Commissions are a challenge. They are a main component of the business of art, so unless you like a good challenge, you may want to rethink a career as an artist in a rural place like Three Rivers.
Back about 6 years ago, a man asked me to draw his parents house in pencil. No problem. That’s what I did (and still do). Then he asked me to paint it in oil.
Since I’d been painting about 10 minutes when he asked, I thought it prudent to refuse. But, being helpful and knowing lots of people, I referred him to a well-established artist.
He was happy with the drawing. I never heard from him about the painting until the Redbud Festival in Three Rivers in May. He said he “hated it”. I asked if he discussed it with the artist, and he said he hadn’t because he figured it was a done deal.
Being an opportunistic artist, I told him I could paint the house for him now. He liked the idea.
A week later, he came to my studio and laid out 6 photos. He wanted to know which I wanted to paint.
I said, “umm, well, I need to look and absorb and think a bit”.
He wanted an immediate answer. I felt pressured. I picked one, and he said, “That’s the view you drew, remember?”
Actually, no, I don’t. It was 6 years ago and a few drawings and paintings have passed through my hands since then. “A few?” More like several hundred!
Then, he pulled out a photo of his parents and said, “Will you put them in the painting?”
I almost fell over. Or, as they say in the South, “I like to died!”
I explained that my experience in painting people is limited to the back views.
To be continued. . .
One With the Stream, oil on wrapped canvas, 36×24″, $800
Would you allow yourself to be painted or photographed from the backside?? Tell me the truth here!
4 Comments
Diane, that’s sweet. Your dad was a great guy.
If you put long jeans on, changed the hat you would have my dad fishing in the stream. Backside views are nice – leaves one to imagine …
Diana, if someone wanted to paint or draw or photograph me from the back, it would have to be from VERY far away!!
I too prefer the back view for two reasons: no troubling facial features and the mysterious way a personal can be recognized simply by his posture.
I suppose it might depend on what the painting was about, how close the subject was, etc.
Interesting question, though, Jana. Back views are pretty much my favorite vantage point for figurative work. For portraits, I think a back view could make a fetching representation of gesture and movement.
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