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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
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