Visitors' poll

[Cynthia Daniel]

Mark,

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I remember when you registered and we were excited to have someone like you as a member. As a museum curator, I would think there would certainly be a way that you could contribute, only if a little. I'm open to ideas.

Cynthia

[Cynthia Daniel]

To those who have chosen to attack and criticize:

Conclusions that some have made about my motives and who and what I am when you have never met me and spoken to me are quite amazing. Until you have run something like this, until you have run a venture of this size (including the main site) - I think the saying applies that you can never judge a person until you have walked in their shoes.

No doubt we have made some mistakes - as with just about all organizations, there are growing pains, changes in policies, improvements, attempts at improvements, etc. We are always happy to have those here who have a wide breadth of understanding and realize that most are here to learn, teach others or both and that their motives and mine are good ones. We are also happy to have specific suggestions for improvement.

Some posts I don't answer because it is not clear to me what you are suggesting be changed - only that you don't like how things are. Other times, I am simply too busy with other work - artists waiting for their web site to be updated or planning the SOG dinner at the conference.

For those who have concluded that I am a snob, I can do nothing about that - but, do you really know me? I have seen time and again on the web that people easily make inaccurate conclusions about others. Perhaps a better approach would be specific constructive suggestions without attacks.

I am so pleased that you might consider having a colored pencil portion of your site. There are some very talented artists in this medium. While it is not conducive to live portraits, the original sketch can be done from life, then photographs taken and completed that way. I have done several using that technique. I will prepare some works for submission upon your return. Thank you again.
Maurica Midge Reynolds-King

[Steven Sweeney]

I'm not sure that any medium has ever been excluded -- sequins might not make it through, though squid ink might -- but in any event, there has long been a good number of very fine colored pencil postings on the Forum, most of them in the "Other Medium Critiques" section.

You can find them by going to that section, clicking "Search this Section" at the top of the window, and typing <colored pencil>. Or do the same search for all sections.

(I have attempted to provide a linkable URL, but it won't link -- perhaps because the critiques area is now briefly password-protected. And if you don't already know -- the password is <Critique>.)

I checked it out, and the work there is very good. It was worth it to see the comments made to those of us who do not use oil. Their work is very inspirational.

I appreciate your allowing me to browse on this site. I have learned so much and apply it each time I do a new piece.

Maurica Midge Reynolds-King

I very much appreciate the point made respect the jury process regards people posting who do not have basic drawing skills within their grasp and hence the policy. However I think the Forum misses a trick. Steven Sweeney's sight-size method is the first repeatable stepped process, in my view of all the library books, etc. I've seen over the years, that gets even close to taking a structured studied approach to drawing and the articles on tone are fantastic. That article has inspired me to take a path to achieving proficiency of that technique and Steven's encouragement in his language has helped to do that as I know it has for others. I also hear that passion in Mischa's dialogue. So your site can help people who are not pros achieve their ambitions. I'm not sure that I agree with the entry criteria of seriously pursuing a career in portraiture, surely the gift you share is for helping those of sufficient interest to progress their ambitions in portraiture if simply to achieve a high quality even as a semi-pro or indeed amateur. Whilst that sounds a little negative I can assure you that I have a great deal of pleasure and value from this site regardless of the policies and I can only thank the membership for sharing as they do and spending the time that they do doing that. I do intend to submit in the near future and hope that I am accepted in my desire to improve my artistic skills for the pleasure of others and indeed earn money from it and give up the day job!

Best Regards
Robert Walker

I tried to register and was refused, which I couldn't help but find insulting. I'm a professional artist and regular contributor to several other fora. I'm also a member of my local art guild's Artist Review Panel, so I understand the jurying process and the fact that rejection is not usually a personal matter to the juror. I feel bad about having to reject artists too.
I rarely visit this forum because it's frustrating to see people that I know having a discussion and not being allowed to join in.

I do appreciate this one time opportunity to be heard.

Respectfully,
Todd Cooper

The fact that there are often as many as 100 times as many guests reading threads on this Forum as members attests to the fact that there's something here worth having a look at. There's a great deal of worthwhile material elsewhere, too, but here there's a focus, and you won't usually have to wade through 30 way-to-go posts in a technical or instructional thread before you get to the next substantial offering.

For what it's worth, this analogy regarding the application process for participating in this Forum. I work for a company that last week sold off a small part of its operation. It's a publishing company, once a book publisher, now 98% electronic (Internet, CDs, DVDs, and such). The "small part" of the operation that was sold was a college text division, still publishing books, and it simply didn't fit within the mission of the company anymore. There was NOTHING else wrong with it, as evidenced by the fact that this very small element in this huge corporation just sold for over 7 billion dollars.

Similarly, not being juried into this Forum as a participant doesn't mean that an applicant may not in fact be a magnificent artist, perhaps wildly successful, and teaching many classes. It just means that the work actually submitted with the application -- which is the entirety of what the administrators know about you -- didn't "fit" the mission of this Forum. Sometimes the applicant simply isn't ready. Sometimes the applicant's work is great, but isn't in the vein of what this Forum is about. What it's about is thoughtfully stated at the top of the page every time you open up this Forum and see the statement of purpose and interest for the Forum.

A feeling of "insult" is painful from both sides, and certainly is never the intention here. There could be no rational motivation to inflict insult. There are other forums that get off on that, but this one doesn't.

It's simply a site dedicated to the highest levels of excellence in portraiture and in the training of dedicated and disciplined artists to achieve that level of work. It doesn't make a dime off of it. There are no awards and little prestige. Everyone does it for his or her own reasons, but there are sure a lot of other ways that top artists could spend their time. That many spend time offering something back here is something worth capitalizing on, as evidenced by the fact that when I signed on recently, there were 2 members and 103 guests reading the Forum posts.

Principles before personalities, as they say.

[Cynthia Daniel]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm not sure that I agree with the entry criteria of seriously pursuing a career in portraiture, surely the gift you share is for helping those of sufficient interest to progress their ambitions in portraiture if simply to achieve a high quality even as a semi-pro or indeed amateur. Whilst that sounds a little negative I can assure you that I have a great deal of pleasure and value from this site regardless of the policies and I can only thank the membership for sharing as they do and spending the time that they do doing that.

Interesting point - though it would seem that those who are pursuing pro would usually be the most dedicated and thus the most developed, but there are no 100%'s.

[Cynthia Daniel]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The fact that there are often as many as 100 times as many guests reading threads on this Forum as members attests to the fact that there's something here worth having a look at...

Wow, what a thoughtful and appreciated response.

And, yes, the Board does hate rejecting applicants.