Oftentimes people have jobs and hobbies, but they rarely overlap; however, Senior Monica Sylvestre has found a way to incorporate three of her favorite things: art, pets, and making money.

“I started doing art because I always thought my dad was a pretty good artist and I was inspired by him,” Sylvestre said. “As I grew up, I read a lot of graphic novels and watched a lot of animated shows, so my passion for art just kind of built up over time with seeing various drawn media.” 

As her love and talent for art grew, Sylvestre discovered a way to make money while doing art through commissions.

“My first commission was around last Christmas, when a woman reached out to me and asked me to do a charcoal drawing of her late golden retriever,” Sylvestre said. “She gave me a photocopy of the dog, told me the size, and then I just did it.”

Since then, Sylvestre has done a few more commissions, and the practice has paid off.

“Doing commissions has definitely improved my skills as an artist because it makes me practice and go out of my comfort zone,” Sylvestre said. “If someone commissions me to do something, I’m going to say yes, so I am forced to learn as I go.”

Sylvestre follows a specific process for commissions to keep her business running smoothly.

“The process for commissions is pretty simple: someone will come to me and request a piece to be done, so I will ask questions and get some more specifics on what they want before I accept,” Sylvestre said. “They will tell me what size they want, background, paper, and any additional details before I give them a price.”

As Sylvestre is still relatively new to doing commissions, she has created her own system for pricing.

“Pricing depends more on sizing, but other factors like material, whether or not it’s in color, and what the pet looks like all go into my decision,” Sylvestre said.

The wait time for commissions is often lengthy, taking two weeks to a month, but worth it for the meticulous process Sylvestre goes through.

“Throughout the process I like to send the client photos and I ask them questions about how they like the piece so far,” Sylvestre said. “The client knows more about their pet than I do, so if there are specific facial features that I need to include they can tell me that.”

After the piece is done, Sylvestre signs and packages it so that it is ready for the client to pick up.

“The best part of doing commissions is seeing people’s reaction to the art,” Sylvestre said. “They seem appreciative and it makes me feel good.”