How do I eliminate paint?

Michele Rushworth · 05-06-2005, 10:44 AM

An artist absolutely must protect themselves from making endless changes at no extra charge. You can guarantee the likeness, of course and be willing to make changes until they are happy it looks like the person, and you can also indicate in your contract that you will be willing to do "minor alterations" but only allow them within 10 days of delivery, for example. You might want to specify some examples of what constitutes a "minor alteration".

Make it clear that any changes other than that (like changing hair color to something other than what was agreed, making a serious face happier than what was initially agreed to, etc.) are major changes and will be billed accordingly. (Smiles change the shape of every feature on the face, by the way, so it's not at all a minor change.)

I once had a client who agreed to a particular composition and signed off on photos of their son with their dog. The dog was misbehaving and they later had to give him away, so they wanted him taken out of the painting. I was already halfway through the portrait and I explained that a new painting would have to be started, with additional costs involved. They decided to keep the dog in the painting. As it turned out, they were very happy with the portrait, it reminds them of a dog that they did have some fond memories of, and this client has since gone on to commission four other portraits from me.

Clients respect you when you respect your own work and maintain a high level of professionalism. Offer an excellent product at a fair price and don't let yourself be taken advantage of.

Richard Budig · 05-07-2005, 09:14 PM

You can use chloroform (the old-time anaesthetic) to remove oil paint. I've read of its use, but have never done it. A little research ought to help. I've seen it in several books, so the info is available. One important thing -- you have to use it outdoors, or in a WELL ventilated room.

Sharon Knettell · 05-09-2005, 05:15 PM

I really HATE to scrape paint as that has a tendency to take of some of the primer and perhaps leave the canvas unprotected.

I like to use mineral sprits and take the time to gradually rub it off. Another tool I found is useful is a cheap plastic knife with serrated edges. I did that the last time and it removed the paint without damaging the surface. I very, very, gently scraped it to leave some ridges so the mineral spirts would penetrate more easily.

Mary Reilly · 05-15-2005, 10:39 PM

Thank you to everyone for your replys. Sorry I didn't respond sooner, but life has been been crazy as I was busy with wrapping some things up before I took off a few days for the portrait conference.
Regarding my "problem portrait", I had hung it on my studio wall until I was mentally ready to tackle it. Now that I am back from the portrait conference I feel rejuvenated and ready to conquer this problem! Next week I will hopefully get to this portrait. I think I will first finish up a couple of enjoyable pieces.
Margaret, good idea to go in with turp and a bristle brush after I scrape away.
I am still feeling frustrated in how I handled the customer (or rather how she handled me). Definitely a good learning experience and will be one of those commissions that I will talk about years from now.

Mary

Jan Keeling · 05-18-2005, 03:17 PM

Mary, I know of a very successful famous artist who has it in his contract that he is the artist and he makes the final decisions on a painting. He allows the client to participate in selecting a photograph, on which they sign off, and they are permitted input at a clearly specified stage in the painting. After that, he decides if the nose looks like the client's nose!

Michele Rushworth · 05-18-2005, 08:44 PM

Hard to imagine that he can get away with that, but, hey, when you reach a certain level it's a whole different ball game.

Mary Reilly · 05-22-2005, 09:10 PM

I think the key is in choosing which stage the client can give input. One of my problems is that my studio is in a public location so the client or anyone else can pop in anytime during certain hours. What I need to tell them is that they can "look but not comment" until I am ready for their input.
If I don't agree with their input, it would be very difficult for me to continue my way even if I was famous. It would always bother me if I thought that the customer wasn't happy with a certain aspect of a portrait.
Ah yes, the joy of being an artist who does portraits - yet it is soooo addicting that I love the challenge of capturing a person on canvas!

Mary