I really enjoy working with  clients to compose and paint a "one of a kind" art piece. Commissioned paintings are generally more personal than other paintings you may have acquired in galleries or art shows because they depict scenes or places that have a special memory for you.  I complete a number of commissions each year and work directly with the client to use photos they have available, sometimes supplemented by photos I have or ones in the public domain. I normally use a computer based "photo-paint" software program to work out a series of composition alternatives and review them with the client until we have one with which we are both comfortable, both in size and in composition. I generally work in oils or pastels.