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I agree. I think that the artist purposely emphasized the misshapen head, and exagerrated the mans imperfections to make sure that we got the point of what he was saying. Even with all the deformity it comes through loud and clear that this man "feels", and so does his dog. I love the dog's face. And I could look at those hands all day.
I have been thinking about Lucian Freud's work often these days, when I labor to get all the lines "exactly" like the photo. It might be better to let your subconscious distort the exact slant of the lines a bit to look better for the painting. If we produce a painting that is "exactly" like the photo , what good is it? We might better have just used the photo.
Of course people still want to buy portraits that look exactly like the photo. I guess it depends on whether one is painting for the client or for a museum.
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