Commissioned Art in Charcoal, Watercolour & Acrylic

Original Artworks are packaged depending on where we are shipping the goods. Overseas shipping tends to be agreed with the client before we ship and is charged separately. Giclée Prints are shipped flat as standard in a carded postal envelope sleeved inside a plastic protective cover to protect the print from water/rain damage. We also offer the option to chose a cardboard postal tube but this means that the print is loosely rolled and will need to be unrolled on receipt and flattened. This can be achieved by rolling the print in the opposite way.

That’s a good question and something that has been debated for literally centuries. We all know that art is very subjective. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, is how the saying goes. Others will tell you that the chances of making money from investing in art in the short term is extremely low. But, what do we mean by investing? It’s not just about the monetary value or gain. For me it’s about the spiritual well-being that art delivers so yes, do invest. Invest one way or another. Invest your time to learning how to create pleasing artworks for yourself, invest in collecting pieces that inspire you or provide memories for the future. Talking to my clients who have commissioned me to produce artworks for them, their reasons for investing are numerous, but the main theme is always "well-being" one way of another. Even I, as a “charcoalist”, have invested recently in producing a number of artworks that remember our families black Labrador retriever, Freddie. Investing in art is cathartic and very rewarding. So in truth it’s not about the potential monetary gain. In fact doing some research before writing this article I found that art, released in the last 30 years, has only produced a return on investment of around 3%. Not a good short term gain but, like all commodities, rarity improves the chances for added value. The other advantage is that art does not follow the vagaries of the stock market. Yes it does have certain trends and blue chip artists, who command eye watering prices, but who would have put their money into buying a Damien Hirst, Banksy, Cindy Sherman, Tracy Emin or Lowry when they first produced their works? Now I don’t intend to die just yet and I wouldn’t put myself in the same league as the above, but that’s not the point of this post. We all invest in something. Be it our children, our pets or our hobbies in fact the Cambridge Dictionary of the word reads “to put money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit or get an advantage” It’s that advantage that I’m interested in. Yes in some way you will have to invest an amount of money, even if it’s to buy the equipment to produce your own work, which I completely encourage you to do incidentally. Well-being is something of a buzz word at the moment, the state of feeling healthy and happy. I can only say, again from a personal perspective, that art and the production of art certainly gives me a feeling of well-being. I hope it does for you. Marco

That's very simple to answer. The fewer there are the more the value rises. We quite deliberately want to reward those who commit early yet maintain exclusivity for those who purchase later. I rarely release the original artwork I produce for myself. Commissions are obviously owned by the person who commissions them and at the point of commissioning, exclusive ownership is transferred. This means that once a commission is completed, the client holds the exclusive rights to that particular piece. For original artwork that is available for sale, the first purchaser holds the unique ownership, and as such, the value of the piece may increase as the number of available pieces decreases. This model allows us to reward early supporters and maintain exclusivity for those who purchase later.

As a rough guide I work on an hourly rate which flexes depending on the medium I am working in, the complexity of the work and raw material costs. The longer time I spend on an artwork this rate reduces from roughly £55 to £25 per hour. So an artwork taking 4 to 6 hours will cost in the region of £95 to £250. We have deliberately left previously sold artworks available to view in the shop to give you an opportunity to assess what your investment will cost. Please note these are indications only each commission will be quoted to you before the work begins. We want you to consider you commission as a future investment so we never release Giclée prints of your commission. However we do have several works that are part owned by the artist and the investor where commissions are paid. Please talk to me about these opportunities if you are interested.

Yes you can. When you go to the cart you can pay by card by clicking on the "Checkout" button or pay with Apple Pay or from your Paypal Account. We can also send you an invoice and you can pay by bank transfer from your bank account if you wish.

Hi and thanks for asking. The easiest way is to go to the shop, select charcoals and look for the Dalmatian (Pink Background) it's the first image you see. You will see a blue box that's says Upload Your Commission Image Here. Click on that box and upload your image. You may also want to add a brief description of what you are looking for. There is no need to pay your deposit at this stage but this is also where you will pay the deposit once we have agreed the project.

I prefer to produce charcoals in A4 size (210 x 297 mm 8.3 x 11.7 inches) this is mainly because most of the prints we sell are posted and the shipping and packaging costs remain reasonable. I do also produce in A3 size (297 x 420 mm 11.7 x 16.5 inches) occasionally but as well as the drawing being more expensive shipping and delivery costs also rise quite considerably which is out of my control, sorry. The prices shown in the shop for Giclee prints therefore are all for A4 images unless indicated in the description. What about Commissions? I can produce your artwork in whatever size you require and we will discuss this at the point of booking your commission.

Q: Why don't you release more prints for sale? A: At Art-Marco, we believe in the value of exclusivity and limited edition pieces. By limiting the number of prints available for sale, we aim to preserve the uniqueness and collectibility of each artwork. This not only adds to the value of the prints but also honours the artistry and dedication I put into creating each piece. Our focus is on quality over quantity, ensuring that each print is a true representation of the artist's original vision. By limiting the number of prints available they will increase in value over time. Whiskey, Gold, Diamonds have always been commodities that people invest in and with interest rates still not providing good returns why not invest in art? Art has always had a value, it is intangible it evokes very personal emotions but one thing that affects its value, like all commodities is rarity.

The simple answer is that the majority of my prints are ordered on line and are shipped by post. Most are shipped in card backed postage envelopes but we can also ship in protective postal tubes if requested. Just drop us a note if you require this packaging method at point of order.

We price our Giclée prints at a level which we hope will encourage you to invest. Investment is always a speculation, a risk, but if we can help you to minimise this and improve the opportunity for value improvement by limiting the quantity available then we have achieved my goal. To give back and encourage you to invest further with us as we release other limited editions.

I prefer to produce watercolours in A3 size (297 x 420 mm 11.7 x 16.5 inches) but I can work on A4 size (210 x 297 mm 8.3 x 11.7 inches) but I find that it is much more difficult to shown close detail at that scale so it will very much depend on the subject concerned. The indicative prices shown in the shop therefore are for watercolours produced mainly on A3 However I am more than willing to discuss the size of the watercolour you are looking for and give advice if required. As an example the Menorcan Llaut which is showing at £245 was painted on A3 mainly because the client wanted to be able to take it in a suitcase by air to its end destination.

I can and have. Here below is just such an example. Based on a brief from a client I produced this for her.