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Marvin Mattelson · 03-12-2003, 08:05 PM

Enzie, my point was not that members shouldn't post or ask for advice. I think that is fine and can be quite profitable for both the giver and receiver. I just think that some may think this is a reasonable substitute for an art education.

When I offer a critique it is for someone who can profit from the advice I give. There is no point on me offering subtle advice to someone who has no idea about drawing or form development. So in the spirit of helping the greatest number of people my advice was to study with someone who has great knowledge.

Many times when good advice is given people don't accept it because it isn't what they anticipated as an answer. You have a preconceived notion of how you want the forum to be run. I'm telling you, in my opinion your concept is an inefficient use of time and energy for those who are truly serious about learning the art of portraiture.

I agree it isn't always about money. It's about time and/or the other complications of life. There are always barriers to what we want in life. God's sense of humor, I think. Sharon and I have both shared the sacrifices we each had to make to get to where we are today (sitting at a computer picking away with 2 fingers?).

If you want something you have to give up something. No one can have it the way they want 100% of the time.

If you want to know how to start, buy a cast, set it up under a single light source, set a drawing board next to it, mark a spot on the floor where you make all your observations from and draw the cast in charcoal the same exact size it appears from your observation spot. Work on the drawing, as long as it takes, until it is as close as possible in both the shapes and the tonality as you can get it. When you are done start over again. Do this for two years every day for eight hours. This is how artists were trained in the past.

I am not trying to be funny. This will allow you to conquer drawing and value, the two biggest flaws in everyone's work. If you had a master to check on you every several days and point out the problems it would probably go faster. Watching a step by step demo on the forum will not help anyone develop the skills necessary to be a good portrait artist.

If you were to come to one of my workshops and watch me demonstrate and explain how I draw accurately and how I build form stroke by stroke then the cast drawing would go very much faster.

That's my answer!

03-12-2003, 08:05 PM	#54
Marvin Mattelson SOG Member FT Professional '04 Merit Award PSA '04 Best Portfolio PSA '03 Honors Artists Magazine '01 Second Prize ASOPA Perm. Collection- Ntl. Portrait Gallery Perm. Collection- Met Leads Workshops Joined: May 2002 Location: Great Neck, NY Posts: 1,093	Cast your fate to the wind Enzie, my point was not that members shouldn't post or ask for advice. I think that is fine and can be quite profitable for both the giver and receiver. I just think that some may think this is a reasonable substitute for an art education. When I offer a critique it is for someone who can profit from the advice I give. There is no point on me offering subtle advice to someone who has no idea about drawing or form development. So in the spirit of helping the greatest number of people my advice was to study with someone who has great knowledge. Many times when good advice is given people don't accept it because it isn't what they anticipated as an answer. You have a preconceived notion of how you want the forum to be run. I'm telling you, in my opinion your concept is an inefficient use of time and energy for those who are truly serious about learning the art of portraiture. I agree it isn't always about money. It's about time and/or the other complications of life. There are always barriers to what we want in life. God's sense of humor, I think. Sharon and I have both shared the sacrifices we each had to make to get to where we are today (sitting at a computer picking away with 2 fingers?). If you want something you have to give up something. No one can have it the way they want 100% of the time. If you want to know how to start, buy a cast, set it up under a single light source, set a drawing board next to it, mark a spot on the floor where you make all your observations from and draw the cast in charcoal the same exact size it appears from your observation spot. Work on the drawing, as long as it takes, until it is as close as possible in both the shapes and the tonality as you can get it. When you are done start over again. Do this for two years every day for eight hours. This is how artists were trained in the past. I am not trying to be funny. This will allow you to conquer drawing and value, the two biggest flaws in everyone's work. If you had a master to check on you every several days and point out the problems it would probably go faster. Watching a step by step demo on the forum will not help anyone develop the skills necessary to be a good portrait artist. If you were to come to one of my workshops and watch me demonstrate and explain how I draw accurately and how I build form stroke by stroke then the cast drawing would go very much faster. That's my answer! __________________ Marvin Mattelson http://www.fineartportrait.com [email protected]