Difficult Clients?
 

I am working on a very complex portrait of two people and a dog, with a lot of "props" included and a lake scene in the background. It is almost finished. I just sent the url with the latest work on the painting to the clients, so when I saw them yesterday at a gathering I asked the woman what she thought. She looked uncomfortable and said that there was something about the rendition of her that wasn't quite right, and perhaps it just didn't fit her own image of herself. Prior to that she had asked me whether I could make her face look less full, and I saw that I had exaggerated the fullness slightly anyway so I was able to do that easily. Otherwise I got the impression that all was well as we moved through the process. In fact it was her husband, who has a very distinctive face, that I struggled over; she seemed to come easily. The woman is my daughter-in-law's physician, and she thinks it looks exactly like her - and so do I.

When I spoke to her yesterday I invited her to come to the studio and view the actual painting and then to try to tell me what she feels needs to be changed. I don't want a dissatisfied client, especially one so local, but I don't want to lose all the work I put into the painting, either, and just reap a percentage of what the cost should be for my time.

I'm sure others have dealt with similar situations - it may be just the disconnect between one's view of oneself and what appears on the canvas. She and her husband selected the reference photos and I think, and so do others, that I've captured the appearance and expressions from the photos, supplemented with my knowledge of her, exactly. What to do if she doesn't see it that way and can't articulate any (reasonable) changes that would make her happier?

Leslie

Especially with women over the age of 30, I try to make sure they are happy with the reference photo that I plan to use for the portrait. (I assume you're working from photos here.) I make sure you've both settled on ONE photo of the face. I don't try to make something "sort of in between" two different shots, for example.

Go back to the reference photo you agreed on and show her that. Be sure she's happy with that and start from there. Ask her if she feels the photo captures the look she wants. You can only paint what you see and, though small changes are possible (softening wrinkles, etc), major changes like "making the face look less full" isn't something I'd try to do.

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Michele! She and her husband did choose the reference photo, and I think the portrait captures that look exactly, but sometimes seeing it interpreted on canvas gives a different feeling. I'm going to try to get her down here before she goes to Europe for a month; she may find that seeing the painting "in person" gives her a better feeling about it, since the 24x30" work is greatly reduced in a 600x400 pixel jpg. She has no wrinkles so that wasn't an issue, and I was able to make her face slightly less full because I found I had exaggerated the fullness in my first version. I have no idea what the issue is, though, and she doesn't seem able to articulate it, or perhaps she doesn't want to offend me by being more specific.

My question is, what if she doesn't want it even after I've made any changes she may think it needs? I don't care to have a portrait sitting in a closet somewhere, disparaged by a bitter client who feels that she was forced to purchase something that doesn't please her, and I'm wondering whether it will be possible to satisfy her. Clients are usually thrilled with the likenesses in the paintings I do for them, so this is a very uncomfortable feeling for me.

I had told her that she didn't have to accept a painting that she didn't like, but that I'd have to charge her a percentage of the price to compensate for all my work. Should this happen, what's fair and how do you all handle this?

Of course, I'm hoping that she'll come down and fall in love with it, but I also want to be prepared if it doesn't work out.

Leslie

First make sure she liked the exact look of the reference photo and that she wasn't secretly hoping you'd make her look better/younger/thinner!

Then try to make her happy with changes. (Maybe post this piece in the Forum critique section.)

If all else fails, you may have to throw in the towel. In that case the artist usually keeps the painting (to use as a sample, perhaps) and the deposit.

That's funny, Michele! You're right, though; who knows what people are thinking when they choose a reference photo. The only other painting that I kept was done for a relative who let the parents choose the reference photo and then obviously didn't like the way it showed the girl.

I didn't ask for a deposit; I think I'll finally have to break down and change that policy. I preferred not to have the pressure of having taken clients' money before I knew they were satisfied. I imagine that requesting a quarter to a third of the price would be fair in this case. She has to deal with me in the future, socially and in the community, as well!

I'll post the painting in the critiques section with the reference photo I'm using and see what reactions I get. Thanks!

Leslie

The painting is now in the Works in Progress section. Unfortunately the images don't show the sharpness of the actual painting, but they'll do to give viewers an idea. Thanks again!

Leslie

Leslie, Leslie, Leslie!
I think the first lesson I ever had was that I have no idea what the client looks like. The old "are you going to believe me or your lying eyes!!!"

The client was young and beautiful (I really don't do beautiful as well as interesting) and was a good friend. I argued that it was perfect. I fixed and amended and did not want to lose her as a friend or the commission so I actually did another. She posed sitting on the bed, facing the wall. It was a really lovely figurative and she was thrilled! It was a gift for her husband. Yes, they are divorced.

Then my own mother thought my painting was "too detailed" which of course meant wrinkles. I repainted and smoothed and kept my favorite picture of her.... after all, I gave her most of those lines!

I digitize the heck out of all my reference. I don't even accept the job until they can SEE what I am trying to put on canvas. They get blurred and dodged and tweaked and compressed and when they can see themselves in the photo.... I get a deposit. I am in the middle of a painting that has been coming together for about 8 months in the digitizing, photo referencing stage. Two years ago I did three dogs and five humans. Three great kids, dad, the dogs - all were perfect, but I redid mom right down to the wire. We even printed a Christmas card from the third to last version.

I believe that the ONE thing we can do as artists is improve upon nature. Well, with all the recent discussions, lets say improve upon photography! My own observation has been that when I look in the mirror and when I take a photo of myself, I swear, they are not the same person. That is ME, a person who spends hours in the day LOOKING at people. We have to give a large amount of room to the client. I just try my best to back out of my own head and move into theirs.

Perhaps the next step is to digitize the painting so you can figure out what would please them. Costs much less in painting and drying and scraping.

NOW over to see what this is all about.

Yes, this is hitting a nerve at present, but I do believe I am a happier camper with few, but happier clients when I put myself in this mind set!

Debra, Debra, Debra! Nice to be "talking" to you again! To be honest, though, if I had to go through all of that before painting a picture I'd give up and go till my garden instead! I think each of us has to find a process that pleases us and also satisfies clients - and truly, mine normally does both. I can see that I would benefit from more visits to this forum, though; working in isolation you can lose some of your sharpness and your ability to judge what you produce.

Anyway, if the client could articulate what she wanted changed I'd be happy to try; so far she hasn't been able to do that! Hopefully if I can make the modifications that Alexandra has suggested, and any others that seem helpful, that will make a difference. But I'm definitely going to get deposits from now on.

I saw your silverpoint self-portrait, by the way, and liked it, but I still adore your oils.

Leslie

That's a very common problem.

It's my belief that it is not really the client's job to tell you how to fix a portrait. It's the artist's responsibility! The client can say "It's not quite me...something abut the eyes..." or "my mouth is off," etc. but just following the client's directive and "fixing" the eyes, mouth, etc., is not going to solve the problem. It's our responsibility as artists to figure out what's really going on. Usually the problem is more widespread and involves proportions outside the realm of that one feature they are complaining about. If we have to repaint the whole head, so be it. I ask clients to tell me their reaction, and then let me try to figure out what changes need to be made.

Alex is right. Clients are not trained to see proportion problems or angle problems, they just know something isn't right. And quite often if the problem seems to be a particular feature (often the mouth!) the real problem sometimes ends up being everything that's around the mouth but not the mouth itself.

That's true, but she wasn't even telling me whether it was the face or the body that bothered her - although I assumed it was the face, since it usually is. It helps if I have a general idea of where the client thinks it's off-kilter. Of course once you fix the mouth the naso-labial folds will need correction, and so forth, but personally I need a starting point at least. And as you said, Michele, sometimes they think it's the mouth, but it's actually the contours around it, or the jawline. That's our job to figure out once we've been alerted to a problem. But sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees after I've been focussing on something for awhile.

I've been working on the painting this morning and will try to have something to post today or tomorrow so I can see whether I'm on the right track.

Thanks again.

Leslie

All of these are good suggestions....

First, always show a color study of the entire painting, and have them sign it as approval for you to go to the final painting. The major compositional changes are avoided by doing so. Then, get a deposit--most artists charge anywhere from 30 to 50 percent--so that you don't have to dicker over "what's fair" in the unfortunate instance that the painting is refused. As the artist, you're the one that determines what's fair. If you state the deposit amount and policy on your website, somewhere in your portfolio, and on your contract, there shouldn't be a lot of argument around it, as the client already has been informed about the deposit and has agreed to it.

In the not-uncommon situation you're in now, where you're trying to determine the source of the client's discomfort, having the client in and looking at the painting together is a good place to start. As already suggested, ask a series of non-threatening questions to try to both eliminate the areas that she's not worried about, and to identify the areas that do concern her. I sometimes ask the client to just point to areas that "just don't look quite right," and ask them to describe how the painting seems off, or doesn't feel right, and generally what feels wrong about it. I never ask them what specifically to do or change, as Alex rightly points out, as the solution is often different from what they think should be done. For instance, an eye that doesn't look right may actually be improved by working an area next to it. Then bend over backwards to try and accommodate them, as long as you don't compromise the quality and integrity of the work. You may have them sit at that time to observe the problem areas from life. Checking the areas of concern against the client is often a lot more illuminating than checking them back against the photo.

If you have to work from photos, finishing from life is always preferable.

Good luck....you'll get it right.

Tom, I haven't heard from the client since I spoke to her last weekend, but I've been working on the portrait based on some excellent suggestions I got from Alex, Michele, and more recently Allan Rahbek after posting the painting and the reference photo in the Works in Progress section. I have to tell you that in this case the client was right - there WAS "something wrong about the mouth." I'm still wrestling with it but I think I'm getting closer. I didn't have the objectivity to see where I went awry with her face and was concentrating on the husband's, which I saw as much more challenging. It took some fresh eyes to point out what wasn't working.

My fees are generally much lower than the rest of yours, and I don't charge enough for it nor do I like doing a color study first. For me the painting loses its freshness and its fun when I'm doing it twice. But I do show clients the blocking-in stage so they can see the composition and the general look of the painting and can decide whether it's what they had in mind when they selected the reference material. I don't proceed until I've gotten an okay at that stage. That didn't help me here, but a color study wouldn't have either; where the painting got into trouble was in the delineation and placement of the woman's features which is more of an end-stage aspect.

Do you find that your clients are willing to pose in the studio so that you can paint from life? The few times I've worked from life I haven't been happy with the expressions I got; also, since I paint people mostly in outdoor settings it would be hard to recreate the lighting in the studio. I will sometimes have the subject down to my studio and do some touchups with him or her in front of me, both to use as a model and to have them validate whether the changes I'm making are making a significant difference in their opinion. But that's as far as I normally go.

I am definitely going to start getting a deposit; I think the client would be more committed to working with me that way. As it is, now that the current client is not happy with the painting I'm wondering whether even the most accurate of portrayals, should I be able to make the right changes, would make her comfortable with it. In the past I've been able to work through situations like that, but the clients didn't seem to feel as awkward about it as she does!

Thanks for taking the time to comment on this thread. I think it's been very educational for me!

Leslie

Leslie--

I WISH...

The amount of finish I get with the client from life is pretty much as you describe it, just some final adjustments when the painting is mostly finished. If it's a local client, I can schedule some interim work from life if I can get them in, which always ends with a superior result.

Sounds like your handling of the nuts and bolts of the commission is pretty well in place and working. But you're right in sensing that getting a deposit makes it a "real" commission, and the client sometimes is more engaged, paying better attention, and is more dedicated to a successful outcome when some money is exchanged up front. They tend to work a little harder to give you what you need to succeed.

All the best--TE

I never thought about being able to get a superior result by throwing in some actual work from life. I'll bet you're right, though. I often sketch from life when I'm at a meeting or concert, or anywhere else where people stay still for protracted periods. It's definitely a challenge because of course they move, drat them, so I have to wait for them to get back into position or try for a blend. But lots of time I can capture them that way, and it's fun. They're usually pleased and surprised when they see that they've been sketched.

I will have to try incorporating some checks from life with clients who seem to lend themselves to that. Obviously that excludes young children, though! Or do you manage to do that as well?

Leslie

Well....

Some kids you just can't get to sit still long enough. But you can sometimes let them relax and do their thing in the studio floor, as long as they'll get up on a stool when you need 'em and give you a five to ten second check on a given area. A rare few will actually sit. I've know some artists who let them watch TV and zone out, if all one is checking is color or value and not expression.

Attempting to intimidate them into compliance won't work, and it'll just make everyone upset, including you.

Best--T

You're braver than I am. The last young child I did - I think he was about four - was hard enough to get a good photograph of, let alone trying to get him to sit still for a check on anything later. It's the first time I'd ever dealt with a child who was deliberately uncooperative and it was very hard to remain calm and friendly, especially when the parents were helpless in their dealings with him. But my background as a psychologist stood me in good stead there! And I finally got some material I could work with.

It took awhile before I could actually start the painting, and I got an email from the dad asking whether his son really looked like that when I shot the pictures. I sent him the reference photo and he responded, "Yup, that's the kid!" Apparently the boy had changed significantly since that time, so I was glad I had proof that I was painting the same child! I was also relieved that he wasn't going to be another difficult client.

Leslie

Dear Leslie,

I think that every one of us has at least occasionally, had the feeling that "Difficult client" is just redundant in the Department of the Redundancy Department:)

You might look at three-part pricing structure - several hundred down for the photo sitting, 40% or so in order to start the painting, (both non-refundable) and balance on delivery. When I handled all my own local business, I used to break up the payment method this way, and even though I told the client the % down was non-refundable, I would refund the $ anyway if I couldn't make him or her happy.

You're right, there is nothing worse than a client who has a portrait on the wall, and who is ready to tell any and all, "I paid this artist, and got this horrible painting". The second worse thing is to have your client say," I paid this artist and hated the painting and she kept my money and the painting."

I realize that my approach is very un business-like, but at least with the local people, I was out a few hours of time, and had some $ to compensate for the photo shoot. Now that I work mostly out of state with brokers, they handle all the contract and $ issues. Even so, I recently had a situation where I had already conducted the non-refundable sitting, and realized that there wasn't any way I could please the client (having just painted the older child), and I sent the whole deposit back, no questions asked. Writing that check took a huge weight off my shoulders.

Dear Chris,

Thanks for sharing your experiences and your feeling about deposits. One of the reasons I have never accepted one in the past was that I didn't want the pressure of feeling that I had to please the client, even if I found it wasn't possible. But with the current situation, I have put many many hours into that painting and I realized that I would have to depend solely on the client's good will to recoup anything at all for my efforts, and that it was possibly not the best way to continue working! This is especially true since I have another painting on an easel which is awaiting completion until the client's visit and on-site reactions, at her request, and she seems in no hurry to show up. This was a woman for whom I had already completed one portrait with which she was very pleased, so I had no expectation that she'd be a problem. You just never know, do you?

I like the idea of charging for the photo shoot and then asking for a percentage once I've blocked the painting in and gotten the client's conceptual approval. This also gives me the opportunity to present a document which details the pricing, which might be an easier way to approach it.

I am especially aware of client reactions to a less-than-acceptable painting because I once got a commission from a local person who had had a posthumous portrait done of his wife by another area artist who is quite accomplished. He hated it and spoke very disparagingly of it and of the artist. He even wanted me to paint over her work, which I refused to do, of course. When I saw the picture I understood why he was dissatisfied; somehow the other painter hadn't caught the subject at all. I ended up doing a double portrait of him and his wife from an old photo and he was so pleased that he had me do another of his wife and their daughter as a toddler. But people will talk, and I don't want anyone talking that way about me, as you also observed! So sometimes it's better just to call it quits and forget about the money.

The other day I got an email from the current client saying that she had looked at the painting and now was satisfied with the way it was progressing, and so was her husband. I'm wondering if she hadn't checked out the latest version that I had sent her just before I saw her at the end of May. I responded that I had made a number of changes since then and I thought she'd be even more pleased with it when she returned from her vacation.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

Leslie