How do you deal with a portrait that just would not work?
In the recent months I have been working on subjects that I found more challenging, with more complex backgrounds and more ambitious sizes then my previous works.
The results though have been mixed: in the last four works I consider one very good, the second un utter nightmare which I pulled off in the last three days after extensive repainting and weeks of anxiety.
The third one is the most disappointing and the one that has sparked this post, while the last one is on my easel right now and quite promising.
Portrait number three was the one I MOST cared about, a friend of my son, a charming and very bright boy who has sat patiently twice for me without moving a muscle.
My frustration in not achieving a good standard in this work is terrible: I finally decided to give the portrait rather then keep repainting the face.
I told my clients that they should keep it and let it 'season' a little, and that I really needed to have it out of my studio for a while, but it is my intention to take it back and see if I can finally put it right in a few weeks, maybe with a last live sitting. At the same time I don't want to reveal my friend how much I am disppointed.
Was this the right atttitude or should I give up on it and put it behind me? Does any of you have some hidden misfits, perhaps happily hanging on a unknowingly satisfied client's wall ?
Would it have been better instead to honestly start again ?
The culprit :
http://www.ilardt.com/ilardt/childre...s/oliver-1.jpg
( bad pic )
Ilaria
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