How to Write an Art Commission Contract (2026) – Easy Template

Writing an art commission contract means turning every verbal promise into a written term: what gets made, what it costs, how many changes are included, when payment is due, and who owns the copyright. Build it from the clauses below, and start work only once the signature and the deposit are both in.

It is not legal advice, and contract law varies by state and country. What follows is the plain-language template structure independent artists use most often, plus the places where a lawyer genuinely earns their fee.

Updated for 2026.

What You Need

Gather this before you open a blank document. Drafting a contract is mostly transcribing decisions you have already made, and the drafting goes fast when the facts are in front of you.

The project facts

• A description of the work. Subject, size, medium, materials, orientation, palette, and whether the piece is on canvas, panel, paper, or textile.
• The commission brief or reference images, plus who owns those images and whether anyone in them can be recognised.
• A realistic timeline measured in weeks from the date the deposit clears, not from the day the client asks.
• Your price and your costs — materials, framing, crating, shipping, insurance, and installation labour, all kept as separate line items.

The client facts

• Their full legal name (a business or estate name, not a social handle) and a permanent email address.
• Who signs and who approves the work. On a corporate or municipal job those are often two different people.
• How they intend to use the piece — a wall at home, a lobby, a printed campaign, a product, a website header.

The business bits

• A deposit percentage and payment schedule you are comfortable defending.
• A signing method — a free e-signature tool, a signed PDF, or a printed copy scanned and returned.
• An invoice template, so money terms live in one document and obligations live in another.
• Your business name, address and contact details to put on the signature block.

On r/artbusiness, the most repeated advice is unglamorous and worth following: put the invoice and every expected fee in writing up front, and never hand over the finished work before the final payment lands.

How to Write an Art Commission Contract Step by Step

Work through these steps in order. Each one produces a section you will reuse on the next commission, so the second contract you write takes an afternoon rather than a weekend.

Step 1: Name the parties and identify the project

Open with the full legal names of artist and client, the project title, and the date. Give the project a reference number so every later email, invoice and shipping label points at the same job.

Check it works: a stranger can read the first page and tell who is making what, for whom.

Step 2: Describe the work in concrete detail

Size and medium go first: a 40 by 30 inch oil on stretched canvas, an 18 by 24 inch mixed-media collage on birch panel. Then subject, palette, and any named elements the client cares about.

Check it works: nothing in the description could reasonably be read two ways. Replace “a nice painting of the family” with a sentence naming composition, background and framing intent.

Step 3: Define scope, and list what is excluded

Scope is the set of things you are delivering. Exclusion is the sentence that saves you: no additional subjects, no changes of palette after sketch approval, no rush handling unless agreed in writing.

Check it works: you can point to three requests a client might make that this contract answers before you start arguing.

Step 4: Set price, deposit and payment schedule

State the total fee, the deposit taken at signing, any milestone payment, and the balance due before delivery or release of the work. Say when the clock starts: on receipt of the deposit.

Check it works: the numbers reconcile. Deposit plus milestones equals the total, and every figure matches your invoice.

Step 5: Write the approval and revision clause

Two rounds of revisions are standard: one after the preliminary sketch and one after the first colour pass. Say that approval must be given in writing, by email, and that silence for seven days counts as approval.

Check it works: there is a defined moment where the client has to respond, and a defined consequence if they never do.

Step 6: Price out-of-scope changes

Set a change fee per hour or per stage so scope creep has a number attached. Something like an hourly rate for out-of-scope work, plus a restatement of the delivery date after any change.

Check it works: a change is never free and never silent.

Step 7: Cover delivery, insurance and ownership

Say who frames, who crated, who insures the piece in transit, who installs it, and what happens to the work physically if the client does not pay the balance. Copyright language goes here too, along with your portfolio rights.

Check it works: the sentence “the client owns the physical artwork once the balance is paid in full” sits right next to the sentence about what the artist keeps.

Step 8: Sign it, date it, and archive it

Both parties sign with a date. Save the signed copy where the client will not lose it and you can find it in three years — the job folder, not the downloads folder.

Check it works: the deposit and the signature arrive before the first sketch.

The 12 Clauses Every Art Commission Contract Needs

This numbered list is the whole checklist. Each clause exists because leaving it out creates a specific, common problem.

1. Parties and project identification — full legal names, contacts, project title, date.
2. Description of the work — subject, size, medium, materials, orientation.
3. Scope of work and exclusions — what is included, and what is not.
4. Price — the total commission fee, stated once.
5. Deposit and payment schedule — percentages, milestones, when the balance is due.
6. Timeline and delay handling — start date, estimated completion, what happens when a date slips.
7. Approval process and rounds of revisions — how many, what counts as approval, in writing.
8. Change fees for out-of-scope work — an hourly rate and a revised timeline.
9. Delivery, shipping, framing and installation — who does what, who insures it in transit.
10. Cancellation and kill fee — what each side owes if either walks away.
11. Copyright, ownership and portfolio rights — who owns what, and what you may show publicly.
12. Signature block, date and governing law — two signatures, two dates, one named state or country.

How to Write an Art Commission Contract Clauses

Copy this structure into your own document and replace every bracketed placeholder. The wording below is a starting point for a private client, not a substitute for review by a lawyer in your state.

ART COMMISSION AGREEMENT

This Art Commission Agreement ("Agreement") is made on [DATE] between [ARTIST LEGAL NAME] ("Artist") of [ADDRESS] and [CLIENT LEGAL NAME] ("Client") of [ADDRESS].

1. PROJECT
Project title: [TITLE]   Reference no.: [NUMBER]
Description of the work: [SIZE] [MEDIUM] on [SUPPORT]. Subject and composition: [DETAIL]. Palette and background: [DETAIL]. Framing: [FRAMED BY ARTIST / SUPPLIED BY CLIENT / NOT INCLUDED].

2. SCOPE OF WORK
Included: [LIST, e.g. one preliminary sketch, two revision rounds, varnish, studio wrap].
Excluded: additional subjects, palette changes after written sketch approval, framing, crating, shipping and installation unless listed in section 9.

3. PRICE AND PAYMENT
Total commission fee: [AMOUNT].
Deposit: [PERCENT] of the total, non-refundable, due on signing and before any work begins.
Milestone payment: [PERCENT / none], due [EVENT].
Balance: due [PERCENT] before delivery or release of the finished work.
Late payment: a fee of [RATE] per month applies to overdue balances. Work is not released or shipped until the balance is paid in full.

4. TIMELINE
Estimated completion: [DATE], calculated from the date the deposit is received. Time begins only after written approval of this Agreement and payment of the deposit.
If the Client does not respond to an approval request within [NUMBER] days, the stage is deemed approved. Delays caused by late approvals, late references, or out-of-scope changes move the completion date accordingly.

5. APPROVAL AND REVISIONS
The Artist will provide [SKETCHES / PROGRESS IMAGES] at the following stages: [LIST STAGES].
Two rounds of revisions are included. A round is one consolidated set of written comments per stage. Approval must be given in writing by email. Once a stage is approved in writing, further changes to that stage are out of scope and billed at [HOURLY RATE] per hour, with the completion date revised.

6. CHANGE ORDERS
Any requested change to scope, size, medium, subject or delivery date must be requested in writing. The Artist will confirm the fee and revised date in writing before the change begins.

7. CANCELLATION AND KILL FEE
If the Client cancels before work begins, the deposit is retained as a cancellation fee.
If the Client cancels after [STAGE], the Artist is paid [PERCENT] of the total fee as a kill fee for work completed and time reserved; where that is less than the deposit already paid, the deposit stands.
If the Artist is unable to complete the project, the Client is refunded any amounts paid beyond work already completed and approved.

8. DELIVERY, SHIPPING AND INSTALLATION
Delivery method: [METHOD]. Cost of shipping, crating, insurance and installation: borne by the Client, invoiced at cost.
The work is insured by [PARTY] while in transit. Risk passes to the Client on [DELIVERY / RECEIPT].
The Client provides safe and reasonable access for installation and is responsible for any removal of fixtures or obstacles.

9. COPYRIGHT, OWNERSHIP AND USE
Copyright in the artwork remains with the Artist. On payment of the balance in full, the Client owns the physical artwork.
Reproduction rights are not included unless stated here: [NONE / LIMITED USE DETAILS / LICENCE ATTACHED AS ADDENDUM].
The Artist may photograph the work and display it in a portfolio, website, social media, exhibitions and promotional material, and may describe the commission.
If the Client requires exclusive rights, sole ownership of copyright, or use of the artwork in advertising, product, or broadcast, that is licensed separately at [FEE] and does not transfer copyright ownership.
The Client confirms it holds the right to supply any photographs, logos or likenesses used as reference material.

10. GENERAL
This Agreement is the entire agreement between the parties. Changes are only valid in writing. Governing law: the laws of [STATE / COUNTRY].
Disputes: [OPTIONAL — mediation before any legal action].

SIGNED:
Artist: ______________________  Date: __________
Client: ______________________  Date: __________

WORK COMPLETED AND ACCEPTED (second sign-off)
The Client confirms the work is accepted as complete. Further changes are billed at [HOURLY RATE].
Client: ______________________  Date: __________

Two details in that template do most of the protecting. The deemed approval sentence stops a project stalling because a client stopped replying, and the second signature block closes the “I just don’t like it” gap after delivery — a problem that shows up constantly in artist communities.

How to Adapt the Template by Commission Type

• Portrait and pet portrait. Add the number of subjects, the number of reference photos you will work from, and a line on artistic variance: the finished piece will resemble the approved sketch, and texture, brushwork and colour shift slightly as part of the medium.
• Wedding and anniversary gift. Set a hard delivery date tied to the event, and say who is responsible for holding the finished piece until the recipient has it. Gift commissions are where a missed date hurts most.
• Commercial, brand or licensing work. Separate the making fee from the use fee. Price the licence by scope: organic social use, paid advertising, print runs, packaging, point of sale, or full buyout, with a term in months or years and a territory. A full buyout of a finished piece is worth a multiple of the making fee, and you keep copyright unless you are deliberately transferring it.
• Mural, public or corporate work. Add site preparation, wall repairs, lift access, permits, insurance certificates, indemnity, and a maintenance clause. Institutional buyers often pay most of the fee on execution of the agreement — a Salt Lake City public art sample pays 85 percent on signing — so read the payment order carefully rather than assuming a 50 percent split.
• Client-supplied or AI-generated references. State that the Client warrants they hold the rights to every image supplied, and that machine-generated reference material will not be traced or reproduced in the finished piece.

How to Send It, Sign It, and Handle a Client Who Balked

Send the contract as a PDF for review, then switch the same file into an e-signature tool so both signatures land in one place with timestamps. A typed contract signed electronically is a written contract; no lawyer and no notary is required for a private commission in most US states, though requirements differ by country and by the type of project.

For small jobs, cut a one-page version. Keep the description of the work, the total fee, a 50 percent non-refundable deposit, balance before delivery, two revision rounds, written approval, the copyright and portfolio sentence, cancellation, and two signature lines. Drop the milestones, the change-order section and the installation detail.

If a client refuses to sign, do not start. Say plainly that the deposit and the signature are what hold your slot, and that the work begins when both are in hand. If they still will not, walk away — a client who will not put anything in writing is the client who will not pay the balance. Several artists in r/ArtistLounge describe this as the moment they stopped losing money on commission work.

Common Mistakes

Almost every bad commission traces back to one of these. Each has a simple fix.

Vague descriptions of the work

“A painting of my family, your choice” leaves you liable for an outcome nobody agreed to. Fix: specify size, medium, composition, background, palette direction, and the number of subjects. Attach the approved sketch as part of the agreement.

Unlimited or undefined revisions

Clients who commission rarely know what they want, and open-ended revision language turns that into unpaid hours. Fix: two rounds, one consolidated set of comments per stage, approved in writing, with deemed approval after a set number of days.

No change fee for out-of-scope work

The most-cited disaster pattern: a sketch gets approved, then the client changes the background colour and a sweater colour, and a painting three-quarters finished goes back to bare canvas. Fix: an hourly rate for anything outside the approved sketch, plus a revised completion date, both confirmed in writing before work continues.

Missing or soft cancellation terms

Without a kill fee, cancelling client leaves you with a non-refundable deposit dispute or, worse, nothing. Fix: tiered percentages by stage — deposit retained before work begins, then a stated percentage of the fee at each later stage.

Over-broad work-for-hire language

“Work made for hire” is a narrow legal category, and blanket versions of it can hand over copyright you wanted to keep. Fix: state plainly that copyright stays with the artist, that the client owns the physical piece once the balance is paid, and that any broader use is a separate licence with its own term, territory and fee.

Contract terms tangled into the invoice

Mixing obligations with line items means every invoice becomes a contract negotiation, and amendments happen in email instead of on paper. Fix: keep the two documents separate, with a reference number linking them.

Skipping the completion sign-off

Fix: add the second signature block at delivery. It is the cheapest protection in the whole document.

Belongs in the contract	Belongs on the invoice
Scope, exclusions, revision limits	Deposit amount due today
Copyright, portfolio and licensing rights	Balance due before delivery
Cancellation and kill fee percentages	Shipping, crating and insurance at cost
Approval process and deemed approval	Out-of-scope labour to date
Governing law and signatures	Payment details and due date

As a rough benchmark, the 50 percent non-refundable deposit is the community norm, and clients cancel less often once they have already paid it.

Commission type	Deposit	Revisions included	Balance due
Small or quick piece	50% at signing	2 rounds	Before delivery
Portrait or pet portrait	50% at signing	2 rounds, one per stage	Before delivery
Large piece, many weeks	50% at signing, 25% at sketch approval	2 rounds	Before delivery
Commercial or licensed use	50% plus the licence fee at signing	2 rounds	Before release of files
Mural, public or corporate	As the buyer requires; many pay most of the fee on execution	2 rounds plus a site-visit revision	On completion, before handover

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Build one reusable template this week, fill in every bracketed placeholder on a real past commission so you can see which sections earn their place, and trim the rest to a one-page version for small work.

Then attach it to every inquiry that arrives, take the deposit before the first sketch, and add the completion sign-off at handover. Three habits, and most of the commission horror stories simply have nowhere to happen.