Matt Shanks: Small adventures in words and pictures
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Your custom artwork

You’re here because you’re awesome and you think I am too, so, first of all, thanks. By this time, you already know how much a commission will cost (it’s currently $350AU + shipping) so here’s a bit about my process. There’s basically 5 stages that every piece goes through.

1. Your brief

The brief forms the basis for any ideas I come up with. It usually involves some words and photos from you. The looser the brief, the better it is for me and your final artwork. An example of a brief might be: “I have a friend who has a 2 year old girl named Marla. They went to the zoo last week and she learned to roar. Now she roars at any stranger she meets.” This, along with some photos, or a link to a public Instagram or Facebook feed is usually all I need to get started. Photos that identify hair colour, favourite clothing/food/toys or activites are really helpful for both of us.

2. The idea

Once I’ve got your brief, I just let it sit in my brain for a while until a few ideas come. I’m never sure how long it takes for the idea to come (it’s kind of the fun part) but usually within a couple of weeks I’ve got some sketches in a notebook ready to work up in to final art. Sometimes the picture comes to me first, sometimes the story. One thing is for certain, working with no deadline takes the pressure off me a little bit and always ends up in something more fun.

3. Final art & story

Once I’ve committed to the final art it usually means that I’m really happy with it. The theory is that if I’m happy with it, and you like my other work, then I’m pretty confident you’re going to be happy with it too. This is often the shortest part of the process thanks to all the time that gets used up in the thinking stage.

4. Deciding to buy

Once the final art is done, I take a few hi-res photographs and send them to you. From that point, you’ll have two options; you can choose to buy it because you’re as happy with it as I am, or, you can choose not to buy it, in which case you don’t spend any money and I still end up with a pretty awesome original artwork that I’m happy with and can probably sell on my store as a print anyway. It’s a win win.

5. Shipping & Payment

If you’ve decided to buy it, I’m thrilled. We can organise an address to ship to and I can give you a final cost inclusive of shipping. I send all my artwork in the same, safe and secure way so it arrives to you unharmed and virtually ready to frame. It’s always rolled in some clean white tissue paper so it doesn’t get marked. Then it’s placed in a standard Australia Post mail tube. It’s then all taped up and off to the post office to get to you. I acccept payment via PayPal or Direct Bank Transfer and I can send you those details once it’s done.

And that’s it really. I hope that makes sense and sounds like a bit of fun for you because it sure is fun for me. If you’ve got any questions, feel free to email me at hi@mattshanks.com.au. But, before you do, here’s a few other things you may ask:

So, how long does the whole thing take?

This is really tough question, and something I can’t really control. Sometimes, as soon as I hear the brief, ideas start flowing and I’ve done pieces within one week. In the past, other times it’s taken up to 12 weeks (yep, 12 weeks!). I wish I had more control but these things just take time.

What if I need it for a special occassion?

The short answer is to ask really really really early. If you’re looking to give it as a birthday, christmas present or for some other occassion then I can’t really promise that I’ll have it ready.