How to tell my taxidermist his work is not as good as it once was?

[erik1972]

I have been using the same taxidermist here in Ohio for over 20 years, he used to win all kinds of awards and then decided he had enough clients and stopped going to the shows. We have become friends. I traded a website design for some work years ago and we remained shooting and reloading buddies. Problem I am having is a few friends that use other taxidermists have commented that the skin/eye lids around the eyes are more grey in color than they should be. I compared my mounts over the years and they were correct. I can see a difference about 10 years ago of a brown wet look around the eyes and now they look much lighter and grayish brown. I can understand that when your mounting 200 deer heads a year you just keep going with what you used the day before and after a few years your colors could have changed drastically but never really notice it yourself. Now, he does great work and has a huge client base and can get all mounts done in 6-8 months which I think is huge in this business.

But how do I tell an artist that his work is not as good as it used to be and he is missing a few key details that I think can make his work standout again? I am a designer myself and we actually talked about me learning taxidermy and taking over his business someday. But I don't want to ruffle feathers with him as we have a great business relationship.

Thoughts?

 

[Mallardsx2]

Sounds like my cousin who used to do taxidermy and win awards.

Now, 30 years later, his deer now look like stuffed animals. lol

 

[montezumarchery]

Can you post a couple pics of his work? maybe some close ups of the areas you are concerned about. I have stopped using a taxidermist because of this same issue, but we weren't close friends.

 

[elkantlers]

Be straight with him.

 

[DaveD]

I you as a friend won't tell him, you are doing him a disservice imo.

 

[Tristate]

I think you as a friend should talk to him but you should be careful about telling him he's not as good as he once was over a color issue.

First, the fleshy portion around the eye itself that has to be repainted varies in color quite a bit. He may have decided to start painting a different color based on reference he found and liked.

I for one do not paint deer eyes the same as I did 20 years ago. You can put 10 master taxidermists in a room and more than likely all 10 will finish their eyes differently. Doesn't mean any one is better than the other.

I would bring him a photo of a live deer, NOT A MOUNT, and ask him if he could finish the eyes on your mount like the photo. More than likely he won't have a problem being approached like that and hopefully you get what makes you happy.

 

[Snoopdogg]

That is tough. I thing Tri's suggestion can work, but he may steer you back to what he does currently (This is much better!) It's an unknown until you do or say something.

I have a homeboy who uses a taxidermist that is a local to him and donates to his conservation group. He showed me the taxidermy work when I went to his house once and about 8 of 12 mounts had what I thought were obvious flaws (uneven ears, pulled lips, crooked eyes, etc.).

I halfway thought he was justifying any flaws with the bragging about this "deals" but soon realized he was sincere as he seemed VERY pleased with his work. He commented how happy he is to support his donor/friend and in general, it just seemed he was happier than a pig in sh*t with the work and their relationship as a whole. Good for him.

Respectfully, I nodded and at various times said, "Wow" and "Look at that." After the taxidermy showcase ended, I knew there was no reason for me to sh*t on his parade, but I didn't realize my homey was blind!

Good luck.

 

[Joe2Kool]

...I would bring him a photo of a live deer, NOT A MOUNT, and ask him if he could finish the eyes on your mount like the photo. More than likely he won't have a problem being approached like that and hopefully you get what makes you happy.

This seems like a very reasonable approach. It puts the emphasis on "this is what I prefer" instead of "I don't like what you're doing." Yea, both say the same thing but the latter could cause a defensive reaction.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

Send him a link to this thread.