Live wedding painting artist defends ‘partially abstract’ artwork after viral criticism on TikTok

‘I don’t promise anything other than what I advertise,’ artist says

An artist has defended herself from critics after a video of her live wedding painting at a couple’s nuptials went viral on TikTok.

Rebecca Russell, who owns Rebecca Russell Art Studio in Virginia, offers live wedding paintings to newlyweds on their wedding day. The artistic process sees Russell set up a small easel at the ceremony or reception, where she then paints the bride and groom as they celebrate with loved ones.

In a video shared on TikTok recently, Russell captured a bride’s reaction to seeing the live wedding painting the artist had created at her wedding, as well as a glimpse at the art piece itself.

In the clip, the bride could be heard telling Russell: “Let me go change, and I’ll bring my groom back. I’ll be right back.”

However, Russell then asked the bride what she thought of the painting, to which she replied she “loved it,” before reiterating that she was going to find her groom.

The video then pivoted to a look at the painting, which appeared to show semi-realistic depictions of the bride and groom embracing in front of a staircase. In the caption of the video, Russell wrote: “Liza loves it!”

However, the clip, which had been viewed more than 340,000 times, then circulated on TikTok, where many users criticised Russell’s artistic abilities, and the prices she charges for her services.

According to Russell’s website, which notes that she creates a “custom package for each and every couple,” prices start at $1,200 for the live wedding paintings.

“I paint the couple in their LOVE moment and the surroundings in a partially detailed and partially abstract way,” she explains, adding: “I can accommodate some additional people or favourite pets, etc per request.”

Russell also notes that travel up to 100 miles is included, but that travel beyond that requires an additional fee.

The artist’s work has since sparked a debate on TikTok after a user who goes by @kwen4u duetted Russell’s TikTok and criticised the painting results, as well as the artist’s fee.

“No hate to the painter at all, but [the bride] paid over $1,200 plus travel fees for this painting,” the TikToker wrote in a text caption on the video. “It’s not a bad painting at all but…”

In the video, the TikToker also shared screenshots taken from Russell’s website about her fees for the painting service, as well as a since-deleted section of the website where it outlined her travel fees.

According to the screenshot, Russell charged couples an additional $1,000 for weddings in Miami, while weddings in the US Virgin Islands were an additional $2,000.

For weddings on the east coast, Russell explained that the travel fee would vary between $250 to $1,000, while west coast weddings would cost an additional $3,000 on top of the $1,200 for the painting.

In the caption of the TikToker’s video, which has been viewed more than 1.8m times, she wrote: “If I paid over $1,000 I would cry.”

Many of the comments were equally critical of the painting results, with one person claiming the painting “should have been $15,” while another said: “I wish I had this kind of confidence in my pricing.”

However, others defended Russell on the basis that the bride would have known what to expect from the painting when she hired the artist to paint at her wedding.

“The thing is the painter has pictures posted of her drawings and style so she had to have known what it would look like,” one person commented, while someone else said: “I mean if the bride saw her work she had done previously and still hired her, she either likes it or it’s her own fault?”

Speaking to The Independent, Russell defended her artwork, with the artist admitting she was “surprised by the comments,” as she’s “never had anything but thrilled clients”.

However, Russell said that, looking back on the video she’d posted, she realised that the painting “was not looking its best,” but that she’d wanted to share the clip because the “bride was so adorable and said she loved it”.

According to the artist, she also hoped she would “get a few bookings from it”.

Although Russell acknowledged that the painting may not have been shown in the best light, she pointed out that her clients are all aware of her painting style before they book her for their weddings, and that critics who don’t like her work can “go look at something else”.

“What I would say to those that criticised my work is that if they don’t like my style of painting, then go look at something else,” she said.

Russell, who said that she received “threatening private messages and phone calls” as a result of the viral reaction video, also condemned those who publicly criticsed her work, continuing: “Don’t harass, hate and bully someone who is just doing what she loves for people and making their weddings entertaining and fun!

“I am a loving person and an honest business woman, so I don’t believe I deserved such hateful abuse, which included copying pages from my website for their negative videos, threatening private messages and phone calls.”

Russell also noted that she is “completely transparent” about her services, and does not advertise “realistic live wedding paintings”.

“My clients see several of my pieces on my sites before they choose me. You can look at other live wedding painters’ work and see that mine are different. I don’t promise anything other than what I advertise. They choose me because my work is different and not realistic,” she explained, adding: “That is what art is all about; being unique and different. They like my style and I provide it.”

On Russell’s website and Instagram, she includes several examples of her live wedding photos, with the bride and groom in each depicted in the same semi-realistic manner.

Russell also defended the prices she charges for her artwork, telling us that her pricing is “similar to others, and far less than some others”.

As for how the viral backlash has affected her business, Russell, who said she has been painting for 20 years, said that she has had to make her social media accounts private and removed portions of her website because she didn’t want “any stranger misrepresenting [her] offerings”.

However, Russell said that she will “of course” continue offering her live wedding painting services, and that, in addition to having numerous wedding paintings booked, she has had “several bookings” since the story began unfolding.

“I will continue to provide the service as it makes my customers thrilled and the guests at their weddings come by and comment positively all throughout the night at the events,” she said. “I have no intention of stopping offering the service. It is a blast and I love it!”