Just one last update: I found a better job and am I much happier now!! :) — KidACrimson 47 secs ago

@Storm If I'd been told "I need a lot of time before starting a relationship" I personally wouldn't take that to mean "I don't want to talk to you at all for a while." I would generally assume that non-relationship talking would still be okay. Obviously I don't know all of the other conversations you two have had though. — Anthony Grist just now

'Consider what his question is and whether you are saying "no" because you don't want to do it, don't want to do it with him, or don't want to do it because it's him asking.' Why does this matter? She doesn't have to get him to agree that her right of refusal is justified for every instance. If she days 'no', that is enough. — swbarnes2 1 min ago

And if the guy thinks it's a knee-jerk reaction, it's okay to bully her into changing it? Why does she have to prove to you that she understands her own mind? I bet the guy thinks she doesn't understand her own thinking either. The world is full of men who think that women are too stupid to think for themselves, so they have to be pushed into making the right decisions. — swbarnes2 1 min ago

I agree that getting them to help in ways they can is a good idea. Maybe it's not necessarily the technique, but rather the color combinations. "The pants, skin, and shirt should be these colors," might get them to do some of the less detailed areas and the OP can do the minutiae that really makes the figure "right". — computercarguy 17 secs ago