Unregistered

Hi. I voted "shy...", which I suppose is true for me both online and in life. I'm more of a listener than a talker, I guess. But it's also that I wouldn't get past the jury process, as I'm not a portrait painter. I am a professional painter, though, and I visit several art forums both for entertainment and information. I've only recently found this forum, and so far I'm impressed by the overall content, civility, and professional quality of the discourse here. I find I'm trusting of the information I glean from here maybe more than on some other forums. Because of that, I do wish there was greater participation and activity. Perhaps that is both the strength and weakness of limiting membership to juried portrait artists. But I certainly wouldn't advocate change.

As an aside, I was a freelance illustrator for many years before switching to fine art. As such, I have long been an admirer of the illustration work of Marvin Mattleson. I was not aware of his work as a portrait artist, and was very pleasantly surprised to see him here as such an active participant. To me, that again speaks to the quality of the discourse here.

Thank you!