[Kimberly Dow]

Im going to share my opinion - and I do not pretend to be an expert, but here it is anyway.

I feel that if you cannot draw well and get a likeness from life and from a photo - then your paintings will suffer. They may be exact because of measuring, but there is something missing. Painting well without being able to draw well is only half the of the finished product.

That being said - I use photos all the time and measure only occasionally when I need to. I plan to try and work more from life as I can afford to pay models, but for now that is where I am. I draw less and less as I paint more and this hurts my skills. If I went to strictly painting from a photo that I measured I think it would all become lifeless and stale. Just the other day I found a life drawing class that I have been invited to sit in on twice a week - I am thrilled. I used to be able to sit and get a likeness in minutes - now I am not as confident - so it will be good to get back into that.

Anyway - there are many ways to get from here to there, but sometimes you can tell from the freshness and vitality that something was started from life - just my opinion.