Do you want to commission a painting or other art piece but aren’t sure where to start?
Perhaps you’re wondering where you can hire artists, how to commission a piece of art that fits your vision, or have more general questions about the commission process.
Whatever your questions, this in-depth art commission guide is sure to answer your questions and prepare you to buy artwork online.
What is an Art Commission?
An art commission is when someone (typically referred to as a patron) pays an artist to create an art piece. Depending on the art commission, the patron may be more or less specific in their request.
For example, a patron could commission an artist to create a portrait of their family for their home, or they could ask the artist to create a piece of art to decorate their home. In both cases, the artist creates something for the patron, but the patron provides the artist with much greater creative flexibility in the second example.
Artist commission prices vary based on the patron’s request and the experience and reputation of the artist. An art commission from a lesser-known artist may cost less than $100, while a similar piece from a well-known artist may cost someone thousands of dollars. Larger works are typically more expensive as they’re more time-consuming to produce.
Art commissions come in all shapes and forms. There are anime art commissions, digital art commissions, fantasy art commissions, drawing commissions, and much more.
Factors to Consider When Commissioning a Piece of Art
If you’re seeking to commission an artwork for the first time, there are a couple of critical factors to consider as you look to hire an artist.
The Experience of the Artist:
You want to hire an artist that is skilled in whatever art form you’re commissioning. That said, it’s also essential to know how much experience an artist has in commissioning art.
Ending up with a different piece than what you envisioned is arguably the worst thing that can happen when you hire an artist to paint a picture or other artwork. Fortunately, if you hire an artist with experience commissioning artwork, you’re much less likely to end up with an art piece you dislike.
Therefore, when looking to hire artists, consider asking these questions:
How long have you been making commissioned art?
How do you ensure your artistic vision and my vision line up?
Your Desired Art Form:
If you can think of an art form, you can likely commission it. This flexibility can make the number of options overwhelming when trying to buy artwork. The easiest way to determine what art form you’d like to commission is to ask yourself two questions.
Why do you want this piece of art, and where do you want to put it?
How much would you like to spend on the art piece?
To explain the first question, think about what your goal for the piece of art is. Do you want something to spruce up your small apartment? If so, you might want to buy a painting or a drawing. These can easily be hung on a wall and won’t take up a significant amount of space.
On the other hand, if you want something to be the focal point of a room, a sculpture or art piece that you can view in the round might be a good idea.
The second question is important because some art forms tend to be more expensive to commission than others. Generally, drawings will be the least expensive art form to commission, followed by paintings and sculptures.
Money-Back Guarantees:
A quality assurance or money-back guarantee allows you to commission a piece of artwork with confidence, knowing that you can get your money back if the piece doesn’t turn out well. Not every website where you can hire artists online offers a money-back guarantee, but if you’re commissioning your first piece of artwork, it can certainly provide peace of mind.
If the company seems new and doesn’t have any testimonials, you might want to check if they have a money-back guarantee. On the other hand, if you’re buying prints or an art piece from an artist or company with a proven track record, a money-back guarantee is less important.
There are many great places to buy art online; you just have to do your due diligence in researching their products.
How Can I Commission a Piece of Art?
If you know an artist or someone in the arts, reaching out to them is always a good option. You can trust the word of a close friend or family member, making them a great way to find a trustworthy and reliable artist.
Don’t worry though; you aren’t out of luck if you’re looking to commission a painting or other artwork and don’t know someone in the industry. There are tons of places to buy original art online.
That said, here are the best 11 websites to buy art.
Tellinga (like telling a story) is a Houston, TX-based startup that tells your story through mail art. Story recipients receive illustrated stories about themselves based on unique preferences. It can be fun, dramatic, thoughtful... anything!
Here's how it works:
Select your story length (options-one part, three parts, six parts, or 12 parts)
Upload a photo and add a description of your desired story (you can reminisce a memory from your past or create a brand-new story)
Our team of talented illustrators and artists will start working on your story/drawing commission.
A few days later, the designated recipient of the story will start receiving unique hand-drawn postcard illustrations every week in their mailbox until the package ends. Every card shipped helps raise funds to fight Alzheimer's disease, support breast cancer research, or helps treat those impacted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Unique Features - Get both a physical and digital copy of your art piece. Tellinga also offers bulk pricing, which isn’t very common when you buy paintings or other artwork online.
Pricing - Starts at $19.99
With thousands of illustrators for hire, Fiverr is sure to have an anime artist for hire that can bring your dream artwork to life. Fiverr has artists of all stripes but isn’t the platform where you’d expect to buy a Bob Ross painting. The majority of its artists are amateur freelancers and tend to specialize in anime and other digital art forms. For this reason, Fiverr is a great place to hire an animator or buy digital art. If you don't think Fiverr is the right choice for you, consider a card from Tellinga.
Unique Feature - Fiverr has a certification called “Pro verified” for artists that have a track record of producing high-quality work. This certification allows buyers to have complete confidence in their purchase.
Pricing - Varies greatly, generally ranges from $10 to $100. If you’re looking for cheap art prints online, Fiverr is the place to go. Fiverr is has the lowest art commission prices of all the sites on this list.
Artfinder makes it easy to order paintings online by connecting talented artists with those looking for high-quality artwork. If you want to commission a painting (or other artwork), visit the site and find an artist whose work you enjoy. If the artist commissions artwork, contact the artist with your desired budget and vision. Once you agree to a budget and timeline, you pay the artist 30 to 50% of the finished artwork’s agreed value. Once the artist finishes the commission, you pay the rest of the cost. If you're searching for high-quality art at a lower price, try Tellinga!
Unique Feature - Artists provide regular updates on the progress of the artwork via Artfinder’s messaging system.
Pricing - This platform is significantly more expensive than Fiverr because its artists are more established (and produce higher-quality art). The least expensive art on Artfinder is just under a hundred dollars, and the most expensive pieces are over a thousand dollars.
Zatista is a great place to buy original art online. Zatista has a process similar to Artfinder when commissioning artwork. Anyone who wants to commission a piece of art fills out a form describing their budget, vision for the art, and timeframe. Zatista allows you to pick an artist, or if you don’t have an artist in mind, they’ll pick one for you. If you'd prefer a more personable piece of art, Tellinga has graphic artists for hire that can bring your dream art piece to life.
Unique feature - Zatista offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. This guarantee allows you to have peace of mind when you buy paintings online. If you aren’t happy with your art, send it back, and Zatista will refund your purchase.
Pricing - The lower end of the price spectrum on Zatista is a couple of hundred dollars, and the higher end artwork is thousands of dollars.
ugallery is a platform that sells and commissions paintings. They have a ton of different artists, one of which is sure to have a style that fits your vision. Furthermore, the site has paintings in every medium imaginable. They have oil paints for sale, acrylic paintings for sale, and more. ugallery is great, but if you both a physical and digital copy of your art, Tellinga is the way to go.
Unique feature - If you don’t want to commission a piece of art, ugallery has an Art Connector quiz to help you find the perfect piece for you.
Pricing - ugallery is likely the most expensive platform on this list, with the least expensive paintings running about $500 and most paintings falling in the $1500 area.
Handmade piece specializes in the reproduction of classic oil paintings; they're the go-to destination to buy art prints. They’ll recreate the oil paintings of any of your favorite artists. If you want to own artists like Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Oscar Monet, Handmade piece is where you should buy paintings online. The classics are great, but if you want something original, Tellinga's hand-drawn cards are what you've been looking for.
Unique Feature - Worldwide free shipping.
Pricing - Recreated painting prices are much lower than typical painting prices.
The paintings on Handmade piece are relatively affordable, with the vast majority of pieces falling between $150 and $200.
Mavenart is a company focused on bringing your favorite photos to life through oil painting. If you captured a memory or special moment that means a lot to you, consider working with Mavenart to commemorate it. If limiting your art commission to something captured in a photo sounds restrictive, you'll love working with the artists at Tellinga. Tellinga's cartoon artists for hire can commemorate a past story or create a brand new story of your choosing.
Unique Feature - Because Mavenart specializes in recreating photos, they’re excellent at what they do.
Pricing - If you can’t tell yet, art commission prices vary greatly. Fortunately, Mavenart makes their pricing straightforward by summarizing it in the chart shown below.
Etsy is a great place to buy and sell art. The site has millions of artists and tens of millions of people that purchase products on its site. This incredible number of illustrators for hire makes Etsy one of the best places to buy art online. Whether you’re seeking an anime cartoon, watercolor painting, couple portrait, or something else, Etsy likely has what you’re looking for. Despite its numerous options, Etsy might not offer the degree of personalization you want in your art piece. If that's the case, consider ordering a card from Tellinga.
Unique Feature - The selection on Etsy is better than you can find anywhere else. It has an overwhelming number of artists ready to buy a canvas and paint something special for you.
Pricing - Varies greatly, most art is under $30 with the most expensive pieces coming in around $150
Singulart has a wide variety of professionally curated art, everything from sculpture to photography. Their site sorts art by artist, making it easy to identify artists you like. That said, don't stop with a piece of art from Singulart; add to your art collection with a one-of-a-kind card from Tellinga.
Unique Feature - Talk to Singulart’s art experts 24/7 to find the artist for the commission of your dreams. Their experts make it easy to order paintings online.
Pricing - The art and artists on Singulart are all professional grade. Consequently, an inexpensive piece of art on Singulart is around $600, with most pieces going for at least $1000.
minted is another site that makes it easy and straightforward to commission a piece of art. Determine your idea for the piece, submit a request, commission an artist, and have your art in no time. Unsure that minted can bring your desired art piece to life? Try Tellinga. Hundreds of customers are happy they did.
Unique Feature - minted offers commissions for stationery.
Pricing - The low end is $100, but the high end varies greatly.
Elephants & Trains is an art website that commissions portraits. The commission can be digital or in print. Don't stop with a portrait; continue to grow your art collection with a story from Tellinga.
Unique Feature - In addition to selling awesome art, Elephants & Trains has cool tie-dyed t-shirts and masks for purchase.
Pricing - $75
Conclusion:
That wraps up our post on buying prints and other art pieces. Whether you want to commission an artist or hire an animator, you now have all the knowledge you need to grow your art collection. Please don't buy a canvas and try to do it yourself; that's likely to end poorly. There are many good places to buy art online, even if you're trying to purchase local art.
Other websites to buy prints online: