Challenge from bad photo

Patricia Joyce · 11-07-2005, 10:47 AM

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??"

Chris Saper · 11-07-2005, 07:46 PM

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.

Janet Kimantas · 11-07-2005, 07:59 PM

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.

Terri Ficenec · 11-08-2005, 02:20 AM

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!)

Patricia Joyce · 11-08-2005, 10:58 AM

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