I had a guy come and pick up his deer head yesterday. When he picked it up, he thought it looked just great and had no complaints.
Well, today I get a call from him. He doesn't like the pink I've airbrushed inside the ears. He says "it doesn't look like my other deer mounts, can I bring it by and you just paint it white?". I tried to explain to him that pink was the color deer ears are naturally, but he wouldn't have anything of it. Back when he brought me the deer, he brought along his three heads he had mounted before to show me. All of them looked pretty bad (not to talk badly about someone elses work, but they did!) and they all had thick, white paint smeared inside the ears. I guess he wants his new one just like this. I don't want to do this and have someone see it and think I do bad work, but I also just want to make this guy happy and be rid of him (he has been a trouble customer from the beginning!)
What would you do ?
Amy Ritchie
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I think that if it were me i would explain to him again that a deers ear has some color in it when they are alive. While you are doing this you can show him some of your reference pictures for him to see and this might help him to understand that you are right. And if he still insists on the white, i would put it in there and see him off. You dont need clients like that anyhow. Good luck with it and hope that i might have helped some!
Have him bring it by. Before doing any additional work. YOU SHOW HIM ALL THE REFERENCE PICS. Then if he still wants it white offer a biege.
This is where your people skills come in. YOU can handle the customer you are far more knowledgable than 70% of the adult taxidermist I have met.
Just be calm, explain you have studied the deer but you are willing to whiten the ears to fit his ideas.
i think I would just paint it white and be done with it. Unless it is hanging in a store etc, it won't have a lot of looks from potential customers anyhow.
I delivered a deer I did to a lady and she liked it but told me it looked a lot meaner in real life! I told her I could put fangs on it, but deer are not mean looking in my opinion. She didn't say much.
HI AMY I HAVE SEEN YOUR WORK AND I THINK ITS VERY NICE.DIFFERENT SHADES OF COLOR MAY BE ALL YOU NEED. I LIKE TO USE A LATEX BASE PAINT ON MY GAMEHEADS. YOU CAN CLEAN THE COLOR OFF THE HAIR AND IT REMAINS ON THE SKIN. IF YOU MIST IT VERY LIGHTLY IT WILL APPEAR TRANSLUCENT AND GIVE IT A NATURAL PLEASING SOFT COLOR.I WOULD HAVE HIM BRING IT BACK IN AND HIGHLIGHT THEM THAN IF THAT DONT WORK.DO WHAT HE WANTS AND SEND HIM ON HIS WAY.. NOW AFTER HE HAS LEFT THINK ABOUT IT.YOU KNOW YOUR JOB AND THE FACT THAT YOUR YOUNG OR A WOMAN SOME GUYS CANT HANDLE THAT.I AM NOT A WOMAN BUT WHEN I STARTED IN TAXIDERMY I WAS VERY YOUNG. I FOUND OUT THE WAY TO TAKE CARE IF THESE KIND OF PROBLEMS IS TO CHARGE MORE FOR A MOUNT AND DEMAND TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT.IF YOU ARE GOOD DO A GREAT JOB CHARGE FOR YOUR WORK ANDYOU WILL SEE A CHANGE IN THE CLIENTS YOU ATTRACT.WE ALL WANT TO MAKE IT IN THIS JOB SO WE HAVE TO ACT LIKE AND HAVE THE CONFIDENCE TO STAND BEHIND YOUR PRODUCT..WE IN OUR SHOP CHARGE 650.00 FOR A DEER SHOULDER MOUNT. WHEN WE FINISH A MOUNT WE THINK HEY THAT WOULD LOOK GOOD IN MY HOUSE SO IF WE LIKE IT WE KNOW OUR CLIENT WILL. DONT SELL YOURSELF SHORT AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK..
I have a real simple way of handling things, I simply say, in a matter of fact manner, "Don't argue with me, I'll show you a picture." There's one guy I know that I just honk off to no end when I say that to him anytime, BUT he is one of those people that has these preconceived concepts of what HE wants a deer to look like. Besides that, I like seeing him get a case of lip lock.
I do have a little over 2000 whitetail photos on file that I have taken myself, so I can put up a pretty good argument on all kinds of variables! LOL
I just sent you two photos of two different bucks, with a doe in the background of one photo. All three display pink in the ears. The photos were taken the first week of July. All three deer are relaxed, and not over heated from exercise. If they were "hot" the pink would appear much more intense.
Now, let's do an impromptu basic biology class. Mammal ears can, and do serve as "cooling devices" during periods of thermal heat, or heat generated by exercise. Ear size can also help to identify an animals geographical origin. The classic example would be Arctic foxes versus desert foxes.
Back to ear color in a deer. First off, some deer (as genetic families) may have the black pigment melanin in abundance on the inside of the ear. Some will have greater and lesser amounts of black skin pigment that may appear as streaks of black, along with an absence of pigment in the rest of the inner ear skin.
It is the absence of pigment that will allow "color" to show. The pink is nothing more than the blood in the ear giving the color.
As temperatures go down, blood vessels will constrict in the ears. The same deer ears may well appear as a whitish, bluish gray in the winter months. The ears may also be noticeably thicker from fluids. I can't prove it, but I theorize that the percentage of concentration of systemic chlorides is increased in the ears during the winter months. Natural "anti-freeze" as a frost bite protection.
Another couple of things I might add in regards to details in my above thread. Temperatures for the first week of July photos would have been in the 80 degree F. range. From memory, I'm thinking that the pink color from the blood supply is pretty well gone once temperatures hit the low 40s. My camera function becomes impaired in the same temperature ranges.
I think most hunters are programmed to think that deer ears are white and you can't tell them different, that's what they want. Usually when the hunter takes a good look at his deer, it is dead, and the pink is gone out of the ears. I would try to tone it down some with some brown, leaving it more pink into the inner ear.
A taxidermist I know had a client who'd shot a hartebeest in Africa. he mounted it and the total bill was aobut $5000. The guy is upset that the hartebeest horns are not robin egg blue. HUH? Well, the guy produces a PICTURE OF HIS ANIMAL lying in the African sunset. The color DID look robin egg blue but for $5000 and a happy customer, why argue? If the customer wants the nose BLACK, I paint it black like all the other thousands he's seen hanging on walls. We are business people. You can be an ARTIST in the privacy of your own home, but when you work for the public, you'd better be willing to make some concessions to their ART APPRECIATION.
Try using Don Holt's African Exotic Paint, "Animal Hair White" from Van Dykes. It's a cross between white and light pink. Give each ear a heavy coat, then take your air hose from your compressor, and blow the paint off the hair and the gritty look of the laquer off the skin. It gives a really nice pastel natural look. It almost looks like you've used three different colors, when you've only used one. It comes out kinda off white with a hint of pink and light blue. Using the air to blow it out and your fingers to get the paint off the hair really does a good job. This color works great on bobcat ears also.
I use it on deer ears that don't have allot of hair in them, and use medium pink misted with a dark brown when ears have allot of hair.
Everyone likes the color.
...pics. When ALL of the pics have SOME pink in their ears it's going to be pretty tough for him to argue. Then tell him for $10 bucks (just to cover your 5 minutes of painting time - I would even offer to do it for FREE if need be.) you'll paint the other THREE deer CORRECTLY.
IF he still wants them white, let him know that perhaps his deer WAS an oddity and paint the ears white for him! Sounds like a reasonable, potential repeat customer. Keep him happy...
The customer is the one writing the check.I wouldn't paint white though.I would have him bring back the deer head he wants it to look like and match it.You will hopefully have a happy customer that will return for future business.Good luck.
You just contradicted yourself! The customer WANTS it white!
I agree to paint it WRONG as a last case scenario. I would do my best (Amy) to convince this customer to go in the right direction via pink on the other three. But, if their adamant about it, paint it white...
Now I read all the responses to Amy's post, and I am kind of confused. We are alway preaching about educating our customers to what an animal truly looks like, anatomical accuracy and so forth, yet some of you suggest to just do as the customer says and paint the ear white, the horns blue, etc.
What happened to customer education? If we ever want our customers to realize the good work we do shouldn't that come first? I'd try everything first to educate the customer on the proper color of the ears and hape of brisket etc). Then if the customer still insists on green ears with blue butterflies painted all over apease him/her and do it. At least you tried to educate them.
Afterall it is our reputation as a wildlife artist/taxidermist that is on the line. All it takes is you painting the ears wrong becasue the customer won't listen to you. Then the customer is having one friend look at them and is laughing, saying the taxidermist doesn't know what he/she is doing because the color is wrong. Guess who the customers listens to first? At least you can tell him then: "I told you so and you didn't listen."
Paint it green or what ever he wants if thats what he wants; the customer is always right even when he is wrong.
Has the check cleared the bank? Cause it sounds to me like you could care less if he returns as a customer. If his money is in your account do whatever YOU want to do. What's he gonna tell people? That you know what you are doing? That he couldn't get a professional taxidermist to conform to his whiny-baby whims? I hate having work out there that is substandard.
I would paint them off white for a couple of reasons. Most people do not LIKE to be proven wrong. You could feel him out to see if he is open minded enough to listen to you and look at your reference pics. From what you have said about him that doesn't look likely. So, if he is not opened minded and you insist on proving your point anyway, he will not go away happy. Since most taxidermist live and die by "word of mouth", a dissatisfied customer can hurt.
Secondly, painting the ears off-white would not be wrong IMO, because a deers ear can be off-white. If he wanted them painted lime green, I might have to put my foot down and not do that! But off-white is acceptable IMO.
If you do paint them to suit him, he will most likely go away satisfied and and give you good PR about it.
For the record, I use WASCO's "Whitetail Ear, Light" to paint my deer ears. It is a very soft pink that works well for me.
Business is based on reputation.
What is going to hurt your reputation more? One deer with white ears that not many people will see or a guy running around sayin "ya that girl did good but she screwed my ears up".
Flat out say "Living deer have pink in their ears - the white comes out after they are dead and the blood drains out of them.. but if you REALLY want them white - I'll do them white this time for you." You give him what he wants, few people will see it, he's happy and doesn't bad mouth you AND... you told him you'd do it on THIS one.. if he comes back for repeat business tell him you have to do to them pink or yer not taking it in - your reputation for accuracy depends on it. I've had to turn away lots of big projects because I wouldn't cave to their pressure and compromise. It doesn't leave my studio if Im not happy with it, my reputation is too important to my business to put out half arsed stuff. I suspect you are in the same boat or you wouldn't be making this post. Do it white for him this time after you educate him - but tell him any future ones will be done pink the way living deer are.
Amy
What an excellent question. Some people want a jack-a-lope. Someone may want a squirrel playing baseball or a big, muscle bound deer mount. I've even seen a whitetail deer mounted with a wolf jawset and alligator eyes. Would you do one of those mounts if the customer requested it and paid enough money for it?
When your customer tagged his buck and took pictures of it, the ears were pure white inside. I would simply show him a few pictures of a live deer and say that is what you were accomplishing with your color...as close a representation as you could get to a live deer. If he then wants them white, I'd paint them white.
Good luck.
Steve
"Educate them". Where do you live? THEY will educate you by taking their work to someone who LISTENS TO THEIR DESIRES FOR THE MONEY THEY PAY. Is that such a difficult concept to understand?
I'd have no problem changing the ear color or anything else on the finished mount, but there would be a charge for my time/supplies. I have a minimum one hour charge for any work I do, so if it's that important to him, then see if he's willing to pay for it. I'd bet he would just leave it the way it is. When my customers come in to drop off a specimine, I have a line on my contract that covers this situation. I also have a line for any special mounting instructions, which defaults to "none."
I have seen alot of deer with the ears way to pink .Im not saying its not right ,but paint the ear according to how much hair the deer has in its ears ,if the deer has thick hair in its ears then paint them pink only ,because your not going to see much anyway ,but if the ears only have alittle hair and alot of the inner ear showing,tone it down with a little brown so the pink dont stand out so bad .Remember Amy we cant please everybody.
I think with the proper people skills (I'm MUCH nicer to my customer's than you guys - lol!) you try to first educate your customers. I'm with Evelyn on this one...
I had a customer come in with a woodchuck and he wanted it holding a pumpkin with both paws. Now, you would never see a woodchuck standing on hind legs holding a pumpkin the way he wanted it posed. But, when it comes right down to it, who cares. The customer is why you are in business. I certainly wouldn't compromise my work and details, but when it comes to a simple color change in a pair of ears, the $250.00-$600.00 that you charge your customer for a deer head, is enough for me to paint the ears white and still be satisfied with my work going out the door. Just make a not in your file, that this is the way the customer asked for the mount to be, incase he ever comes back and tells you...he doesn't like the mount because the ears are white. Good luck Amy, and remember, the customer is always right, that is, if you want to stay in business. Be fair, be honest, and try to be accommodating.
I do a lot of what I refer to kindly in public as "novelty" work and privately I refer to it as crap. I once got paid to do an upright chipmunk in GI Joe Special Forces garb for a client who wanted to give it to her Special Forces hubby as a birthday gift. (oh, did that hurt...) and I have done several tarantulas that were posed in impossible ways because most people think they walk and rest on the tips of their legs -- with a body that heavy do you think that really happens? One tarantula mount was requested where a big spider was reared up on hind legs, fangs extended, front legs waving in the breaze and attacking a huddled, quaking mouse. And another with a tarantula mounted on an apparently dead white mouse with blood dribbling from side wounds in the mouse and dripping from the spider's fangs. Now... go figure... But the money is still money and believe me, ask most people on the street and they all seem to think this sort of stuff (except the silly chipmunk) is natural behavior. I always talk to my customers and tell them if they are looking for something "real" this is what it should be doing or looking like, but if they are looking for something startling or eyecatching and the animal's real behavior is not enough, I'll do it up in pink ribbons if it makes them happy. I educate and then do whatever it is they ask for with a smil. I'm in business to support myself through the consumer, not in business to impress myself with my own skill and knowledge (although I do that anyway... lol).
...at the end of the day you have simply yourself to be happy with. If it will bother you to have a poor quality specimen (like it would me) out there then don't change it. If at the end of it all you don't care, then make the change for some additional cash. If this guy is a "gem" then you don't want him back as a customer anyway...who is he going to influence and drive away from you?...More bad customers...I think you need to give credit to your good customers...positive word-of-mouth advertising goes a long way...sour grapes and whining die out pretty quick and really should not impact your business...personally, I would stand behind what you believe to be right and acceptable...its your business and your reputation so don't get pressured by some jerk into doing something your regret. I did a similar compromise for a guy a year ago...it still bothers me today...my one regret...I will never go against what me gut says again because it is the worst critic and hardest to live with...