Quote:
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Originally Posted by Chris Saper
One of the biggest obstacles I see my students face in their commission work is that they start with inferior, doomed resource material.
I hear many reasons repeatedly:
"But the client insisted"
"But I needed the money"
"But that's all I had"
"But, but, but I am not responsible here"
These are all reasons to warn aforehand, that the portrait will fail, and that the artist is not responsible.
Think about it this way: If Sargent wouldn't attempt it, why in the world would any of us think we should?
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As one of Chris's students, I confess...GUILTY! (not the "responsible part)
Part of this huge learning process is learning that a good photo does not necessarily make an effective painting. Having used bad photos and making frustrated attempts to make things up I thought I'd finally realized how to say, "No". And NOW I finally had to learn after working on a 16 x 20 portrait of two dogs that I took, that the lighting & composition worked, but that due to the colors of the two dogs, it made a poor painting. Several of the students in Chris' class discussed this topic at lunch, saying that it was very helpful for Chris to review her students' photos as she has this session, telling us which photos would make good paintings and why. One student explained that she really thought her photos were good, but didn't know until yesterday that they wouldn't make good paintings.
So, for those of you who teach, here is a great lesson: show slides of photos, explaining why they make good or bad resource material. As always, a hard and costly lesson learned this time.
Thanks, Chris, for making me chant your mantra...("I will never again paint from....")