In terms of my 'alpaca to-do' list, I have the pencil drawings done, most of the small sketches, some of the medium sketches, and the ink drawings done. I still have the soft pastel pieces left to do. And there's the problem. The farm requested:
- (1) 8x10 soft pastel
- (2) 11x14 soft pastel
While I can do a nice pastel of an alpaca as an 8x10, it's tricky. Soft pastels are like chunks of chalk and fine details on a small scale are extremely difficult. Not impossible, but extremely difficult. If I do a scene, for example an alpaca in a field, the size of the head will be about an inch high. The alternative is to do a fine, detailed pastel of just the head. But then I'm stuck wondering, "Who will want an alpaca head?"
That's problem no. 1. Problem no. 2 is I have some wonderful pictures of alpacas that would look fantastic as 16x20 pieces -- large pieces that are nearer life-sized. These pictures could be done on an 11x14 paper, but they just wouldn't have the same impact. I would just go ahead and do them larger, but the farm said they didn't want more large pieces (such as 16x20), so I'm stuck.
The only solution to these problems is to call them and explain the situation. Hopefully, they will understand and let me do what I think is best. In the past, I have run into this problem with other clients -- they want a certain size and I feel it would look better at a different size. Some clients absolutely insist on their size -- they don't want to spend a the extra money to get a larger size, even if I offer them a huge discount. Other clients will listen to my ideas and go along with them, and when they receive the piece they are thrilled with the large sizes. (And yes, on one occassion, I had someone want me to do something too large, and I had to talk them into a smaller piece.)
Well, I had better go make the call, so I don't waste a whole day waiting to know what sizes I'm doing. My deadline is approaching rapidly!
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