One of the most common things people say to me is......I'd love you to paint or draw me a commission! But I feel that people are unsure how it all works.
Basically you send me as many photos, we arrange a deadline and then I book you in! It's not anything complicated but I thought I'd show you some examples and explain how to commission me. 

Commissions are so personal and have a massive connection with people. There is nothing more satisfying than producing a stunning and unique piece of work for a person which holds a special place in their heart. Peoples reactions when I show them a finished commission of which they have had an involvement in is just amazing....the feeling never gets old!! I love the challenge a commission brings.

The main subject I am asked to draw or paint is a beloved pet dog.  I love to draw dogs especially when I can see their personality through the photos......this is why I ask for loads of photos to be sent but I especially love it when I get to meeting them too.

I also love to draw and paint people, I think one of my favourite things to draw are babies and young children. I know that time goes by so fast and our kids grow up so quickly that sometimes we forget how small they were, so having a drawing commissioned is so special.  

Sometimes I get asked to draw a loved one that has passed away......Well I can tell you that this is the biggest honour for me, just to be trusted to do something so personal blows my mind.  Sometimes they can be a little more difficult because the photos maybe older and have less detail in them but......you know I love a challenge!

When I am completing a commission I take many photos thought each stage, this helps me work out if anything needs tweaking but also to have a record of the painting. I sometimes do a time-lapse of the process too......these can all be sent to the client so they can see the development and how their painting or drawing is created. 

So this is all the information you need to know.....

My commissioned portraits are generally completed from one main reference photograph.  Multiple photographs can assist to capture the finer detail and character of the subject.

Reference photographs are ideally:

1. Clear high-resolution photographs.
2. ​Taken on a good quality camera rather than a mobile phone.
3. Taken outside in natural daylight.
4. Taken with no flash.
5. In focus.

I am able to work from older photographs which may have ‘been through the wars’.  This may reflect the level of detail I can produce in the final piece.
Please send reference photographs to info@annareedfineart.com

I will ask for a 50% deposit before commencing a commission.  This deposit is non-refundable, unless I cannot complete the commission.  The remaining 50% balance will be payable upon completion.  I am happy to send regular updates / progress photographs, if and when required.

Commissions can be mounted and framed (additional cost).  

All finished commissioned pieces will be carefully packaged, using recycled materials where possible, and can be posted worldwide (additional cost).

I (Anna Reed) will hold the Copyright on all finished pieces.  No finished piece should be reproduced, displayed or used as promotional material without my prior permission.

Cost will vary with each commission so it is best to contact me for a price but a rough guild is that a pencil drawing start from £100 and oil painting from £400. Framing is at an extra cost. 

So Alfred........he went and got into the top 5 !!!
I am very pleased to say that he was awarded the HIGHLY COMMENDED prize. 
From over a thousand entries, to 75, then to top 5.......click on the button below to read all about the winners, including me. 

​I am chuffed to bits........so to say thank you for all the support you have given him and to celebrate his achievement,  I am giving you all a chance to buy a Limited Edition Print of Alfred for just £60. This is a £15 discount.......only until Sunday 8th September so go and order him quick!!

Thank you all once again!!!

A short video of Alfred being painted.
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Don't forget to vote for him in ........
The Ken Bromley cover competition, voting ends Sunday 18th August
​2019................Please click the link!

And in.......
The 2019 TALP Open Art Competition People's Choice Award........Please click the link, Then click Artists Highly Commended to find Alfred.

I entered the Ken Bromley Cover competition a few months ago.........the first prize is  your artwork on the front cover of the Ken Bromley art supplies magazine!
​I entered last year with Archibald and was shortlisted but I didn't get any further than that. 

So...........I thought I'd give Alfred a go this year.

And he didn't disappoint, he has also been shortlisted!!! 
With over a thousand entries Alfred has been chosen to be amongst the shortlist of just 75!
​There is some amazing pieces of art so I am feeling very proud of him. 
​

​This is where you come in.......I need your help!!
I need your vote.
It's very simple just.....Click on the vote now button, then select the dots to indicate your order of preference - first choice being your favourite. (hopefully Alfred!)
And once you have made your three selections, click the "Submit Vote" button at the bottom of the page.

​Here is a video of all the shortlist entries.......can you spot Alfred!?

It is quite nerve-racking entering competitions but also exciting, it helps with confidence too. I am planning on giving a few more a shot over the next few years so I may be asking you to vote for me more in the future. 
To be honest......it all comes down to how popular you are on social media really, the more followers you have the more votes you get. This is why social media is important for artists, so any comment, follow or share is greatly appreciated. 
I am looking at other competitions whereby the art is judged by critics and other top artists but these frighten me a little at the moment.......small steps and all that!!! 
So for now......If you don't mind voting that would be fabulous. xxxx

So it's the summer holidays!!
I have two boys aged 12 and 6yrs old and they love the summer holidays.....so do I but as like all working parents I struggle with the work life balance when they are off school.
I work from home in my studio at the end of my garden.......I know I am very lucky to be able to do that! 

​But........It is hard switching off and walking away from my work, especially when I am in the middle of a painting.
I have tried to work with my children in the studio, with them either painting something for themselves or doing other activities but this does not work for me. It never turns out like I envision it....... not like some social media posts I see with the perfect kids!!
I just can't switch off or concentrate when they are around.......normally because they want me to get involved in what they are doing which is totally understandable, they are kids after all.  
This is when the parental guilt kicks in.........lets face it........ that guilty feeling is a normal day to day feeling as a parent. So I had to work out a way of balancing home and work during the school holidays. 

The main thing I have to do is plan ahead, now.....I struggle with that! I am not the most organised person in the world.
I am still getting used to people in retail planning Christmas in the summer, not sure I will ever get my head around that to be honest.  The main thing I do is try and make sure all my stockists have enough prints to last the 6-7 weeks.
The next key thing I do is not to take any commissions during this period unless someone contacts me last minute, I will then work in the evenings or call in some favours from family and friends. But this does not happen very often, normally I start and finish a commission early if it is needed during August.
At this time I am halfway through painting my turtle but this is not a commission, it will be for a gallery when it is finished so there is no time constraint on it. Again I struggle with this........all I want to do is finish this painting but I have to give myself a break and realise I can not during the summer holidays. If I do not accept this I end up beating myself up and getting stroppy with the kids, which is not what I want. I may get a few hours every now and then to paint but no full days so this painting will be my main focus when the kids go back to school.   

​I do post all my website orders out myself.....this is the kind of thing I can fit in when the boys are asleep or chilling out at home. This job is  nice and easy to do during the holidays so more orders on my website would be good!!! Haha......I can cope with that!!

I want to enjoy the summer as much as the children so accepting I cannot paint as much as I want is how I stop being a grumpy mum. I am very, very lucky that I can do this but I work my arse off the rest of the year to have a break in the summer........well I say its a break, I do use the time to think and plan what I will be working on next. So I never turn off fully really! But I love my job and I appreciate everyone's support, So thank you.....xx

Hi, I'm Anna and I am 40 in just a few days time!!!!! I think I am fine with turning 40 but we will see in a couple of days!! 
I started painting when I was about 10 years old I think.......  my memory is not what it used to be!!
I was born in North London, the youngest of four kids. We moved up to Bedfordshire when I was 9 because of my Dad's work. Whilst in middle school (we didn't have middles schools in London so that was strange......a Bedfordshire thing!!) I had an amazing art teacher. I can remember the lesson where I realised I loved to draw and paint. In that lesson I also found out that I wasn't too bad at it, which was a relief because I wasn't academic at all. It was a water colour session where we had the choice of painting poppies or a monk fish, yes a monk fish!!! Well as you can guess I chose the poppies. The teacher made me look......this sounds a bit strange but she helped me draw what I saw and not what I thought the poppies looked like. 
This is what I painted in that lesson.......I was so proud of what I had achieved. 

So from then on I really concentrated on my art lessons, I was not good at anything else apart from having a laugh with my friends. 
In upper school I was lucky enough to have another fantastic art teacher, she was such an inspiration and got me through my GCSE's and A Levels. I actually concentrated on pottery and sculpture during my A Levels, I still have lots of my sculptures in my loft! I love pottery but I don't have the chance to practice it now but someday soon I will pick it up again. 
I then went to Bedford College to complete an Art Foundation course with the intention of going to university. 
The intention was there but one of the tutors said I had "lost my spark".......Well I think it was more that the tutors were trying to push me down a route that I did not want to take. I loved creating full stop..........they wanted me to have a reason behind everything and the more shocking the better! It just wasn't me. 
So I went to Australia to spend some time with my family over there instead of going to university!
From then on I have been self taught.........I did not paint very much after the foundation course, not for quite sometime. 
I was working full time for a drinks company and working in a night club, this is where I met my husband. We married young, I was 23 which is very young nowadays, but we are still going strong so it was the right move for me. 

After a few years of marriage I wanted to get back into my art and my husband encouraged me to open up a little shop/gallery. I was working for the police at this point so I worked in the gallery in the day then worked an evening shift in the police control room. It was hard work.....I was shattered but I loved it!!
After about a year I wasn't happy with the location......there was issues with the electric's in the building so decided to close the shop but carry on with painting. At that point we had decided to start a family also so my working hours were not practical or achievable so the shop had to go.  Once I had my eldest child Jack, painting went out the window......I painted a few things for friends and family but not regularly. I have a 6 year gap between my children, not for any other reason apart from my husband getting his head around having another!!
So Thomas came along and when he was around two years old I picked up my creative side and I have been concentrating on my paintings ever since. 
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I love painting portraits......I think that stems from my interest in people.  My mum and dad have fostered children since I was 10 years old so my house was always busy!! With a busy house all the time you pick up on lots of emotions and become very aware of feelings especially when you share your life with children from all different backgrounds. The face express's so many emotions without verbal communication.....this intrigues me!! I love how everybody is so different and yet so similar. 

​https://www.annareedfineart.com/commissions.html

I really enjoy painting wildlife and peoples pet.........I love the detail I can get in the paintings. Again its all about people and their reactions, whether it be a commission of a loved pet or just a persons favourite animal.  The reactions never become boring. It is all about revealing the painting or drawing I have completed for a person and how they pull out emotions.
I sometimes can't quite understand how I paint what I do but I do and I love it!!
Enough about me.....keep scrolling down to see more paintings and how to get in contact. xx

If you would like to commission then please go to ...........missions.html

Or pop along to my website to check out my limited edition prints........ 
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The gorgeous Alfred........  He was a pleasure to paint.
I loved painting his fur and getting the beautiful look in his eyes!
When I paint I normally have at least five paint brushes in my left hand....plus one in my right, I kind of look like Edward Scissorhands most of the time (he is a character in a film played by Johnny Depp for those who are too young to know....look it up!)
I use different shades of colours on each paint brush, this makes sure the colours do not get muddy...... keeping the painting sharp and detailed.  I am constantly swoping the brushes in and out of my right hand as I see the shades change in the fur......  If that makes sense!!
That is how I get the depth and movement in the fur. 
I wanted Alfred to pop, so I used a metallic gold oil paint for his background, it is very difficult to take a photo of him to show the full impact of the gold.......  It is stunning!
You are probably best to go and see him.......at the moment he is in The Stony Stratford Gallery https://www.stonystratfordgallery.co.uk/shop/anna-reed-alfred-16-12-oil-on-boardor message me to come and see him

  When I name my paintings I ask for suggestions on social media, I generally choose peoples names which are full of character.
I was chuffed when a few people suggested Alfred for this painting........  Alfred was my grandad's name so I thought it suited him perfectly. My grandad was such a funny man.....always the joker!  But unfortunately he developed dementia at the end of his life which was devastating for the family.  I thought naming this painting after my cheeky grandad was so fitting...............  partly because of his character but also because of the innocence in his eyes which appeared when dementia crept in and then took over. I also think he would find it hilarious that a painting of a gorilla is named after him!! 

I framed him in plain matt black, again it makes him pop out of the painting perfectly.............  I have always used the same framing company, they are fantastic at meeting my short time scales and demands!!!
​I like to do things a little differently sometimes and they are great at saying.........YES Anna, we will get that done (whilst rolling their eyes at me and laughing!!) You can't beat a good working relationship.......Thanks Picture Gallery you always do a top job!! https://www.picturegalleryuk.com/

  I have produced 50 limited edition prints of Alfred........  He has printed beautifully.  I am very picky when it comes to my prints, I always want to make sure the detail and the colours are just right. He is a cracking print.........
He measures 42.5cm h x 33cm w.
Each print is numbered, hand signed by me and includes a certificate of authenticity.
Limited run of 50 prints.
Alfred has been printed on portrait white acid free high calendared 285gsm fine art paper, meeting the highest museum quality giclee standard.

If you want to know any more details about Alfred then don't hesitate to contact me.......always good to talk!!

​I entered Arthur into the Jackson’s Open Painting Prize 2019, he got through to the long-list but that's as far as he went. I am super proud he got that far to be honest...... he was one of 421 selected out of an incredible 5366 entries. Top banana!!! 
I have and will be entering him into other competitions over the year, so watch this space........I will give you updated about how he gets on.

The original oil painting of Arthur is for sale.............please message me if you would like further details on him.

Arthur is also avaliable in Limited Edition Print.......I have limited this edition to just 50 prints. Each print is signed by me!

He is 53cm h x 42cm w.​
I number each print and include a certificate of authenticity
He has been printed on portrait white acid free high calendared 285gsm fine art paper, which meets the highest museum quality giclee standard.
Each print is embossed also.........I do love my new embossing press, check out my social media to see it in action! ​

​That's enough from me for one post!!!
​Have a lovely day........Be lucky and be kind!! xx