|
Hot topic!
This is a good fresh discussion...indeed the whole thing is about taste; ours and the clients'. I think formal need not preclude deep-it's just that lesseor formal portraits often do, so we associate these traits. The converse is certinly not true either-casual doesn't mean a deeper portrait.
It is a goal of some portrait painters to only accept the commissions which allow them to paint as they (the artist) would elect to paint. A few have actually arrived at that place. I personally think these give us the best work. Work that will mean something to someone 50 years from now, even if we don't personally know the sitter. Sadly, too few portraits today (or ever) have passed this test.
JSS below
|