Quote:
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Originally Posted by Sharon Knettell
. . . truth be told, [we] are afraid of our clients . . . a photograph best captures the moment . . .
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Sharon, I think this points up how problematic it is for individual painter to market their work. "Price shopping" is something entirely aside the question (or should be).
To enable an artist to impose the conditions under which a portrait will be produced, the only "handle" we painters have on the client is that
this person wants YOU and you alone to paint the picture. Only when that barrier is breached are we free to "demand" and get life sittings and dispense with photo references.
The person who only wants "an oil painting" at 10% below dealer cost - (i.e. the market niche for Chinese factory paintings) is neither a prospective client nor a worthy subject for a painting. We fear these people only because we want so badly to sell paintings we're willing to take commissions under conditions imposed by the client, rather than pass on a bad situation.
It's my belief the "camera instant" is the antithesis of extended life sittings. Absorbing the small movements of the sitter, engaging them in conversation, and studying their presence and day-to-day changes over an extended period is the essence of a painted portrait which provides the raw material that makes a painting transcend the merely superficial . . . otherwise,
why are we bothering?
For nearly 170 years photography has made superficial replication of images in paint redundant, yet through this length of time, "good" portraiture continued to flourish, and endures still . . .
Michael "Verdaccio" Georges !! So good to "see ya" in cyberspace once again !