Patt,

Do a few more portfolio pieces with this tracing method, it is a very common practice and do your all commissions this way. They will all come out and your clients will be pleased.. The extra money will come in with the improvement in your portfolio. Just really trace each shadow and light area. Mix the colors right on the plastc covering to get them EXACT!

Then you can relax and go to the drawing classes and have fun!

Dan, it does help. Thanks. Did you ever feel like you are moving backwards? Maybe this is reality setting in. :bewildere

You have all been so very wonderful with your suggestions and I will try to do them soon.

Regards

Patt

Do not feel this way Patt. It is a fun way of making a living. Do not worry about your lack of knowledge, we have all been in the dark for 70-90 years about how to do this. There were no courses, no internet, no DVD's.

We have all had to move backwards. Do not feel alone or ashamed. You know enough now, which is more than most, how to paint a portrait. Don't look back with regret, it is a waste of time. If you can use this bit of information to provide you and your husband with a bit of comfort and security that is a wonderful thing. Just do it and don't worry about it. As I have said, it is a common practice. I hope all goes well with you and your husband. Life is short, enjoy.

Patt, with all do respect to all the forum member but I encourage you not to trace or use projectors. Even if someone has done this in the past or still uses this method it is up to you to chose what is right.

The right way to learn is a struggle this is true. The masters of old and all the good teachers encourage copying but not tracing. The only time a artist will trace is when doing a transfer even then it is encouraged to rather transfer by measurement than to trace. One must learn to draw by training the eye to see. With tracing one will never acheave this!

I address the distinguished members of this forum and plead that they encourage and teach the traditional methods of art. Please do not encourage tracing. It is bad enough that we at every turn are discouraged to work from live sittings. Sure we must make a living but at what cost.

I struggle for months to get a new supply of good brushes and I struggle to use the best materials and all this I add to skill taught and passed on by the old masters. When commissions are slow I work on new things for possible upcoming exhibits. I also teach and take photos at weddings to earn a living. This Sunday I will be spending the day taken photos of old timer cars. For that I will receive 100 euros. Will I teach students to trace NO! I will teach them to draw, copy from master drawings and work from life. When they can do these things then they can manipulate the photo to their advantage and not to copy the photo to perfection.

I agree it is up to each individual to chose their own way of doing art but please do not use wrong methods of art to encourage someone because they mite be down or struggling. If a person is discouraged or strugling, sure we wish to help, but encourage them by giving them good simple critiques and help them build on the skill that they already have. Don't give them more then they can chew.

My sincerest wishes and best to all

Patt,

Just get beyond this one. Continue as I have said with the tracing. Add some portraits this way and continue to fufill your commissions this way. It is a common practice. Many well known portrait artists do this, some make no bones about it. When you are making a comfortable income you can take a few workshops as Mischa advises.

Patt,

Whenever you feel you are moving backwards, you are actually about to move forwards. The only problem is that it is an uphill climb, and you need to find extra momentum and resources within yourself.

I think people have suggested tracing (I myself suggested the grid method because you are drawing freehand, but learning to see and judge relationships of angles, distance, negative/positive space, etc. within smaller areas) because it is a way to get these commissions done that have been plaguing you for a long time. I agree that it is not a long-term solution, but we've already said all that.