Not sure whether portrait is a joke or not

[CallMeAChopper]

My friend is a hobby artist and does portraits for £30 each. She’s good at what she does but a) admits that there are some people sfe just can’t draw and b) has a dark sense of humour and messes around sometimes

My daughter is 2 years old and when you ask her to smile she bares all teeth and looks angry, it’s very funny but as a result all of her photos look like she’s growling at the camera. I asked my friend if she would do a portrait of me and DD as a Christmas present to my mum. Obviously I’m paying her.

She kept sending me updates but only of “my” part, all the photos had DD either covered up or cut off the photo. Anyway she’s now sent me the finished full version and asked whether I’m happy with it. It’s bloody hideous! She’s done a spot on version of me but DD looks like the girl from the exorcist! I know she was doing her growl face on the photo but the drawing seems to have exaggerated it and made her look really grotesque - I mean it literally looks like the cover of a horror movie.

Problem is I don’t know whether she’s joking or not!! If I laugh and tell her “good joke” and she didn’t do it on purpose it’s going to really upset her! But I can’t accept it like it is. I literally gasped when I saw it and then burst out laughing.

How on earth do I find out whether she’s joking or not without upsetting her if she isn’t?

Going by that story of the “joke” your friend played with the dog portrait, I think she must be joking here too.

I also think she sounds like a giant pain in the arse.

@Duvetflower

Seems like quite a nasty joke to play.

I agree. It was nasty of her to do that with the dog pic. It seems that she deliberately made sure you did not see the progress on the bits with your DD to catch you off guard when you finally saw the finished portrait. Not nice.

@Clandestin

But you haven't said if she is working from a photo you supplied? If she is, and you gave her a photo of your daughter baring her teeth, then she's just doing her job. Surely you have photos of your DD taken when she hasn't been told to smile, so she just looks normal, and not like Regan from The Exorcist?

OP says I know she was doing her growl face on the photo so the artist was working from what she was given. [shrug]

can u actually feel the paint on the canvas OP?

It sounds hilarious and I think she's pulling your leg. She might be waiting for you to comment and will then produce the "nicer" drawing.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

OP, if you don't show us, we will all draw our own and post them. I mean it.

goes off to open Paint app....

Id message her and ask if it was too late to try and alter the expression on dds face to look less severe?

Tbh though, if you were getting her to do a portrait from photos, then sent her photos of the kid growling, then its understandable that she thought you wanted to capture that. She might not have realised that you didnt like that expression if you didnt communicate with her that you were hoping she would be able to tone it down

Dying to hear her answer!

@CallMeAChopper

Has she replied yet?

Waiting to hear if the artist friend has replied yet....!

I had a similar thing done for me. At the time my teeth were not straight and I sort of had fangs (hated it)

When he gave me the portrait, he had totally picked up on my teeth

I was totally devastated and cried

You are worried about upsetting your friend?
Seems like she didn't extend that consideration to you when she painted an appalling picture of your little child.

Why start a thread and not follow up? We. Need. To. Know.

She's obviously an artist who paints what she sees not what you want to see. You acknowledge your daughter's cheeky smiles. ~Tha'tll be something to tease her with when she's a teenager. It's a true image of your daughter by you're own admittance. Be happy with it.

does it actually look LIKE her when she's in a mood, though?

I’m a little lost here , so your daughter smiles with a teeth baring smile and this woman drew with a teeth baring smile . I’d be amazed if it’s a joke , who’s got time for that . ….. I am very intrigued now though of the outcome .

following!!!!

Heartbroken at the lack of photo!

Petition to see the picture,
Signed Churo

Wait

So your daughter does a growling face when doing a photo

You ask friend to draw your daughter and send her to a of ‘photos’

You then think she shouldn’t of done what your daughter does in a photo?!?

I’m confused

What did you want her to reference and draw from?!?

@Joystir59

You can't commission a portrait for £30! So you can't comment on it.

This.

Read the OP.
Did a proper belly laugh at the image in my head.
Scrolled down for drawing and became very disappointed very quickly.
As an aside, I once went to a colleague's house. She lived with her parents and on the wall next to the chimney breast was the biggest fuck-off portrait I've ever seen outside of the National Gallery. It was one of those '90's photo beauty shoots. My friend was quite a homely looking woman by her own admission (she said to me the next day, I don't care about my looks but that makes me even more plain!) and her parents had this soft focus chin-resting-on hands thing on the wall. She was so embarrassed by it but I thought it was nice that her parents loved her so much. Or maybe they hated her. Who knows.

Actual photo.

We need to see it, can’t judge otherwise

Another signing the petition for the photo!