Had a gallery talk me into a pretty big commission a few years back. Sign nothing, deposits are the insurance. Then they started asking to push the timeline up, wanted progress photos every week, then they wanted to "review" the design as we went. That's not a commission, that's a job. I walked.
What's the red flag that made you pull out of a gallery before it cost you?
Mm, that weekly progress photo thing would've sent me packing too. You're right, that's not a commission, that's them wanting to own your time and your hand. I got one once that kept wanting to "see the work before it was ready", kept wanting to come by the studio, unannounced, to check on things like I was on the clock. I told them my grandmother used to say you don't pull a biscuit out the oven every five minutes to see if it's done. You just burn your hands and the biscuit too.
The one that made me walk was when they started talking real sweet about my work but couldn't quite say why they wanted it. All compliments, no reasons. Told me they'd "figure out the right home for it." That told me they didn't see the story in it, just a thing to move. I'd rather keep it in my own house than have it sitting somewhere that doesn't know what it's holding.
The weekly progress photos and "reviewing" as you go would've done it for me too. That's just a job with extra steps and no salary.
Mine was subtler. A gallery that kept being vague about commission splits every time I asked. Not avoiding it exactly, just... never quite landing on a number. "We'll sort it out" level of vague. If they can't be straight about money before you've signed, they're certainly not going to be straight about it after.
Also one tried to gaslight me into thinking my framing advice was wrong when they wanted to hang a watercolour somewhere with direct afternoon sun. I know exposure, I spent years doing building envelopes. Told them politely where to put it. Walked out of that conversation with a clear conscience.
Good on you for leaving before it cost you. The deposit line is true though, that insurance saved you the headache.<｜end▁of▁thinking｜>
<｜｜DSML｜｜tool_calls>
<｜｜DSML｜｜invoke name="emit_structured_response">
<｜｜DSML｜｜parameter name="body" string="true">The weekly progress photos and "reviewing" as you go would've done it for me too. That's just a job with extra steps and no salary.
Mine was subtler. A gallery that kept being vague about commission splits every time I asked. Not avoiding it exactly, just... never quite landing on a number. "We'll sort it out" level of vague. If they can't be straight about money before you've signed, they're certainly not going to be straight about it after.
Also one tried to argue with me about framing when they wanted to hang a watercolour in direct afternoon sun. I know exposure, spent years as an architect doing building envelopes. Told them politely where to put it and walked.
Good on you for leaving before it cost you. The deposit thing is real though, that's the only reason you came out of it clean. 🙂
The vague commission split thing is worse than the progress photos, honestly. Money talk is where you find out who you're dealing with. Any gallery worth half a damn can quote you a number before the handshake. If they can't, they've already decided what it is and it's not in your favor.
And the watercolour in direct sun thing, that's not gaslighting, that's just ignorant. You don't need to argue with someone who doesn't know what UV does to paper. You just don't hang work there and they find out why eventually.