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Brian Koelz · 04-29-2003, 04:13 PM

Dear Linda and Mari,

Thank you both for responding with generosity. Mari, I get the sense already what you mean by "gift" in that receiving a critique is just about like getting a thoughtful letter (it is exactly that).

I am including the photo reference here as suggested in the guidelines for posting. With this piece I was handling a photo reference for the first time after a long period of working exclusively from "life". I want the paintings done from photo to feel as though they've been done from life including all of the emotional content as well as the plastic information one gets from three-dimensional interface. The question of reference posed by Linda is encouraging in this respect.

Linda, your advice about the drawing has turned me on to some almost laughable errors (like the sitter's right ear). Thank-you. Through the photo you may see how my mishandling of her right eye-socket produced such a thing. This brings me to the biography of the sitter per Mari's question.

The subject is a female fellow-graduate student whose studio lay next to my own for about two years. I was interested in her physiognomy for reasons you all may be able to see from the photograph. An absolutely haunting psychology is evidenced through such a face and look. Surprisingly it was very easy to get her to reproduce the look I wanted, I just said "look how you normally look", and she did. Haunting. She is herself a painter, doing work in more of a collage aesthetic; very good work in my opinion.

Mari, an answer to your ground question is that yes, it was intentional to start with a textured surface. I like those opportunities afforded by a literal push/pull, and because I was making this painting for myself I was liberated from something neccessarily "refined" in the sense of a clean, fine-art image. My other answer is no, I didn't really know where the portrait was going in terms of the level of resolution of a likeness, so in hindsight the image might benefit more from the smooth surface you described. For me your question is a constant one, I would love to hear your preferences and/or reasoning and experience. I will also post a quick figure study where I've found 'formica' laminate a suitably quick ground on which to work.

Thanks again for the warm welcome,
Brian

04-29-2003, 04:13 PM	#5
Brian Koelz Juried Member Joined: Mar 2003 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 17	Photo reference Dear Linda and Mari, Thank you both for responding with generosity. Mari, I get the sense already what you mean by "gift" in that receiving a critique is just about like getting a thoughtful letter (it is exactly that). I am including the photo reference here as suggested in the guidelines for posting. With this piece I was handling a photo reference for the first time after a long period of working exclusively from "life". I want the paintings done from photo to feel as though they've been done from life including all of the emotional content as well as the plastic information one gets from three-dimensional interface. The question of reference posed by Linda is encouraging in this respect. Linda, your advice about the drawing has turned me on to some almost laughable errors (like the sitter's right ear). Thank-you. Through the photo you may see how my mishandling of her right eye-socket produced such a thing. This brings me to the biography of the sitter per Mari's question. The subject is a female fellow-graduate student whose studio lay next to my own for about two years. I was interested in her physiognomy for reasons you all may be able to see from the photograph. An absolutely haunting psychology is evidenced through such a face and look. Surprisingly it was very easy to get her to reproduce the look I wanted, I just said "look how you normally look", and she did. Haunting. She is herself a painter, doing work in more of a collage aesthetic; very good work in my opinion. Mari, an answer to your ground question is that yes, it was intentional to start with a textured surface. I like those opportunities afforded by a literal push/pull, and because I was making this painting for myself I was liberated from something neccessarily "refined" in the sense of a clean, fine-art image. My other answer is no, I didn't really know where the portrait was going in terms of the level of resolution of a likeness, so in hindsight the image might benefit more from the smooth surface you described. For me your question is a constant one, I would love to hear your preferences and/or reasoning and experience. I will also post a quick figure study where I've found 'formica' laminate a suitably quick ground on which to work. Thanks again for the warm welcome, Brian Attached Images