Commission or Mere Suggestion

When is a commission not a commission? Apparently, when it is just a suggestion. A friend gave me a photo of himself working in a signal box on a heritage steam railway and suggested that I would like to paint it. "Is this a commission?" I asked. "No" he said, "I just thought you would like to paint it."

He pointed out that the photo was very like an old British Railways poster based on a painting by Terence Cuneo. He is an artist that I was not familiar with despite the fact that he was prolific and produced over 6,000 work although he is perhaps best known for his railway paintings. Cuneo also worked as an illustrator, produced work for the War Office and Foreign Office in WW2 and was official artist for the coronation of Elizabeth II.

Anyway, here is the painting which is almost finished. I've been cursing the amount of detail, some of which I have changed - which will probably not suit certain railway anoraks. But as it is not a commission, that is my prerogative.