A Sad Commission Story

      'Sunrise Over the Marsh'  32 x 42            pastel      ©Karen Margulis    available in my Etsy shop  $900

I am not very strict when it comes to commissions. I don't require payment in advance or a deposit. I don't recommend it but I have never had a problem. I only take on commissions for subjects that I would paint anyway. In other words it is just another daily painting for me should the client not want it in the end. That has never happened. The only issue I have ever had were due to the wrong measurements by the client. This is now the second time this has happened even though I am very careful to make sure they know what size they need and ask them to consider the size of frames especially for large paintings. 

I painted and delivered two very large pastels in December without a problem so I eagerly started on this third large commission. It was a subject I loved and I was happy to paint it so large. The client settled on 32x42 landscape format after many back and forth communications. In the end it was not the orientation they wanted. It was a definite miscommunication and we are both at fault. Lesson learned. Big lesson learned! I guess it is time for a written contract with detailed requests. 

At first I was sad and disappointed. But I enjoyed painting and it truly gave me an excuse to paint large!I would do it more often if I had room to store finished paintings this size! Now what? I listed the painting in my Etsy shop. It is possible someone will be looking for a large marsh painting! Until then I am enjoying it in my studio!

Here are a few photos of the painting along with some closeups!  The painting is on Uart 400 cut from a roll. I used Nupastels for the first layers, Mount Vision pastels for the bulk of the painting and Terry Ludwig pastels for the finish. I did use the Nupastels at the end for some of the grasses.