Hi everyone,
This is my nightmare portrait. Why do I call it a nightmare? Because 2 years ago the same client hired me to paint a posthumous portrait of her mother. All went very well. But in this portrait of the same client's father, she wanted the same background and fading effect at the bottom as her mother's. The problem was, the background on her mother's portrait went well with the subject's facial tones as well as her attire. It does not match so well with her father's.
I tried to explain this to her but to no avail. She also wanted a dark suit with no markings on the tie or suit. I suggested at least a faint pattern on the tie to add substance to the attire. I was told no.
The likeness is excellent (everyone says so, not just me
. But I am unhappy with it because I know that from an artistic point of view, it fails.
Has anyone else experienced this and if so, how did you handle it?