The Special Art of Commissions

Zoo Animals

These adorable zoo creatures were my first ever commission and they were created for a very special little boy, my nephew, Benji. 

I created these animals for Benji’s nursery before he was born. 

I hope that he grows up learning about all the beautiful creatures in the world and finds inspiration in these paintings.

A child’s imagination is a beautiful gift and if I can inspire creativity in Benji I will be a very happy aunty.

The lion is my favourite of all the three animals. He was an unexpected surprise. I began painting without intention and the more I worked on him the better he became.

When I was adding the finishing touches, I realised how scary the lion was for a babies nursery so in an attempt to dial down the scary, I added the greenery.

I am not sure the attempt was successful, but I still love the lion all the same.

Bisham

Bisham is the name of my mother and father-in-law’s beautiful heritage listed home. 

I created this painting based on an image of the home when it was first purchased. Whilst keeping the original style, my in-laws have since renovated some of the façade of the home and improved the landscaping. 

I wanted to capture the originality of the house as a surprise gift, knowing how sentimental it was to my incredible in-laws.

Being a perfectionist, this painting took me a very long 10 weeks to complete. It was through the COVID lockdown last year that I worked away at it almost every day. 

The detail in the painting is the same as the image used, including the lamp in the window and the stained glass. It took me 45 minutes to complete each row of bricks on the chimney. 

I am very proud of this piece and was so heart warmed to be able to capture something very sentimental for two beautiful people.

Bigfoot

Now this has to be one of the strangest commission requests ever! 

I was asked to paint a picture of Bigfoot walking through the woods. 

My love for all things dark and mysterious had me jumping at this opportunity. 

I used the famous image of Bigfoot for inspiration, and I hope I did it justice.

The painting reflects the tree structures that are commonly associated with Bigfoot. 

Bigfoot is known to build the trees in an X type structure. 

Whilst the purpose of these structures is unknown, they are prominent throughout the woods worldwide and are believed to be created by the infamous Bigfoot.

My favourite part about this piece is the supernatural character I have painted in the top right-hand corner. His name is Slenderman. 

Slenderman is a creepy, unnaturally tall humanoid with a featureless face who is known to wonder the woods, which is exactly where he is in this painting peering around a tree. 

Slenderman was a little surprise I included for the customer to add to the mystery of this piece. I love it!

Bright & Easy

These two commissions were created specially for a very beautiful and much valued client of mine who has shown me a world of love and support. 

The composition of this painting was to be bright and fun, and to capture a sense of her Chinese descent.  

By the time I was asked to complete these two pieces, I was much more confident, and the inspiration felt natural.

This painting captures my client’s daughter’s love of Australian wildlife as it wasn’t too long before this commission that my client and her daughter visited an Australian Zoo and had the opportunity to hand feed kangaroos. 

I had a lot of fun painting this commission with a wash of trees, shrubs and the sunset atmosphere. 

My client displays these pieces in her newly renovated home and she is a very happy customer.

Safe Farewell

This gorgeous commission was created to stand out amongst a Scandinavian style home and that is exactly what it will do.

The impact of this commission is so incredible that I was extremely sad to see it go.

This private collection was the biggest of all other commissions I had completed so far, measuring 1.5m long and 1m high.

The use of structured acrylic paint gave this art extraordinary texture and shapes making it an artwork that you just want to touch.

Keep an eye out on AJ Lawson’s instagram page for more photos of this piece in its home in the coming months.