Friday, June 10, 2022

But make me pretty

 One of the most frustrating things about being a fine artist is "But make me pretty." Also known as, "Then why don't you make your own damn picture."

It's the reason why some artists charge lots of money for commissions. They're not really sure they want to do them.

 It's when someone asks you for a portrait, BUT. Like, they want to be younger. They want a nose job.

You start the portrait, and you can tell it's going bad when they immediately ask you to make them more beautiful but complain when they see your changes.

It doesn't stop. Ever. You show them sketch after sketch after sketch, and they say no and finally send you a sketch they drew.

And then, after you humor them by doing it their way, and commit the picture to expensive paper and materials, they suddenly chime in with, more and more facial changes, then resignedly imply that your portraits are no good by changing it to a copy of some anime character, which, although easy, seems to defeat the whole purpose of the original request. "Oh well, you're not as good as I thought. Just make it a picture of snoopy, lol."

If you can stomach a customer like this, you are a fine artist, and deserve to raise your rates.

Although I've seen some artists that draw stick figures and overcharge, I think some good ones have been burned by "But make me pretty."