In doing my 3 most recent paintings, I had varying amounts of feedback. I never think of it as being a bad thing to get feedback, sometimes though it is difficult to find the perfect amount. I always tell my clients that having a portrait done of their animal is a collaboration between them and me. Having a portrait painted of your animal, dog, cat, horse, whatever is a highly personal painting and if it is not done to your satisfaction, you will never be happy with it. The painting I did of "Ivie" is a perfect example.
I started out by asking for a high resolution photo that really showed Ivie's personality. I received several that were nice but not really high resolution. The photo, the owner finally decided on was one that a professional had taken after Ivie was in a movie. My instructions were to use this photo and leave the rug out (oval rag rug on a wood floor). So I got it to where it was blocked in and I thought it looked good and sent off a progress photo. I was told no her fur is to close to the color of the wood floor maybe a dark grey floor. So I repainted the background putting in a grey slate floor, sent off a pic, no I hate slate floors. So then she asked if I could paint a rug in, I said I would try but if this wasn't acceptable I would put the painting in my inventory and come down and take photos for a new painting. Luckily she liked my rag rug. So I completed the painting, sent her a photo and she said she loved it, I then signed it and posted it on my website. The next day she called and told me the color of the dog was wrong, the photographer had used a flash that washed out her hair color and she hadn't noticed, she had more red and less blond in her hair, so once again I re-worked the painting, luckily 4th time was the charm. Some animal portraitists charge for changes after one or two, I always feel that the owner has to be happy with the work so I don't.
The next painting was of "Jet" a Portuguese Water Dog, in California. A friend had emailed and asked if I could get it done for Valentine's day for her husband, I told her I thought I could and off we went. She sent 3 photos, we discussed them and I mentioned if I just did a head shot it would be more dramatic, she agreed. I sent progress pics, and she said she liked them didn't mention any changes. When I got it finished she said what she could see of it she liked. I know it is crazy but as she was 1200 miles away and I was not sure what she would think when she saw it, I was getting that uh oh feeling. I packaged it up and sent it off and waited and didn't hear anything. My mind immediately went to oh no she doesn't like it. I texted and asked how it looked and she said her husband was home and she couldn't un-wrap it, a couple of days went by and I was getting worried texted again and she said it was packaged so well she didn't want to unwrap it and would give it to him as is for Valentine's day. A few days after I heard back and they loved it, whew!
I started out by asking for a high resolution photo that really showed Ivie's personality. I received several that were nice but not really high resolution. The photo, the owner finally decided on was one that a professional had taken after Ivie was in a movie. My instructions were to use this photo and leave the rug out (oval rag rug on a wood floor). So I got it to where it was blocked in and I thought it looked good and sent off a progress photo. I was told no her fur is to close to the color of the wood floor maybe a dark grey floor. So I repainted the background putting in a grey slate floor, sent off a pic, no I hate slate floors. So then she asked if I could paint a rug in, I said I would try but if this wasn't acceptable I would put the painting in my inventory and come down and take photos for a new painting. Luckily she liked my rag rug. So I completed the painting, sent her a photo and she said she loved it, I then signed it and posted it on my website. The next day she called and told me the color of the dog was wrong, the photographer had used a flash that washed out her hair color and she hadn't noticed, she had more red and less blond in her hair, so once again I re-worked the painting, luckily 4th time was the charm. Some animal portraitists charge for changes after one or two, I always feel that the owner has to be happy with the work so I don't.
The next painting was of "Jet" a Portuguese Water Dog, in California. A friend had emailed and asked if I could get it done for Valentine's day for her husband, I told her I thought I could and off we went. She sent 3 photos, we discussed them and I mentioned if I just did a head shot it would be more dramatic, she agreed. I sent progress pics, and she said she liked them didn't mention any changes. When I got it finished she said what she could see of it she liked. I know it is crazy but as she was 1200 miles away and I was not sure what she would think when she saw it, I was getting that uh oh feeling. I packaged it up and sent it off and waited and didn't hear anything. My mind immediately went to oh no she doesn't like it. I texted and asked how it looked and she said her husband was home and she couldn't un-wrap it, a couple of days went by and I was getting worried texted again and she said it was packaged so well she didn't want to unwrap it and would give it to him as is for Valentine's day. A few days after I heard back and they loved it, whew!
The last of the 3 paintings was one that I was doing as a surprise gift for a friend of mine. Her cat Pippin, I had to rope her sister in to take pictures without her knowing. This was one I had no feed back on it while working on it. Her sister did say it looked great when it was done. Yea!
There is a fine line with feedback and never a dull moment in the process.
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