Quote:
|
I truly believe that if an artist has skill and follows certain guidelines, this person can paint a life-like portrait regardless of a bad photo or a fidgety life model.
|
No question about it, Enzie, if the skill is there. That's the absolute essence of my point. However, the cautionary note about believing too strongly everything you see in a photograph isn't directed at the skillful, but at those who have yet to develop an understanding of the human form, as you correctly pointed out, and the way it "behaves" in light and space. With that understanding, you're all set to go.
Fidgety models are a slightly different matter, because there you're getting good information -- but it keeps moving around on you. I was every bit as guilty as every other beginner when I protested that the moving model made it impossible to do an accurate drawing. (Thankfully, I was never allowed to get away with it.)
After a few hundred hours of dealing with the problem, you solve it, and just as with solving the "problems" with photographs, once you've done it, you're in good shape to handle anything that comes along and to make the absolute most of any resource or reference you're working with.