Terms of commission and sale

Last updated: 13 September 2026

These terms explain how a portrait commission, a print of your portrait and a gift voucher work, and what happens if something goes wrong. I have kept them short and plain. Nothing in them takes away your legal rights as a consumer.

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1. Who I am

I am Paul Davies, a sole trader, trading as Paul Davies Studio (registered business name no. 794194, Companies Registration Office, Ireland).

• Based in: Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. My full postal address and phone number are in every quote email, before you pay anything.
• Email: paul@pauldaviesstudio.com
• VAT: I am not registered for VAT, so there is no VAT to add to my prices.

I reply by email, usually within two working days.

2. How a commission works

1. You send me a photograph. I tell you honestly whether it will make a good portrait. That conversation is free and you are not committed to anything.
2. I send you a quote by email. It sets out the size, the finish, the price, postage, the photograph we are using, the expected timing and a link to these terms. Instagram is fine for a first chat, but I confirm everything by email so you have a copy.
3. You pay the deposit. Paying the 50% deposit means you accept the quote and these terms. I confirm your booking by email.
4. I draw. I take three commissions at a time. Your portrait takes 6 to 8 weeks from the day we agree the photograph. I email you when I start drawing.
5. You see it before you pay the balance. I send you a photograph of the finished drawing (see section 6).
6. You pay the balance and I post it, signed and flat.

Each portrait is of one person. For anything else (two people, a pet, a size larger than A3) I will quote separately, and the same terms apply.

3. Prices and what is included

The price is the same for both finishes:

• Signature style. The construction grid and the raw, unfinished edges stay visible on purpose. They are part of the finished work, not a flaw.
• Fully rendered. Everything resolved, with no visible working.

The price includes the drawing, my signature and careful flat packaging.

Postage. Posting within Ireland is included, tracked and insured. For anywhere else, we agree the postage when you commission, before you pay the deposit. Either way, you will know the full price, including postage, before you pay anything.

4. Payment and deposit

• I ask for a 50% deposit by Revolut or bank transfer to book your portrait. I send the payment details by email only. I will never ask you to pay anyone else.
• The balance is due after you have seen the photograph of the finished drawing and before I post it.
• If you do not pay the balance within 30 days of my photograph, I will remind you. If I still hear nothing after a further 30 days, I will treat the commission as cancelled by you under section 5, and I keep the drawing.

5. Changing your mind and cancelling

The 14 day cooling off period does not apply to commissions. Each portrait is made to your own order, from your photograph, of a person you choose. The law does not give a 14 day right to cancel goods made to the buyer's specifications or clearly personalised. I am telling you this before you book so it is not a surprise. Instead, this is what I offer:

I will always tell you by email the day I start drawing, so it is clear which row applies.

6. Seeing it before you pay the balance

When the drawing is finished I email you a clear photograph of it before I ask for the balance.

• Small adjustments are included. If something does not match the photograph we agreed (for example the shape of an eye, the line of a jaw, or a mark that should not be there), tell me and I will adjust it. Up to two rounds of small adjustments are included.
• What is not an adjustment. Switching between the signature style and fully rendered, starting again from a different photograph, or a change of mind about the style you chose. I am happy to quote for these as a new commission.
• Style is not a fault. Graphite has a natural sheen, and in the signature style the grid and edges show on purpose. A drawing that matches the photograph, the size and the finish we agreed, and the quality you see in my portfolio, is what you ordered.
• If I cannot get it right. If, after a fair attempt, I cannot get the likeness right, I will refund your deposit in full and keep the drawing.
• If you decide not to go ahead even though the drawing matches what we agreed, that counts as cancelling after I started drawing (section 5).

7. Timing and delivery

• Your portrait takes 6 to 8 weeks from the day we agree the photograph, plus posting time. I will tell you if that changes.
• Deadlines. If you need it by a particular date, tell me before you book. If I agree that date in writing and then miss it, you can cancel and I will refund everything you have paid. For Christmas, the last date to book and agree a photograph is 31 October.
• If I am running late on any other commission, I will tell you. You can give me a reasonable extra time, or cancel and get a full refund if I miss that too.
• I post portraits flat and protected, using a tracked service, and I insure each parcel for its value where the postal service allows it.

8. Loss or damage in the post

The portrait is my responsibility until you, or the person you asked me to send it to, receive it.

If it arrives damaged or does not arrive:

• Please tell me as soon as you can, and send photographs of the drawing and the packaging if it is damaged. This helps me claim from the postal service. It does not limit your rights.
• I will offer to redraw it from the same photograph (a new 6 to 8 week slot, at no cost to you), or refund everything you paid, including postage. Your choice.

The only exception is if you arrange your own courier to collect it from me, and it was not a courier I suggested. In that case the portrait becomes your responsibility when I hand it over, and any claim is against your courier.

9. Faults

You have legal rights if anything I sell you is faulty or not as described. In short:

• If you tell me about a fault within 30 days of receiving it, you can reject it and get a full refund.
• After that, I will put it right. For an original drawing that usually means a repair or a redraw. If that is not possible or does not work, you can have a partial or full refund.
• These rights last up to six years. Nothing in these terms affects them.

A fault is something like a tear, a crease, a smudge or a mark that was not in the photograph I sent you, or damage caused before delivery. Graphite can smudge if touched, so please handle the drawing by its edges and frame it behind glass. Damage after delivery is not a fault.

More about your rights: ccpc.ie.

10. Your photograph and permission

By sending me a photograph to draw from, you confirm that:

• you took it, or you have permission from whoever did to have a drawing made from it (professional photographs often have terms about this, so please check), and
• you are comfortable for me to make a portrait of the person in it.

I use your photograph only to make your portrait. I will never publish your photograph itself without asking you first. If someone tells me they own the copyright in a photograph and objects, I may need to pause and talk to you before going on. I will not charge you for that conversation.

Photographs of children, and of people who have died, are welcome. I treat them with care (see section 11 and the privacy notice).

11. Copyright, and how I share my work

• You own the drawing. Once you have paid in full and it has arrived, the physical drawing is yours to frame, display, give away or sell.
• I keep the copyright. Under Irish law the artist owns the copyright in a drawing unless it is signed over in writing. You are welcome to photograph your portrait and share it for personal, non commercial purposes (tagging @pauldaviesstudio is always appreciated). Please do not make prints, cards or other products from it, use it commercially, or alter it and publish the result, without my written permission. If you want prints, I make them for you (section 13).
• Credit. I have a legal right to be named as the artist when the work is shown publicly, and to object to it being altered in a way that harms my reputation.
• Sharing your portrait. Nothing from your commission is posted online, whether work in progress or the finished drawing, until the portrait has been given. After that, I will ask whether you are happy for me to share it on Instagram, my website and in my portfolio, and I will only share it if you say yes. You can change your mind at any time, and I will remove anything I have posted within 7 days. I cannot recall copies other people have already shared.
• I will not sell prints of your portrait to anyone else, or use it in advertising, without your permission.

12. Gift vouchers

A portrait gift voucher is a gift of one portrait. These are the full terms.

1. What it covers. One portrait of one person, at the size on the voucher (A5, A4 or A3), in the signature style or fully rendered.
2. Price locked. The voucher covers that size at the price paid, even if my prices go up.
3. Valid for five years. Each voucher has a number, the date it was issued and an expiry date five years later. The voucher is used once the photograph is agreed and booked before the expiry date. The drawing can be finished after that date.
4. A bigger size. Pay the difference between the two sizes, at my prices on the day you book.
5. A smaller size. You can choose a smaller size. I will refund the difference between the two sizes at my prices on the day you book.
6. Posting. Posting within Ireland is included. For anywhere else, we agree the postage before you book.
7. Timing. Once the photograph is agreed, the portrait is booked in like any commission: 6 to 8 weeks. A voucher does not guarantee a portrait by a particular date. Vouchers themselves are emailed, and can be bought any time up to Christmas Eve.
8. Giving it to someone else. A voucher can be passed on to anyone. Whoever holds it has the same rights as the person who bought it. If there is a name on it, I will change the name free of charge.
9. Cash. A voucher cannot be exchanged for cash, except as set out in points 5, 10 and 11.
10. Changing your mind after buying. If you change your mind within 14 days of buying a voucher, and it has not been used, I will refund it in full.
11. If I cannot draw it. If I stop taking commissions or cannot draw the portrait for any reason, I will refund the price paid in full.
12. Lost vouchers. I keep a record of every voucher number. If you lose yours, I will reissue it with the same number and expiry date.
13. Cancelling once booked. If you cancel before I start drawing, the voucher stays valid until its expiry date. If you cancel after I have started drawing, I keep half the voucher price (the same as a deposit) and refund the other half.
14. Everything else. Once a voucher is booked, sections 5 to 11 apply as for any commission, with the voucher counting as payment in full.

13. Prints of your portrait

Once your portrait is finished, you can order fine art copies of it.

• What they are. Giclee prints on Enhanced Matte Art paper, printed and posted on my behalf by Prodigi, a professional print lab. I am still the seller and responsible to you for them.
• Prices. Per bundle of copies of the same portrait, as shown on my website and confirmed in your email. Delivery within Ireland is included. For anywhere else, I confirm the delivery cost when you order.
• Timing. Usually about a week to print and post within Ireland, a little longer abroad. I will confirm when you order.
• No 14 day cooling off. Prints of your own portrait are made to order, of your family member or friend, for you alone, so the 14 day right to cancel does not apply. You still have all your rights if a print is faulty or damaged.
• Faults and damage. If a print arrives damaged or faulty, send me a photograph and I will have it reprinted or refund it, your choice. Colours can look slightly different on paper than on a screen, and that is not a fault unless the difference is significant.
• Payment. In full, by Revolut or bank transfer, before I order them.

14. Prints and downloads from my Etsy shop

Prints of my own drawings (for example of well known people) and digital downloads are sold through my Etsy shop, under my Etsy shop policies. In brief:

• Physical prints are not personalised, so you can cancel within 14 days of receiving them without giving a reason (see the Appendix). You pay the cost of returning them.
• Digital downloads. You lose the right to cancel once the download is made available to you, if you agreed to that when you bought.
• My shop is not connected to, or endorsed by, the people shown in the drawings.

15. Buying from outside Ireland

• Within the EU: the same terms and the same consumer rights apply.
• UK, USA and anywhere else outside the EU: your country may charge import duties, taxes and a handling fee when the parcel arrives. These are paid by you, not by me, and I cannot control or predict them exactly. If they are not paid, the parcel may be returned to me. I fill in customs forms truthfully, and cannot mark a sale as a gift.

16. Your personal information

I use your details only to make and deliver your portrait, keep the records the law requires, and share work as described in section 11. How I handle your information, including your photographs, is explained in my privacy notice.

17. Complaints

If you are unhappy, please email me first at paul@pauldaviesstudio.com. I will reply within 5 working days and do my best to put it right.

If we cannot sort it out:

• The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission explains your rights: ccpc.ie.
• The small claims procedure deals with consumer claims up to EUR 2,000: courts.ie/hubs/small-claims.
• If you live elsewhere in the EU, the European Consumer Centre Ireland can help: eccireland.ie.

18. The law that applies

These terms are governed by Irish law. If you live in another EU country, you also keep the protection of the mandatory consumer laws of your own country, and you can bring a claim in the courts where you live.

19. Changes to these terms

I may update these terms from time to time. The terms that apply to your order are the ones in place on the day you paid your deposit, bought your voucher or ordered your prints. I will send you a copy or a link with your quote.

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Appendix: cancelling an Etsy print or a gift voucher

This applies only where you have a right to cancel (Etsy prints within 14 days of receiving them, and unused gift vouchers within 14 days of buying them). It does not apply to commissions or prints of your own portrait.

Right to cancel. You have the right to cancel within 14 days without giving any reason. For a print, the 14 days run from the day you, or someone you name other than the carrier, receives it. For a gift voucher, they run from the day you buy it.

To cancel, tell me clearly by email to paul@pauldaviesstudio.com. My postal address and phone number are in your order or quote email if you would rather write or ring. You can use the form below but you do not have to. It is enough to send your message before the 14 days end.

What happens next. I refund all payments, including the cheapest standard delivery, within 14 days of hearing from you, using the same payment method unless you agree otherwise, and at no cost to you. For a print, I may wait until I receive it back or you show me you have posted it. Please send it back within 14 days of telling me. You pay the direct cost of returning it. You are only liable for any loss in value caused by handling it more than you needed to see what it is like.

Model cancellation form (complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel)

To: Paul Davies, trading as Paul Davies Studio, Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, paul@pauldaviesstudio.com

I hereby give notice that I cancel my contract of sale of the following goods: ______

Ordered on __ / received on ____

Name: ______

Address: ______

Signature (only if sent on paper): ______

Date: ______