Portrait Contracts

[Andrea Evans]

I just read the forum message posted by Mary Reilly in July - Question about painting a casual acquaintance, model's release. The message was answered by Chris Saper. I have been using the book by Tad Crawford, Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists, and there is a fairly simple model's release form to use. Is this a good form to use? Also, I had used the form "Contract to Commission an Artwork" from this same book for a client who was an attorney. Of course, she skimmed through all four pages, we signed, and I completed the portrait with no problems. However, before contracting for the next portrait, I read through this form and its accompanying explanations in the book so that I could explain it to my client. I could not easily understand it, and I did not know how to modify it to meet our specific needs.

That is when I found Peggy Baumgartner's contract posted on your forum site. Great simplicity! Wonderful! However, it did not contain a paragraph so that the artist will have permission to use the painting for portfolio, website, display, etc. Any suggestions? Many thanks for this opportunity to ask.