A question I get asked quite often is “How much would it cost to have my child/ grandchild cast in bronze?”  In other words, they are asking how much a private commission of their child would cost-and this is great, because this is what I do!  It’s a large part of my sculpting business and I love to create something that is special and unique to that person or family. 




The problem is, they usually ask this question just after looking at my limited edition line of children.  ( a limited edition means that I sculpt one sculpture, make a mold of  it and sell a limited amount of the same sculpture-usually 10 if it’s in
bronze  or 25 if it’s in cold cast bronze)  The prospective client has seen the price of  a limited edition sculpture and they think it would cost about the same to have  their own child or grandchild made into a sculpture.  People are often shocked  at the price difference between a limited edition and commission work.  I quite  often feel a bit awkward as now I have to justify the price difference. 

When it comes to pricing a private commission, all of the costs of sculpting, mold making, casting, and installation have to be absorbed into the one sculpture instead of being spread out among all the pieces in an edition.  With a limited edition sculpture, if a mold costs one thousand dollars to make and I will be making ten sculptures in the edition, the price is divided over those ten pieces, so these cost of the mold making are now only $100 per casting.  The  sculpting fees are also deferred. 

Sometimes people ask me if I would use their child as the model and make it into a limited edition.  It depends on if I think the idea is marketable as a limited edition.  Sometimes it’s a great sculpture, but the child is specifically designed for a particular rock it is to be sitting on or some other  feature of its placement.  Sometimes there is just a very limited
clientele that  would be interested in purchasing a sculpture of a potential client’s specific  idea.  The large Yorkshire pig I sculpted last year has a pretty limited  clientele!  Not all pig farmers want a life-size bronze pig in their front  yard-though I think they should!  I also recall a four headed cobra that I cast  for a guy-where did that go and what are they using it for?

When I come up with an idea for a limited edition sculpture, I usually sculpt it on spec.  I think of an idea for a sculpture and how marketable I think it would be- if I don’t think enough people will  open their wallets to pay for it,  I can’t afford to sculpt it.  I always keep in the back of my mind that I have a  large family to support, mortgage and employees to pay! 

When I am hired by a client to sculpt their private commission, I become their employee for the duration of the time I am working on their sculpture.  Of  course there are many perks to getting your own design in a sculpture-but
the  client assume the responsibility of paying for all of my costs.  On the other  hand, with a limited edition, many people will ultimately share the cost of  being my provider!

I should note that there has been a time or two that somebody has approached me with a private commission and I have split them a great deal on the basis that I can make more than one because I see the possibility of selling more than  one.  For example, a client approached me with an idea of a landing eagle. I  thought that was a great idea, so instead of charging him for the whole cost of  one, I made him a deal which was quite a bit less.  It paid for my sculpting and  mold making.  I’ll sell about five or more eagles.  Another reason for wanting  to do an edition of this eagle is that if I was about to go to all the work of  sculpting all those wretched feathers, I might as well make a good buck at it!

A large portion of my sculpting is made up of private commissions and for that matter, public commissions as well.  I enjoy doing them as each is very different and I like the challenge of capturing the subject’s character and bringing the client’s idea to reality.  It all starts when I am approached by a client with an idea about a commission… and then the fun begins!


WHAT
The client usually takes a look at the sculptures I have already created and comes to me with a definite idea of the subject they would like sculpted: “I would like to have a statue of my grandchild/ child/ cat/ dog.”

WHERE
Now that we know the ‘what,’ we figure out the ‘where.’  I usually ask where they want it located and if they will be able to see it from a variety of locations.  The specific location may change the way it is sculpted.  The sculpture could be standing or sitting on a bench, a specific rock, a wall, or I  can provide a pedestal for it.  I’ve even sculpted one boy climbing up a flagpole with his shoes and socks in bronze at the bottom of the pole!  Details matter!

Where I live, we have a variety of seasons so we’re not always outside.  If the piece is to be outdoors, it is often best if it can be viewed equally well from the indoors so it brings enjoyment every day. 

HOW & OTHER DETAILS
Another question to think about is ‘How will the subject be interacting with its surroundings?  Will it be interacting with an animal, a (usually another) child or looking at something such as a pool or garden?’  The details of what the sculpture is doing will bring out its character.  

A few years back, I sculpted a clients two grandsons as toddlers.  Their personalities were very different from each other.  One was very sporty so he was sculpted playing with his favourite soccer ball and the other was very much into construction sites and dump trucks so I sculpted him riding on a big Tonka dump truck.

THE PROCESS BEGINS
Quite often the subject I’m going to sculpt has grown up.  The client often wants them sculpted when they were children.  I guess they were cuter then!  In these circumstances, we agree on a pose, the clothing and I go and find a model with the same body type and size.  I’ll take photos of the model in a couple of different poses and let the client decide which pose they like.  I then get as many photos of their child at the age they are to be sculpted and super impose that head to the body of the model.

Other times, especially with grandchildren, I’ll take photos of the individual or have a parent do that.  Then I’ll work right from these photos.  I  don’t do too much sculpting from a posing live model because nobody wants to sit  around for hours trying to hold a facial expression!  Sometimes after I’ve done  the bulk of the work, I’ll have the subject come in for a bit to do some final  touches.  Usually it’s the parent or grandparent that comes in and tells me to  tweek a little here and there until we’re done. 

Once the client is perfectly happy and has “signed off” or accepted the clay sculpture, this is the point where the transformation from clay to bronze begins.

MAKING THE MOLD
The mold making is next in the process.  This is the step of making a complete negative of the completed clay sculpture.  This usually takes about one  week to complete. 

CASTING
After the mold is prepared, the casting process takes place.  It’s a rather involved process that I’ll cover in another blog post, but you can see the basics on my website in a photo version.  It’s quite labour intensive and frankly, a royal pain in the ***!

DELIVERY AND INSTALLATION
The best part for me and the client is the delivery and installation of the sculpture.  This often happens several months after the process first began when  everything has finally come together.  My greatest compliment is when I exceed  my client’s expectations.