Challenge from bad photo
 

This is a challenging commission, but I really need the money - ugh that sounds awful, but the truth often does! (I am NOT selling my soul, I am not selling my soul, I am not...) Anyways, I am doing portraits of two children for a man's 50th BD party, this is the daughter. Bad, bad, bad ref, front flash, 4 x 5 photo, SMILING!!!!!

The brother I thought would be easier but is turning out to be even harder. I may have to convince the client to present dad with just a portrait of his daughter and later let me go through more photos since the kids do not want to be bothered with a photo shoot, or I may have to just take 1/2 commission. I won't sell a portrait I cannot be proud of.

Anyway, thanks for looking. BTW there is allot of glare on this shot. The darks are much darker as I went in with a 6B.

Pat, I know how you feel about flash, glare, flatness, smiling, etc., but I think you did a remarkable job and this drawing is nothing to be ashamed of. Congratulations for working miracles!

Alex

Pat, this is a gorgeous drawing!
Cut that crap out right now. Be proud of this, I would be.

If you could see some of the commissions I took earlier in my career for the money - well, I wouldnt be allowed on this forum I bet. You all would boo, hiss and spit on me. Im not proud of those pieces, but Im not ashamed of making the money I needed to.

I agree with the aforementioned. It's a lovely drawing. Besides, we're all works-in-progress, as artists and as people. Enjoy the trip. And take it easy on yourself! :sunnysmil
Janet

Pat,
This is a fresh and immediate portrait. The smile looks natural. Good job, you should be proud. :thumbsup:

Allan

Thank you, my friends! I feel better about it now. And seeing it on the forum of course made a couple things jump out, so I adjusted the hair highlights and a couple other areas. Amazes me every time how it helps to see it here, to post my work here, and to read the adda girls I need!!

Now, back to the brother . . .

Hi Pat,
I liked it very much, you should be happy about it.

Follow Up,
My client saw this portrait yesterday, though I could not give it to her as the brother needs to compliment this in style, size, etc. so I need to see them side by side as I progress with his.

But I wanted to share her reaction to this portrait. She loved it, took a deep audible breath in and said, you "have captured her humor, her personality...it seems so full of air and life...it's so HER"!!!

Needless to say I was relieved and thrilled. The challenge was well worth the reward of her positive reaction :)

I have a questions for you pros. Do you ever get to a point when you look at your work and say, "yeah, this is good??"

Pat, it's just lovely, congratulations.

Re your question, sometimes I finish something and think: 'Either this is really good or completely horrible" - I can't decide which, but I know it's nowhere in between., Sigh.

Regarding Chris's comment: I recall hearing once that Picasso on being asked whether painting was difficult responded that it was either easy or impossible. I think I have that right.

Pat--
I don't know how I missed this! Your client is right, it's full of life and lovely!

As for my own work-- I'm sort of bi-polar about it. I've learned to let go of things when they get to a certain degree of finish.... BUT always see things WRONG that could be fixed. . . and can endlessly second guess whether it's any good at all. Positive feedback goes a ways towards quieting some of those worries, and helping me know that I stopped at a reasonable point -- but look too long at anything I've done and little things about it will start to bother me (keep those brushes away!) :bewildere

Terri, Janet and Chris,
Thank you for your compliments and especially for the input regarding your own attitudes towards your work. It helps.

I look at my drawings in a mirror, in the dark, upside down, squinting down as much as I can. I first look to see if it is cohesive as a FORM, "is the whole portrayed as a round/eggish shape sitting in space, turning believably from light to dark? I can only do that if I squint down really low, or look at it in a darkened room. As far as features go, I usually can get a likeness pretty easily. It's the making a head believable as a whole head that gets me struggling.Does this make ANY sense? I know when I look at the works of artist I admire I always fall in love with the way form turns cohesively (forhead, eyes, down cheek to chin and down neck) and the way light and shadow plays...

I look and study so much I think eventualy I have to put it away for a few days and then decide whether is it good or not. THEN I sign it