Contribution made by W. Whitaker

[Sharon Knettell]

Thank-you for posting this Mischa.

It has a nice alert quality about it. I read when you went to school all the work you did was from life. You went on to say that now in order to succeed as a portraitist you have to use photography. If you look at the Royal Academies website, posted somewhere in the "Going for Excellence " thread you will see that most of their members will only work from life, and many will only paint those who travel to their studio.

I know finances are always difficult especially when you are starting out, it is easy to give in to a client's desire for convenience and worse, content.

Since you have the skill to work from life, try to persuade as many of your prospects to sit for you. You will gain their admiration, if not their cooperation and some enlightened ones might actually do so.

[Dianne Gardner]

I agree wholeheartedly! There is no better way to learn to see than from life.

This is a wonderful start on your self portrait. You remind me I need to do one. I would much rather paint the prettier faces of our models in our open studio, but alas, I do believe my time is coming soon. I made a promise to myself to do one this summer.

Thanks for posting this.
Dianne

[Mischa Milosevic]

Dianne, I have started this self portrait and plan to finish it. At the moment I am involved with a number of other projects and this self study must wait. I have it hanging in my small studio and each time I look at it I notice how simply it was done, and what there is still to do. At the same time I'm so glad I started it for I am learning a lot just by looking at my mistakes and by trying to figure out what to do next. My goal is to better understand the procedure rather than hurry and get a perfect likeness or finish.

Each drawing I do or painting I paint I do in order to learn and this is what I enjoy the most. Sure, the excitement seen on the face of a client is the icing but there is more to the painting than just the finish.

I see your desire Dianne but as others have stated on this forum "there is no shortcuts" that is if you wish to be the best that you can be.

Wish you the best that you can be!

mischa