Live Portrait Illustration: How Does It Work?
Helen Ridley - Live Portrait Illustrator
Have you always wanted to know what happens when you book a live illustrator for your wedding or event?
I’ve put together this little guide to help you understand what I do a little better, and give you a bit of an insight into what happens when I create live illustrations.
Step 1 - Booking Your Illustrator
As live illustration is, as it says, ‘live’, so you will need to check an illustrator has availability for your event. Like many event and wedding suppliers, illustrators are likely to get booked up months in advance, so it makes sense to plan ahead!
If you’d like to book me to create portraits at your event, you can make an enquiry via email, or using the contact form on my Live Illustration page. Please make sure you specify the date and location of your event.
Step 2 - Getting Into The Detail
Once I’ve received your enquiry I will check my diary to see if I have availability for your dates, and if I do, I will share more details on what you can expect.
All of my live illustration bookings include the below elements as standard:
A5 Watercolour Portraits (head and shoulders) of as many of the guests as possible in the time frame
Materials and packaging for each original artwork
30 minutes set up / take down time at the venue
My day rate for live illustration work - i.e minimum 2.5 hour booking
The original illustrations being given as gifts to your guests
To help me put together your quote I will also ask for more information about your event including:
The type of venue your event will be at
How many guests you expect to have
How many hours you would like to book me for (I offer half day (2.5 hours) and full day (5 hours) packages)
What extra services you might be interested in i.e. Wedding Ceremony Illustrations, Cake and Flower Illustrations, Personalised Portrait Papers etc.
I also offer an opportunity for a 30 minute coffee and chat for us to meet and talk about the details of your event, and for you to find out more about what happens when you book me as a live illustrator.
3 - Finalising the Quote And Booking
Once you’ve shared more details on your event, and confirmed what extra services you would like, I will send over a quote for the booking. If you’re happy with the quote, I will send an invoice for a 25% booking fee, and this will secure your space in my diary.
2 weeks before your event I will send my invoice for the remaining fee, and then I will look forward to meeting you on the day of your event!
4 - What Happens On The Day
My booking times (half day and full day) include enough time for me to arrive and set up my equipment to start sketching your guests.
I will bring an easel, paints, brushes, paper and packaging for the portraits, as well as battery operated lighting if required.
I will need you to provide a table and 3 chairs, and to make sure these are set up in a well lit area so that I can capture your guests looking their best!
I will then work quickly to create live portraits of as many guests as possible using watercolours and fineliner pens on A5 paper. Each portrait takes me about 10-15 minutes to create. I can paint couples and groups of 3-4 as well if preferred.
I will set up a gallery of the portraits as I create them, and your guests will be able to collect them at the end of the day / my booking time.
If you have a specific list of guests you would like me to paint (i.e. the wedding party etc) then please make sure you give me a list of these individuals / couples in advance so I can make sure they don’t get missed off the list. If you are booking me for a wedding, I will always make sure I create a portrait of the happy couple first. I can also create a digital copy of this and send it to you to use for Thank You cards after your special day.
For the remaining portraits - guests can add their name to a list to make sure they have secured their spot.
I can paint portraits live if this is what guests would enjoy, but I can also take photos and work from these, if your guests want to continue partying / mingling. I’m happy to chat to your guests as I paint too.
Once I’ve created as many portraits as I can in the time frame (usually 10 + portraits for a 2.5 hour booking, and 20 + portraits for a 5 hour booking), I will make sure that all the portraits have been collected. If guests can’t be found to collect their portraits, I can arrange to send these to the event organiser / wedding couple in the post for you to send onto your guests at a later date.
5 - What Happens Next
Some clients also like to book me to create a few more portraits after the event so that they can send these as gifts to more guests at a later date. Depending on my schedule I can often accommodate this, so please let me know if this is something you would be interested in.
If you’re interested in using your bridal couple portrait for your thank you cards, I can scan the original portrait from your wedding day and send you a digital copy (as well as the original) so that you can use it for thank you cards.
Finally - I love hearing about your experience of booking me as a live illustrator, so it would be wonderful if you could leave me a review.
If all this has made you desperate to book me as a live illustrator at your next event, then please fill in the form below!
