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Dealing with Rejection
I recently finished an oil commission which I thought was nice, but was flatly rejected by the customer. She was "shocked" by the JPEG image of the portrait I sent her for approval. She was not prepared to see herself. She did not mention the half down, but simply asked me not to send it. I have several thoughts.
First, I have a rather poor camera, and should have sent her a better image taken by a professional. Perhaps it is too late for that now. First impressions are hard to change.
Second, I will be nitpicking over this painting until it is ruined probably in the hopes of improving it.
Third, I am not too terribly troubled by it, as I usually have terrific responses from my customers, and have enough confidence in my work to not be too disturbed by this. However, it is troubling when you have a disappointed customer on an oil portrait. It is a little more than just a ten minute sketch which is of little consequence.
Fourth, I took this commission down payment before seeing the reference photo, which was not perfect. I now am in the mindset to only paint from my own setup which will guarantee most favorable results.
Hindsight is better than foresight, and I will probably see her this summer when she returns to Eugene. Possibly she will like it better when she sees it in person.
I know that even the great historic artists faced rejection. Is there anyone out there who can cite a few?
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