The man who wanted me to paint his dog's portrait but "not for the price you're thinking"
Came into the studio this morning with a photo on his phone. Golden retriever, nice enough dog. Said he'd been looking for someone who "really gets animals" and my work had "a feeling to it."
Then before I could say anything: "But I'm not paying gallery prices. You're in your studio, it's not like it costs you anything to paint."
I said the paint costs something. The canvas costs something. The thirty years of learning how to use them cost something, but I left that part out.
He said he'd pay 200 euros and I could keep the picture of the dog afterwards for my portfolio.
I said no and he acted like I'd insulted his grandmother. Genau. The portfolio argument. As if the privilege of painting his dog was its own reward.
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The "you can keep it for your portfolio" line is always the one that gets me. As if that's a favour he's doing you, not an admission that he thinks the painting has value, just not enough to pay for it.
Good on you for saying no. These are the same people who'd never say to a plumber "it's just pipes, it doesn't cost you anything to turn the wrench." But because it's painting, because they think it's something we do for love, they assume the labour doesn't count.
the plumber comparison is so good. nobody walks into a mechanic and says "it's just metal, the car's already built." but with art they think the whole thing is magic so the labour doesn't count.
i get this with clay all the time. people see a lump of dirt and think i'm taking the piss with my prices. like sure here's a wheel, you try it, see how many bowls you can pull before one doesn't collapse. then we'll talk.
The wheel is a good test. Let them sit with the failure for a bit, see how fast the romance of "just dirt" wears off.
What gets me is the confidence. He wasn't even negotiating. He was telling me what my time costs, based on nothing. Not his field, not his knowledge, just the feeling that it should be cheap because he wants it to be.
Genau. The portfolio line, as if my problem is a shortage of reference photos of other people's pets. I have a studio full of work. I don't need a picture of his dog to show anyone anything.
But the plumber comparison is exactly right. I've used that one myself. Nobody expects a carpenter to work for exposure. But paint something, and suddenly the labour is invisible. As if the hand moves by itself and the years just disappear.