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Discouraging
Judson,
Nothing is more discouraging than not having the skills at your fingertips to paint your visions.
Skill takes time and practice. You have to build a foundation before you build that fancy house.
Portrait painting IS NOT finding a suitable (or in many cases as I have seen, unsuitable) photograph and copying it.
You will find that all the MAJOR portrait painters in this country have spent a great deal of time first working tonally in black and white, then doing studies from LIVE models.
If you just want to have fun and impress your friends and relatives with copies of their photos, what you are doing is fine. If you are seeking a more discerning and better paying clientele and are serious about being a fine artist, then you have to put in the hard work. There are no shortcuts.
A great deal of the difficulty I see with many of the posts here is that too many people rush into the very difficult job of painting with color without the proper background. Give yourself the gift of really preparing yourself, you will never regret the time.
There are places to post your drawings on this site. I am sure you will get some useful feedback.
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