Being a portrait artist, sometimes I encountered several interesting situations when communicating with my clients. Now before I proceed further I understand that people have expectations and these expectations are necessary especially when you are paying someone to do something for you.
But there are times when these expectations are down right ridiculous.
Situation 1: People expect me to do FREE drawings for them
When I first started to get serious in pursuing art, I did offer to draw portraits for free to build my portfolio. But after a couple of months I started charging reasonable fees. However some people took me for granted and wanted me to draw their portraits for free even after I told them they need to pay. And when I told them this they took it personally and said I am selfish!
Situation 2: People are willing to pay BUT they want me to draw in the style of an artist they admired
This makes me wonder why bother contacting me if you want me to draw like other artists? Why not contact that artist and pay him/her to draw for you?
Situation 3: People are not satisfied with the portrait because they look old
Maybe some artists do make their subjects look younger in their drawings but for me I can only draw what I see. If you look old in your photograph, I would draw a portrait that look exactly like it. I am sorry if I can't make you younger. If you want to look younger perhaps you can consider manipulating your photo in Photoshop. Pay someone to do it digitally for you.
Situation 4: People thinks stencil portrait is EASY and the fees I am charging for it is ridiculous
Some people thinks creating stencil art is very easy - posterized your photo in Photoshop, print and cut. Easy as ABC. What they don't realize is the amount of hand cutting involved. It's hard and the more details you include the more complex the cutting process would be, especially multi-layered stencils (for creating different tones). Hours and hours of tedious work.
However rest assured majority of my clients are very cooperative and generous. Despite those unpleasant situations I would not stop drawing portrait or pursuing art :)
Photos below: My latest work-in-progress: cutting stencil of a tiger. My daughter is sitting beside me, doodling.
