Why I should make contracts/ Why I make a great murdered prostitute ('the fatty, Courtney Love type)

        Amidst being made a dead prostitute for a new series on Fox this fall, I've been doing illustrations for friends and the random company that approaches me. I suppose this makes me an illustrator. After biking home from set and all the prosthetics are taken off and airbrushed deadness removed by Emmy award winning make up artist Charles Porlier, I work on drawings for downhill skaters and clients like top ten world champion Patrick Switzer. Now, don't get me wrong, P Swiss is a nice guy and hard working athlete and student, but he didn't honour our spoken contract. So now I'm forced to write agreements up by hand.

         He saw the 4 or 5 drawings I did for him, (I slyly inserted his initials into the design), which he specifically asked to be 'free flowing and abstract'. He liked one of them and agreed to pay me a meagre 50$.  He handed me a used set of Otangs (excellent wheels, one of his sponsors), some of Zack Maytum's killer bushings and I agreed to clean up the one he liked (photoshop) and send two options to him. I did just this in the next few days and he turned around and said that his friends, or sponsors I suppose, didn't understand the drawings so could I start on a new one.

      The new one he suggested was a Shamrock with his initials. He was using the initials idea I used with this new idea, but essentially asking me to abandon the work I did. So I said sure I'll start on new ones for 150$ if you pay me for the drawings I've done. Nope. 150$ is too much for the new work and since he didnt want to use the designs I've all ready done, he won't pay me the 50$ he agreed to.
        Now, I have a hard time charging for design or illustration work cause, honestly, I'm getting a degree in fine art at a killer school but I'm not a pro-trained designer or illustrator. But for Christ's sake people love it when I tattoo them and I've been drawing and painting for over 11 years, so I expect a deal's a deal. And this was exciting because normally downhill skaters only have there name and sponsors on their leathers. In this situation, it would be the first time an 'artwork' would be sewn with leather onto the leathers and not stencilled in some funny way or painted on.

Anyways, I'm sharing the drawings that I did for him, partially as proof, and partially to get feedback on my work, if your a professional person, then I appreciate input on making contracts. Now I'm working on a logo for my friend's company in Portland in exchange for a return train ticket to visit them and compete in a downhill skateboard race in the summer. Some people respect deals out there. I shoulda known when P Swiss said he thought sculptor Richard Serra's huge works were a waste of metal, when I showed him the Art 21 series show. Now if only Charles Porlier will send me the pics he took for me lying dead in a kitchen then I'll have a more interesting blog....