To not know what to do about this gift :(

[Ifyourawizardwhydouwearglasses]

Oh dear :(

There is a photo in our house of me and my old dogs on the hills behind the house. It's been missing lately but I didn't notice it until recently. I love it and its one of my favourite pics ever.

Anyway, DH came in the other day with a large package. It was a painting of the picture. As a gift for me. It's a LOVELY thought......but the painting is terrible.

It's just....really bad. It looks like a gcse art project. At best.
I look like a weeble and the dogs are just awful - they could be any chocolate labs. In fact, you can't even tell they're labs. They're just brown dogs with back legs that don't bend properly. It looks like a child did it :(
God I feel awful saying this.

I can't even look at it because its a scene that is so personal to me, which has been totally spoiled.
He hasn't had a bill yet from the 'artist' but I'm sure it'll be eye watering.

The artist in question is a family friend (I don't know them, friend of his parents) so to return is as being substandard would cause huge offence all round.

Wtf do I do!?
Obviously I've said thank you very much etc, and I am SO touched by the thought of it, honestly I'm not ungrateful of the sentiment.

But what do I do with the thing? Should I be honest? He said 'its not brilliant is it...?' and he looked so disappointed.

:(

It's causing you much puff pain

I think the "We sent it to the framers" suggestion was the best solution and hide it in your attic. What a shame.

Many years' ago we were proudly shown an engagement portrait, more like unfortunate caricatures. But the couple concerned were thrilled to bits and we were struggling to stay composed, the question on my mind was, "Was it painted by a jealous ex?"

Tell the artist. Don't let your DH pay for something that you both know is a bag of crap! Gush to DH about what a wonderfully thoughtful gift it is but agree with him that's it's rubbish and return it to the artist. You don't have to pay if you are not in possession of it! Maybe they could add it to their portfolio?!

I don't know what the rules are, not ever having commissioned artwork, so I could be talking out of my hat here... but I don't think you can just return it that easily because it's work that they otherwise wouldn't have done??

I would laugh over it with DH (what a lovely thought from him, btw) and put it in the loft!

I recently had a picture drawn of my eldest sons, I wanted a Doctor Who picture with them in to hang in their bedroom.

It wasn't good. My sons have misshapen heads.

We are very lucky in that a friend of ours has painted her version of some scenic photos we have from our various travels and they are amazing!

They aren't exact copies, she has done her own take on them but they are beautiful, unique and best of all they were for free - she did us 5 in total.

However another friend - I've known her for almost 20 years - who is an aspiring artist in her spare time but to be frank she isn't very good. She has obviously noticed our paintings and took it upon herself to start doing us some pictures. So for the past 5-6 years at Crimbo she has presented us with random pictures.... Most odd is the one from her kitchen window (she overlooks a train track?) and even more bizarre one of her naked child

The naked child one is very arty and not explicit as such? Friend seems to forget that we know it's her child and not some random child. Even my parents know it's her child. I don't want a picture of her naked child up in my house!!

She has also done a few horrible pictures of DS, copied from random photos she must have covertly taken of him when we meet up?

We've managed to get away with not having them on display due to lack of space but one of the first things she mentioned when I told her we're moving was now I can start putting her pictures up!

I'll try to find a picture of the Puff Paint art. I don't want to put ours up as it will out us, but the seller was selling HUNDREDS of them so I know others will have them in all there glory.

I look at it quite fondly now.

Oh no, that's awful Honorary

Bloody hell

Are you sure the artist doesn't have cataracts ?

Op, can you zoom in and just take a picture of one of the dog/sausages so we can see? If it's bad as you say I think you'll be pretty safe and nobody will recognise it!

OP I feel your pain.

My mother (not an artist, no training, never seen her paint before) painted a picture of all her grandchildren, and gave us a photo copy of it, framed.
It was so bad, I actually recoiled, couldn't stop myself.
The children looked like creepy dolls, think really big teeth and staring eyes.

My mum noticed my horror and asked my straight away if I would put it on my wall, and I said hm maybe.
Even dh was freaked by it, and he has a very sturdy nature

So I did accept half gracefully, but it never made it on any wall in our house.

We still have to look at the original at my mum's house. And every time I think wtf.

Sorry it's such a disappointment.

There is however if you must display it,the perfect place for this sort of artwork - that's in the loo above the cistern- you will never have to look at it but DH can admire it every time he takes a pee!

idlefolly "Tell the artist. Don't let your DH pay for something that you both know is a bag of crap! Gush to DH about what a wonderfully thoughtful gift it is but agree with him that's it's rubbish and return it to the artist. You don't have to pay if you are not in possession of it! Maybe they could add it to their portfolio?!"

I agree 100% with this. It would be different if it was a gift from the "artist", but don't pay a penny for such a sub-standard picture. That would be the same as treating her like a charity to which you've donated.

There's no excuse for bad painting. I'm cringing at the horror that has been done to your beloved photograph. I can imagine what it looks like, and (though your DH can clearly see how bad it is) there are people who can't tell a good painting/sketch from bad. My ILs got a terrible portrait sketch of them done by some rip off street 'artist' in Paris on holiday, and are so proud of it they got it enlarged on canvas and hung over the fireplace. It makes two quite normal-looking people in their seventies look like slightly melted Humpty-Dumpties posed against some kind of Wuthering Heights dramatic sky. I can't even look at it without my skin crawling.

As regards your response, I think a certain amount would depend on whether the 'artist' is someone who makes a living from copying photos, or just some painter-hobbyist friend of the family who did a favour for DH. If the former, saying it's substandard should be straightforward, if the latter, it may be trickier, and it's perfectly possible the person can't do any better. If it's really basic stuff that's so awful - dogs legs wrongly 'bent' etc - it does suggest an incompetent hobbyist doing his/her bad best...

Oh that's such a shame OP, it was a lovely idea. An elderly family friend who is an artist painted a picture of our dog (from a favourite photograph) for a wedding present and it's fantastic. I'm so glad it is, otherwise I would hate having to display it. I understand what you mean about the image being personal to you. It's almost like looking at it is ruining a precious memory!

Get your dh to 'confide' in his parents and ask for their advice... Say that he gave you the picture and that although you said you were very touched by the thought and that it was a lovely idea he watched your face and saw it sink when you first saw it before you'd had a chance to compose your face. And once he saw the picture he knew exactly why because it's really bad nowhere near the usual high standard of family friend's pictures and that he feels really upset that the family friend has let him down so badly and that if she couldn't do it then she should have said rather than carried on and done something quite so bad. (at this point have picture and photo to show what he means).
Carry on that he feels awful and in a lose-lose situation; either he says nothing but has ended up paying lots of money for something that can't be hung up as it's so bad it's upsetting to see and would just look awful. Or he talks to family friend but risks causing upset and he might not get his money back - and there's no guarantee that if she says she will try to improve it that it will be any better (one likes to assume that she will have done her best already!) and that he feels very hurt that she has charged him full price for something that looks like it was done by a 14yr old.

And that now he feels stuck between a rock and a hard place and doesn't know what to do and what would they advise...

Hopefully if he asks for advice from his dp's then that will preclude them from getting upset with him as he will have made it their problem too and they will like that he is asking their advice...

OP, don't worry too much about the painting cluttering up the place, it's bonfire night soon!!!

Seriously though, what a shame, and really hope that you and dh are able to see the funny side of it in the end.

Oh dear, sorry OP, this really is the stuff of nightmares :-(

I want more creepy art pictures

My dh's grandma was somewhat of an artist. Some of her paintings are really good, some not so good. She did sell though. She generally painted trees, flowers, birds, churches and nudes.
After she died dh's aunt said she had a painting set aside for us, to remember her by.
Does anyone want to see what arrived a week later?

pictish YES

Yes, please pictish

Pictish - yes, yes, yes!

I want to see all the terrible paintings!