal style.
Finally, commit to ongoing refinement and systematization. Schedule periodic audits of your process to identify bottlenecks and opportunities for automation, such as templates for briefs and approval emails. Invest in digital organization tools that streamline asset management, version control, and file naming conventions. Foster a studio culture that values consistency, meticulousness, and client-centered communication. By treating your workflow as a living system, you ensure every portrait commission becomes a repeatable, reliable experience for both artist and client.
