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I wonder how many people, excellent portrait artists or no, could actually extrapolate a baby's leg or a woman's arm where none existed in the reference material. In a recent post someone mentioned needing to begin drawing as soon as the model left so that the memory of the features would still be clear enough to obtain a likeness. People have varying degrees of visual memory; I could no more sketch in those details that make a person's face unique from memory alone than I could fly. Nor could I fabricate a leg where none was present in my material. When I painted the governor and his wife I changed the length of the shirtsleeve that the client requested because my reference photo didn't reveal that part of the subject's arm, and I didn't want to paint something that would not ring true. There is often a distinctive quality even to an individual's upper arm which I would be loath to ignore. So although I felt that Clive's reference photo provided him with some good information, I would definitely have needed more photos of the subjects to give me everything else I needed to make the necessary changes, were I to have embarked on that commission.
This is an interesting thread which is taking on a life of its own. Glad to hear that you've resolved the issue for yourself, Clive! Please share whatever comes of it.
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