Portrait Artist Forum - Love your errors

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- - Love your errors (http://portraitartistforum.com/showthread.php?t=8668)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julie Deane

Hey, Peter, I don't mean trace from Photoshop. I mean put a photo of the painting next to the photo reference and look back and forth to find out what is wrong. Good eye training!

Photoshop can be a useful tool.

That is fine for me as long as it does not go the step further and superimpose images etc but why bother when you can have the image on your monitor at sight size and compare directly? The bottom line though is that as long as it is our own eyes doing the job there is no violation of integrity.

I wholeheartedly agree and frustration is a good thing anyway in a ying yang dualism.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mischa Milosevic

Peter, but we want to be known as artists, didn't you know. We are in the 21st century, the age of tech. Where have you been?

It is strange to see, but understandable, that many "artists" of today think that they will save cash by cutting corners on professional training. Sure, we have self taught "artists" but many of the same dare not, for fear of exposure, do life sittings.

Someone has asked the question "when does one become a pro" answer (not word for word) "when you have painted 1000 portraits." To this I would add -from life-.

I remember when I first came on this forum. It was just about the time when I was faced with a commission which I was to execute from a photo a bad one at that. Boy, I was stumped! I had no idea what to do.

I was so used to working from life that this, bad photo, for a surprise portrait, was a BIG challenge for me. I had no idea how to use Photo Shop in order to manipulate photos to arrive at a good image to work from.

Time has passed, lessons learn't. Today, I happily get out to coffee shops, parks and where ever I find people sitting still and I draw. What bliss. One learns about shadows, bad lighting, tonal separation, speed and accuracy, and the list is endless. One gets recognition as well.

Many will wish to see what you are doing but don't be scared, if they like what they see give them your card.

Golfers also buy anything that is promised to improve their scores and sometimes it works but they don

"but statues were always obliging"

Here is one I had fun with a few days ago. Gave out a few visit cards as well.

It was done on a A5 120g Canson pad. Someone asked me why I was drawing it so small. Not sure if they wanted to see a bigger version of the same drawing? I explained that it was drawn in proportion to the paper size in order to create illusion of distance.

I had lots of fun with this one. I think I will go out today and draw. Such a nice day outside. It would be a shame not to enjoy it. What a blessing He is so good to me.

of those Parisian statues.

Nice atmosphere in that drawing Mischa.

No statue find a plaster

this is a still life using a plaster bust I made of my best friend at art school.

but people are best

a previous girlfriend

I think the best way to learn and improve your skill level is to work through the frustrations of it all and not settle until you are satisfied. This thread really strikes home with me this month. I spent a couple of months working on this bust for a client when all I had to work from was one ancient photo from 1860 of this woman. I thought it would be easy getting it to look like her from the one angle

Bravo Heidi. I think the before and after shots show that the rigour and honesty led to a far superior piece. I am painting my youngest daughter at the moment and had to move not one but both arms yesterday as I realised they were simply in the wrong place and I was so pleased I had seen this. Why I had not seen it before is a mystery all of us experience but once we find a way to 'notice' the mistake there is only one thing to do and correct it no matter how finished the part was.

I am gobsmacked that you can work from photos yet produce such wonderful results. I found making busts difficult enough with the person in front of me and with a large pair of calipers to take measurements with so how you do it with only one or two photo references with not even a full range of round the head shots is beyond me and I take my hat off to you.

Heidi, I totally agree with this:

[QUOTE=Heidi Maiers]I think the best way to learn and improve your skill level is to work through the frustrations of it all and not settle until you are satisfied. . . . It