Little Cutie

[Lisa Ober]

Hooray! I see it now. You certainly did a great job on the likeness. I see the hair now though I don't think it's bad to make small adjustments just like you have done. Thanks for posting that.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Hi Janet,
Don't change anything in the portrait, but now that you've posted the photo reference, I notice some details, It might be some camera distortion, but her face looks longer in the reference. I think it's some camera distortion because you did such a good job.
Congrats!

[Janet Kimantas]

Claudemir, how gallant of you to jump in and blame my tools before I did! However, there are some drawing issues with her jaw, and her nose and the eye on the right are positioned slightly off. Add the extra chubby cheeks and...bingo. Thanks for liking it anyway.

Piety, Lacey, Margaret, Carol, Linda, Garth, Julie, Lisa: Thanks so much for taking the trouble and encouraging me along. What a great site!

[Michele Rushworth]

Janet, the source photo you are working from looks to be from a professional photographer's studio and if so, the copyright for this image is owned by that photographer. You can't legally paint from it and sell or publicly exhibit the resulting portrait, if that's the case.

Since we're artists and not just expensive photo copiers we all need to get good at taking our own reference photos. It's a huge part of what it takes to be a professional portrait artist. Besides, the planning of the pose, clothing, lighting, setting, etc. is the most creative part of the process.

[Janet Kimantas]

Hi Michelle,

This is from a professional studio, the one I use for work. The photographer does not retain any rights to these photographs at all, and I use them over and over again for whatever purpose arises, in perpetuity. The models are not professionals and their parents sign over all rights to the images that we obtain during the photo shoot, including the right to transmit the images over the internet. The photographer is a friend of mine and I phoned him just now so as to get a clear statement I could use here, but the studio is closed this week. I suspect holidays.

The only sticky issue here is that my employer may not like the idea that I am honing the skills (that will eventually lead to me leaving the company) using material from work. If I caught him on a good day and asked him if I could practice my painting using some of our kid shots, he'd mostly likely say yes. The only reason that I haven't asked is that I have some fairly serious work-related injuries (those computers will kill ya) and although painting is a completely different activity and doesn't aggravate my condition, I know it would be an issue for him. Trust me, things are complicated enough.

Having said all that, do you still have concerns? I can cease and desist at any time.

[Michele Rushworth]

The legal issues are only part of my concern. My main issue is what we are about as artists.

In another thread Mike McCarty wrote about some photos he took of a subject. First is his quote, and next is my response. Mike wrote:

I am drawn to those images which bring a less than cute, singular emotion to the viewer. It must be something that I subconsciously press for at the time I photograph the subject. I like it most when a story can be told in a tight compact space. Almost everything I do is through intuition.

This was my response to him:

This is exactly what I mean when I encourage aspiring portrait artists to take their own photos and not copy client snapshots, or, even worse, commercial studio photos. You're bringing a big part of "you" to the work by taking your own photos. What we paint is more important than how we paint it.

[Janet Kimantas]

Wow. Ouch. I think I just got a spanking.

If I read this correctly, you are saying that the photographer has already put his creative mark on this photo and that for me to paint from said photo is to appropriate his artistry. I'd certainly hate to be caught doing that.

I'm going to call Jens (the photographer) on Monday and make full disclosure. He'll probably laugh at me, but I think that you've made a really good point Michele. Integrity is everything.

Now to dig up some models. It's not that I haven't tried, it just seems like a bad time - holidays, summer jobs, not having friends with small kids. No excuses, right? Right.

Thanks, Janet