How do I eliminate paint?

[Mary Reilly]

I am presently having a problem with the image of the mom in a family portrait that I am painting.

[Allan Rahbek]

Hi Mary,

If the painting is on canvas you could lay it flat on a table and support the backside with a piece of wooden plate.

Then cut / scrape the most marked brush strokes of with a sharp tool like a palette knife, paint remover tool or a carpenters tool. Be careful not to cut the canvas. Then sand the area light, but don

[Michele Rushworth]

I think Allan's suggestions as to how to remove/cover the old paint will work fine. The bigger problem is the working process that's been set up with this client. Allowing her to change her look so much between sessions and allowing her to change her mind about which hair style she wants so late in the process is a recipe for disaster. ONE photo or ONE pose from life (with the same hair, same weight, same clothes, same lighting etc) is the only way to go.

[Mary Reilly]

Thank you Allan, I will start the process you suggested tomorrow morning when I go to my studio. Just today I was sharing this with another artist at a meeting we were at and she also suggested sandpaper, but your suggestion gives me more detail on how to proceed.

Michele, I agree with you in that I didn't lay down the "ground rules" from the beginning. This lady is nice and in my trying to please the client things slowly evolved in a direction I didn't intend for them to take. I guess I didn't do anything all that different from previous clients, but this is the first time things got out of control - what a learning experience! I now realize that this could happen with future clients so I am now rethinking the way I work with people - such as laying down ground rules. I need to just let them know from the beginning how I will or will not proceed. I am seriously thinking of creating a hand out to give to a client at the time they sign the contract with me. It can give suggestions on how to dress and it can remind them not to change hairstyles, haircolor etc. I also need to remind people not to ask the whole family for thier opinion!

Ah yes, the joy of painting portraits.

Mary

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Mary,

Hi, I don't have anything to add except: Good luck! I hope she's finished changing her hair!

Also, I'm just curious, does the client understand that her changes have created 'challenges'?

Joan

[Margaret Port]

Mary,
Because oils take so long to dry thoroughly, after you have taken off the ridges with a blade, you may be able to scrub into the area with some turps on a hard bristle brush and loosen some of the earlier older layers to get back to the canvas texture. It would depend on what media you are using as to how much you would shift.

I can sympathise with your predicament with your client. Some years ago I did a pastel sketch of a vivacious strawberry blonde woman for her to give her new husband as a wedding present. She wanted serious with darkish red hair with highlights, then smiled and cracked jokes throughout the sittings. She had streaky curly hair which came down over her forehead and then the ends flicked back. I had the work framed after she approved it, several weeks passed then he decided she looked too serious and could I please make her smile and more blonde. They must have brought the thing back half a dozen times for tinkering before I threw hands in the air and said enough is enough. I literally could not get another speck of pastel onto the piece. There is nothing like working for a committee. By the time you please them all, no one is happy with the piece, least of all the artist.
In my husband's business, the client asks for a particular job to be done, they are given a quote and told specifically what work will be done, then if they want more work done we write *EXTRA on the timesheets and they get billed accordingly.
You could write into your contract a price for the original painting and then $3000 extra per hairstyle change and $200 per pound for weight changes.
I wonder how our clients would like that????