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Mike, I would never deny that a photo presents the opportunity for the taker to capture and connect with the sitter, and in the best case scenario quite profoundly. However, (there had to be a however of there wouldn't be a reason to post, would there?) as portrait artists we have already taken quite a beating from the likes of photography. Now photographers are making "virtual paintings", digital retouched images on canvases, which they claim to be as good as real portraits!
We have become easy prey to the argument "why spend my money on a painted portrait when a photo is just as good?" This I feel lies in part because we, as artists, rely far too much on just copying the photo for reference and therefore far far too many portraits, be they loose or tight, lack the depth of character of a portrait painted from life. Even on the forum we are superimposing photos over our paintings to arrive at the correct "drawing"!
I recently completed a portrait, done mostly from photos and two all too brief life sittings. I told my client her portrait was as finished as I could get it, save one last sitting from life. We arranged a three hour interlude in which she would view the painting and I would then paint the real her. She was quite taken with the portrait and couldn't understand why I would want to, or could hope to, take it any further. After the sitting and upon viewing the completed portrait, she was taken aback. The painting had, in that short period, come to life, although nothing looked tangibly different. Marvin the alchemist strikes again?
I want people to see my paintings in the real and be taken aback by how lifelike they are. I want people to say that my work lives and breathes and goes far beyond what a photo can do. I don't want to be as good as a photo. I don't want to play second fiddle to a mechanical or electronic device. I want my paintings to be remarkably better.
On that recent day I won my battle, at least in the eyes of my client. I think without this kind of attitude and goal, portraiture can never be reinstated to the lofty stature it once held.
I truly believe the more we work from life the more we can realize this. I don't want to be someone who is just as good as a camera. I am a portrait artist!
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