Sitting for portrait sculpture or commissioning portraiture
If you wish to discuss sitting for a portrait, the following points may be useful.

Ethos
I am a sculptor whose body of work includes sensitive studies of the head. I feel that the majority of traditional portrait sculpture and public sculpture lacks vitality and sensitivity.

Location
Sitters are welcome to travel to studios in West Sussex or SW London. Sittings can be conducted at a location of your choice, for which basic travel costs should be allowed; the time involved in travelling is not an issue. Where an overnight stay is required, I am happy to be put up in a simple manner or to find nearby accommodation with your agreement.

Timescales
Working quickly and intensely and avoiding repeated, perhaps infrequent, sittings allows a chance of capturing some essence of the sitter 'at that point in time'. Lifesize portrait sketches have been completed in 4 hours but an optimum arrangement would allow 3 or 4 sittings: am, pm (2 hours each) and a following morning with two shorter sessions of an hour or so… 6 or 7 hours in all, with sitters rising whenever they need a break. There is a fine balance between the immediacy/spontaneity of a shorter sketch study with the greater accuracy of a longer sitting; a longer sitting may not produce a more successful work.

The sitter
Sitters should think about how they feel most comfortable to sit. Are spectacles inseparably part of the character of the person? Does a particular hairstyle characterise the sitter better than others? For the sculptor, needing to see the structure of the neck (for sitters with long hair) and around the eyes and nose (wearers of glasses) is very important at some points during the sitting. 

Concentration
Sitters do not need to be wholly still and they might wish to talk (even to someone else in the room) whilst the sculptor works. Where no one else is present, sitters need to understand that it is essential for the sculptor to enter a higher level of concentration for the work to develop, especially towards the end of the sittings. This will not be at all times, but some silences are beneficial.

Sittings
I always work directly from the sitter, who (ideally) sits on a rotating chair on a raised dais.
The factors to be considered for a sitting include:
good light but not direct sunlight; a comfortable/cool location for sitter and sculptor
a floor which will tolerate small bits of clay/clay dust and the movement of the sculptor over the aforementioned for several hours. (A dust sheet can be supplied)
the ability for the sculptor to get around the sitter/stand and to get back from the work 

Material
When the job is hollowed and then kiln fired, a terra cotta (fired earth) is produced. Whilst strong, these are often considered too fragile for the typical movements and possible mishaps which will occur through the family generations, which is why bronzes - which faithfully record exact detail of the original - are cast. Bronze casting by the lost wax process is involved and labour intensive. Foundry and associated costs typically account for a third of a commission fee.
I specify a small limited edition (often three), so that there is always a possibility of another cast for other family members or for public or institutional acquisitions. (e.g. National Portrait Gallery or museums) Terracotta originals are retained in the sculptor's archive; if a client specifically requests the terracotta original, then fees are approximately two-thirds that of a bronze.  

Invitations to sit
I occasionally make contact with people inviting them to sit ‘without obligation’ if a sitter is happy for a portrait work to be exhibited. All travelling expenses would be covered by the sculptor and photographs provided as well as a temporary loan of the finished terracotta. The intention behind invitations is for the potential of a future public or institutional purchase - not a canvassing of the sitter. However, if a bronze were to be requested, this would be suitably discounted.

Privacy
Sitters may not wish works to be publicised; for instance on the sculptor's website archive or perhaps through loan to a future solo exhibition. Such wishes are respected, but the sculptor needs to be told if this is indeed the case.

What to expect
People commissioning portrait sculpture often know the sitter well. It is a intense experience sitting and sitters may not be used to seeing their own 'non-mirror' image, let alone be seen as others see them. For me, portraiture is about a degree of distortion that occurs between the artist's eyes 'seeing' and hands 'doing' which is quite subconscious; but which makes each work part of me as much as the sitter. Pleasing or memorable shapes remain in the 'bank of forms' in the mind, and may come out years afterwards in carvings or other work. It is good idea for commissioner, sitter and sculptor to discuss 'expectation' at an early stage to ensure everyone is aware of how the process develops.

I don't like the portrait...
Sitters may not like works initially. They may yield challenging truths about our own mortality and ageing, or show us in a light or with a character that we are not used to. In the rare case that after living with a work for a period, this still proves to be a problem, I may agree to work on a second bust. It would not be better or worse - just different; as a result of the developing relationship with/knowledge of the sitter. The original bust would remain in the collection of the artist. I have never yet undertaken this option!

Payment
Typically one third prior and the balance on delivery of work.