Commission, Update

This is the absolute final painting and yes I made yet another tweak last night and the reason it is dry today and shipping tomorrow is Liquin which is a miracle substance that has saved many an artist's life.

Hudson

9x12 oil

So...I learned some things with this one.

The client is my manager at work and this is his grandson.
We have a good relationship and have known each other for like 12 years.

He's a good guy in general.  We get along.

He's still ambivalent about the painting, so is his wife because they are just not seeing the super-frowny-pout in the reference.  Their experience of him as a smiley happy baby is all they can see, and the painting doesn't match that perception.

So, we chatted and it was a good chat.
We are both friendly and professional people.

I told him I had 4 extremely experienced artists critique it, and everyone loves it.

But also that his opinion really matters and I want him to be happy, and I'm sorry I missed the mark.

He said he understands things go through human filters and no one ever has the same perceptions.

He said it's "growing on him".  And who knows, maybe he will like it more in-person.  Paintings ALWAYS look better in-person.

And to be fair he loves everything else about the painting, he did have some really nice things to say about it.

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I never charged the deposit on this painting, so I told him if he doesn't want it, it's really ok and I know sometimes these things happen.  Babies in general are a huge risk aside from being really difficult to paint properly. And clients are weird about portraits. And he knows I really vetted this one.

I gave him the option to just pay what the deposit would have been, half, for time and supplies and it's ok, this does happen sometimes, and I'm not upset.  (I was, because it sucks when someone isn't happy with my work and it's only the second time it ever happened and the first wasn't a commission but just sketchbook work that simply never made it to social media. But in these cases professionalism has to take over.)

I also gave him the option if he still wanted the painting that I wouldn't charge shipping and he would pay the agreed-upon price.

He said they definitely still want the painting, so that's what happened.

And he paid me in full.

Because this is a long-term-friendly work relationship, it could be a sticky situation but I think it is a credit to our relationship that we were both able to navigate this difficulty in a friendly professional way and we are both ok.

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I LEARNED:

• I'm not painting babies again for a LONG time if ever.
• I am really going to CHECK WITH THE CLIENT BEFOREHAND ABOUT THE EXPRESSION in the reference.
• I learned how to navigate a difficult situation professionally.

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TOTALLY UNRELATED:

I got my booster shot last night and I feel achy.