Commissions
Commissions can be custom tailored to your particular situation. Whether you are interested in a single piece or a collection of related works, I'm always glad to discuss your ideas and needs. Corporate or organization commissions are also welcomed. Below are some recent examples of commissions I've undertaken, to help you envision what might fit your needs.
Organizational Commissions
A recent project has been to create a number of oil paintings featuring various holes on the golf course at Centre Hills Country Club, in State College, Pennsylvania. A couple of these pieces are shown below. Golf courses have a unique kind of beauty, combining carefully manicured surfaces and shapes with natural border areas.

"Centre Hills Country Club, Hole 18, Morning"
Alkyd oil on panel 18" by 24" 2007
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"Centre Hills Country Club, Hole 5, Evening"
Alkyd oil on panel 18" by 24" 2007
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Current 2007 price ranges for golf course or similar paintings, framed and ready to hang, are as follows:
8" by 10" image area: $250-350 12" by 16" image area: $450-600 12" by 24" image area: $650-850
18" by 24" image area: $850-1050 24" by 36" image area: $1500-1900
The 3 pieces below were completed recently for The Wildlands Conservancy in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The two smaller paintings were done on site, en plein air, in early May. The larger piece was then done in the studio, working from the earlier studies, photographs, and memory. All three will be auctioned off at the Conservancy's annual fundraising dinner auction in November.

"Lehigh Falls, Afternoon Light", plein air
Alkyd oil on panel 9" by 12" 2006
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"Lehigh Falls, Early Morning Fog", plein air
Alkyd oil on panel 11" by 14" 2006
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"Lehigh Falls, May Afternoon"
Alkyd oil on panel 18" by 24" 2006
A Family Farmstead
In this instance, the two grown children of the current owners of a long-time family farmstead wanted to have a painting done as a gift for their parents, who currently reside there. I suggested that, since I would like to do plein air studies on site as well as take photographs, the commission be for a larger studio peice for the parents and a small plein air painting for each of the two commissioning the work. They liked the idea and we agreed on a price, with the finished pieces being framed and ready to hang.
I traveled to the site, a couple of hours from home in eastern Pennsylvania, at the end of April when the blush of new spring growth was on the trees and fields. After arriving and walking around the property to familiarize myself with the lay of the land, I painted during the late afternoon and evening, stayed overnight, and painted again for several hours the next morning. I was actually able to complete 4 plein air pieces, giving them a number to choose from, with the option to purchase any of the extras if they wished. The four studies are shown below.

"Sunlit Bank Along Deep Creek", plein air
Alkyd oil on panel 9" by 12" 2006
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"Hilltop View - Evening", plein air
Alkyd oil on panel 9" by 12" 2006
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"Early Morning Fencerow", plein air
Alkyd oil on canvas panel 8" by 10" 2006
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"Hilltop View - Morning ", plein air
Alkyd oil on panel 9" by 12" 2006
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I then posted the four studies on a web page for the families to view. They decided which view and time of day they prefered for the larger studio piece, and another family member commissioned an additional smaller studio painting. Both are shown below. The larger piece is done with greater detailing, but the request was that the smaller one be done in much the same looser style as the plein air studies.

"Hilltop View - Evening", studio
Alkyd oil on panel 16" by 20 " 2006

"Hilltop View - Evening", studio, in plein air style
Alkyd oil on panel 9" by 12 " 2006
In the end, one family member purchased one of the two extra studies after seeing the work in person, and another has commissioned an additional larger studio painting showing the same scene in later summer and with some changes to make it historically accurate to the years when he was growing up and spent many summer days there. We will even add the old 1953 Chevy pickup truck he learned to drive in!
Working from Photographs
This commission was a college graduation gift for the client's daughter, who spent half a year in New Zealand as part of her studies and took a lot of photographs while there. The client brought the photos on a CD-ROM and we looked at them together. Luckily, the daughter is an excellent photographer, so there was no problem finding good material to work from. In fact, there were so many great shots that we eventually settled on two modest size pieces rather than one larger one. In working only from photos, I took a somewhat more realistic approach than in many of my pieces. The client was very happy with the finished paintings and reports are that the daughter was, as well, when she received them.

"Church of the Good Shepherd"
Alkyd oil on panel 11" by 14 " 2006
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"Friends Along the Coastline- New Zealand"
Alkyd oil on panel 11" by 14" 2006
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Contact the artist at karl@keleitzel.com
page last updated 8/23/07
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