[Michael Georges]

This is a post about working from bad reference.

You know the situation, you are approached by a client who wants you to do a painting - they have this photograph. You look at it and it is a little 4" x 6" pic taken under bad lighting - it is washed out, the colors are bad, the composition looks like a "photo composition".

You think to yourself, "It is going to be hard to make a good painting out of this." At least, hopefully that is what you think. There is more to good portraiture than just copying what you see in a photo. A timeless portrait has elements of light which model the subject(s) attractively with good highlights and good shadow areas, an appealing "portrait composition" rather than a "photo composition", and possibly a narritive value too. A portrait has to "live" on the wall for years and give the viewer something new to see every time they look at it.

I have made it a practice to inform clients that I am happy to look at their photograph, but they they need to understand that what makes a good photograph does not necessarily make a good painting. If we are to work from photos, the quality of the reference ultimately effects the quality of the painting and I want to give them the best painting I can. In the case of a bad pic, I reserve the right to say "No" and I have done so a half dozen times in the past year.

Working from bad reference is just not worth it - for you, for your portfolio, and it is an injustice to your client who is trusting in your artistic instincts on when to say "No".