It seems that people place the most value on that which they know most about. If my specialty is sauces then it is sauces that make the meal.
Who can argue that a person should never paint or draw from life? As your subject is carefully draped with light which steadily, gradually, predictably passes across the subject with hand to chin? I love these paintings! I would also concede that having a model sit could only improve your chances for success.
What of the rest of the world? What about light that gets reflected from five directions and from multiple color sources? What about the six year old boy on a swing? Am I to memorize that moment, that light, that expression? I confess that I am not that good. Should these moments, these paintings, be a mere subcategory to the studio portrait?
If my painting done from a photo reference is a bad painting then it will be judged bad. If my painting done from life is bad, then it is just as bad. There are no points given for method, no points deducted. It's either good or bad, my choices, my risks.
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Take a picture, and you reduce life by 50%
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In the photo which follows who can explain to me which half was left out? And if I were so skilled as to paint this scene exactly as it is witnessed in this photograph what a happy Irishman I would be. I hope this is not taken as a cheap shot, I'm merely trying to make my point as best I can.
Maybe it shows that I am passionate about this issue. I was fortunate that I was able to find within myself an angle into portraiture. If this angle proves to be false then so be it. It has yet to be proven to me. I'm ready to listen.