Family Portrait | Created in the Style | James Gillray | Art Commissions

We are getting married and knew exactly what we wanted our invitation to be- a biting family portrait, in the style of Gilray’s political satires. I knew that Caroline would appreciate the humour and tone of the commission, which she did, and that she had the skill to execute. Copying the world’s most famous satirist is no easy feat but she did it- perfectly. You can tell that it’s a Gilray reference in ways I would never have known to specify- brush stroke, symbolism etc. She just got it. We are in love with the picture, it set the standard for the whole wedding, and it will sit it our living room in pride of place. She really is the best of the best at what she does, and to work with.

-Lucy Kagan

Drawing a bespoke wedding invite in the style of 18th-century satirist

I was recently commissioned to create a family portrait in the style of 18th-century British Satirist James Gillray. The bride had seen his piece "Harmony before Matrimony" and she wanted to re-create the image with her family and using motifs special to her. They live in LA and the husband works at 20th-century fox, so we put a fox on the back of his chair. She is English and he is Amercian so we had her sewing the two flags together. Her two beautiful boys were drawn as a cheeky cherub and a little soldier. The Belgium dog was in there with the flag draped around him and it was all complete with a table full of film scripts and their home drawn in the picture frame.

This drawing was so much fun to make and it was brilliant seeing the final wedding invite.

Caroline