What to Know Before Buying Your First Original Painting

Most first-time buyers come in worried they will get it wrong. Wrong size. Wrong color. Wrong room. I want to clear that up right away, because it is the thing that keeps people from pulling the trigger on a painting they actually want.

Go bigger than you think you should.

This is the single most consistent mistake I see. A painting that looks large on a screen disappears on a wall. Before you decide on anything, tape out the dimensions with painter's tape and live with it for a day. Just the tape. You will know within an hour whether the scale is right. My larger canvases, the 40x50s and 48x60s, are built to own a wall. That is not an accident. Small paintings in large rooms feel apologetic.

Light is not a detail.

Original paintings are not static objects. The surface changes depending on the time of day, the season, the bulbs you are using. A painting made in Florida morning light will look entirely different in a Chicago apartment under warm evening lamps. That is not a problem. That is part of what you are paying for. The painting keeps showing you something new.

If you have looked at the same piece four times, that is not indecision. That is taste working correctly. The people who have been happiest with their purchases almost always bought the painting they could not stop thinking about. Not the one that made the most logical sense for the room. Logic is a bad curator.

What should you ask before buying an original painting?

Ask for more photos. Close-up shots that show the texture and how the surface was built. Ask how the piece looks in different light. Ask about the size in relation to a specific wall if you are not sure. I can also put together a room mockup if that helps you see it in context. None of that costs anything and there is no pressure attached to it.

If you have been looking at a painting and something keeps pulling you back, reach out. I respond to every message myself.