In the past, I’ve turned down commissioned work requests. It struck me as that I wanted to make art with my own messaging, and commissions would get in the way of that.

But lately, I’ve started working on a commissioned piece. Given that this subject matter was interesting and it was a friend of mine, I decided to give it a go and try it out. After all, a number of my fellow Instagram artists seem to be doing commissioned work. Maybe there was something to it.

I have found it interesting to intensely study something different than the direction I was thinking of taking with some of my latest series. It is almost like how having homework in classes provides some direction to what I am to create next.

I feel often that I have to have a connection with the artwork I am making for it to be something worth making. Otherwise, a crucial element of the piece will be missing. I would be doing the piece solely for financial gain, rather than trying to convey something in the piece. I worry that without that connection to the commissioned piece, I would not capture the essence of what was sought to be conveyed in the painting.

It is similar to the issue I had with deciding what I would make for my first art show. Would I make things that I thought would sell well? Would I instead be true to my own voice of what I wanted to make?

In the end, I don’t think it was as significant of a dichotomy. I did enjoy making pieces of scenes in Toronto, and paintings of animals I’ve encountered. It allowed me to come across other art that I wanted to convey with my Malaysia series.

With every young artist, I suspect that it takes time to figure out a style and to continue to work on the craft. It is an ongoing journey, like most things in life.