Commissions

When I acquire a commission, I send my client a contract which requires a small amount of the total fee as a down payment and I arrange to come and take detailed initial photographs of my subject. Then, on an armature I start a very rough portrait using Roma Plastellina, an oil based very fine clay, which doesn’t harden. When I have a very rough likeness of my subject, I make an appointment with her or him for a sitting. There will be approximately 10 to 15 sittings lasting approximately 1 hour each. I play music that is pleasing to my client and sometimes we engage in conversation as we get to know each other. The whole process of making the portrait will take anywhere from 40 to 120 hours. 

            The portrait is only finished when both my client and I are satisfied with it. At this point I take the sculpture to be cast at Sculpture House Casting in Long Island City for the casting process. The foundry will then make a positive wax impression of the work which I will come and check and work on if it needs it. Then the wax positive will be used to make a mold for the bronze which will be cast. The piece is now ready for the patina – the color which will be applied by an expert in that process. The client will come with me to the foundry to choose the color of the patina and to witness its application. This is very exciting for me and for the client because the “mood” of the portrait will change moment to moment and as the various layers of the patina are applied.  The client, with my advice, has the final word on the color of the patina. When the application of the patina is satisfactorily finished, the piece is ready to be mounted on a base, be it marble or wooden or any other medium which my client and I will have chosen.

For more information about commission work, whether bronze, collage, or collage installation. Please contact us at: info@CristinaBiaggi.com.