when I was starting out as an artist, I got a lot of co-workers who approached me with requests to draw pictures of their kids, pets, significant others, and so on. One lady approached me with a compelling story that tore my heart out. After I told her I could help her, I ended up tearing my hair out! Here’s how it went: She tells me that her grandmother, who was in her 80s at the time, was beside herself with grief because she had lost her little dog. The dog had died, and could I, possibly, draw a picture of it, so that this lady could put a smile back on her grandma’s face. I asked the obvious questions, what kind of dog was it, etc., I told her I could draw it, if I had a good picture to draw from (having never seen the dog) and, because of the “personal” aspect of the situation, I would “waive” my fee, as an artist. After all, putting a smile back on grandma’s face was a noble thing to do any day of the week, right? So we shook hands on the deal and the next day, she brings me a Polaroid picture of her grandma with the dog sitting at her feet, glowing red eyes and poor lighting -I actually knew LESS about what the dog looked like than before! Now I had to try to draw this very personal portrait and do it for FREE! Also, grandma’s health wasn’t so good, so could I please have it by next Monday?
note: This blog was originally posted on Kim-Lee Patterson's "Your Writing Lady" blog. You should check it out for yourself! http://yourwritinglady.com/author/kimleepatterson/
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