Hi Cynthia
I am a reject that continues to lurk from time to time. I submitted two of my portraits about 12 months ago and was quite surprised to be rejected. The advice that was given to me from the judges was that I should work on my drawing skills and my understanding of tonal value. I always thought that I was reasonably competent in these areas, at least on par with the majority of registered members.
I am a professional portraitist, albeit not yet full time, I am working on building my client base with the intention of going full time in the near future. I still peek in the window now and then to see whats happening and to research anything I particularly want to know about. I even purchased Chris Saper's excellent book through this site.
I am now a member of several other forums and regularly submit comments and critque for the many members there.
It would have been nice to be part of SOG, but 'c'est la vie'
Bruce Johnson
www.brucejohnsonart.blogspot.com/