|
Mike, thanks for the thought.
You made a really strong point to me.
I agree this is still a portrait. I have labored over detail, but honestly seem to have a knack for catching an essence in the first few minutes of a pose. I personally LOVE the look of the undersketch! I like the immediate recognition without the labor of the finish. I feel like a student perfecting the lessons but not really learning much more. I think I am coming to the point of leaping out into a style.
The figurative aspect has been grossly avoided and quite honestly, I am really competitive in this open studio setting. If my picture is not the truest likeness I tend to overcompensate. It is all about my shakey ego.
I think it is time to jump out of the airplane knowing the parachute works. I have a skill and I owe myself the stretch to dive into the painting and my sense of it. By leaning toward my own definition of figurative, I know the totality of my work will improve. The life lived (or even imagined) in the image is half the story I have available to me as the artist and I have been seriously neglecting it for the high I get when the model looks over my shoulder and beams. They will beam if it is a really good painting, not just a good likeness and I may be connecting with a lot more of that audience in the bigger frame.
I like the metaphor of frames too!
Thanks.
|