[Tom Edgerton]

Steven--

I understand your unease with some of this as you also ably hold the post as a moderator, and obviously hold a loyalty to the forum and what it's trying to achieve for struggling artists.

However, there are over 22,000 posts herein that seek to school beginning artists that all of the good intentions and heart in the world will not rescue a painting that is drowning in bad technique, or no technique at all. This is a valuable message. However, I don't feel threatened or uneasy when someone also reminds us that a boatload of stupefying technique will not make a painting when there is an absence of heart and soul to go with it. I think also that this is a valuable message, and I don't mind the dedication of at least one thread on the forum to discussing it. I don't begin to think this thread will trump all of that previous wise counsel to budding artists.

I've reviewed everyone's comments, and though some are stated more passionately than others, I don't see anywhere here where classical realism or any other style has been trashed wholesale as being cursed with a lack of soul. Rather, I think that we have all agreed here that drawing and rendering are absolutely essential skills in portraiture. It's just that some of us are saying it's important to strive also for another level of transcendence at some point in the journey.

Otherwise, if we're not careful, this discussion will indeed degenerate into another endless debate over personal stylistic preferences. It's the same endless historic spectacle of the dog chasing its tail, when David was debated against Delacroix, Bouguereau against Manet, and Sargent against Alma Tadema. It's a pretty superficial debate, but one that is unlikely to end among us passionate artists for the forseeable future.

As a wise man just told me this morning: "The truth is that stylistic dalliances have nothing to do with good painting. It's a communication between artist and viewer regarding the subject matter." I would add that regardless of the style, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I have to express my distress over the continuance of personal attack here in the forum. Just because someone is passionate in their argument, it doesn't mean they are perceiving themselves as an "art god" or the only bringer of the truth. Sometimes I express myself forcefully also, but I never mistake my own opinion for anything else, and I don't expect anyone else to. But if we can't have a healthy discussion without dismissing or attacking each other personally, the value of this forum will wither on the vine, and what a shame that would be.

Respectfully--TE