Go for excellence in portraiture

[Tito Champena]

Painting from photos is a lot easier than painting from life, because you are translating one flat picture into another flat surface and you are only concerned with angles and flat proportions. Painting from life requires translating three dimensions into two and it is definitely more difficult. That is why painting from photos is something that should be left to the seasoned artist who has done hundreds of life paintings and he can see in the photo a lot more that we can. I think that beginners should abstain from painting from photos, because by doing so, they will never learn how to see like an artist which is the whole essence of painting. Beginning artists that rely on photos get a false sense of security, because with little work they can paint recognizable figures or faces, forgetting that likeness is only a very small part of a portrait. A very common reason for this practice is because we do not always follow the old academic rule of not using color until one can master the drawing, and the other reason is that when you post a painting for a critique, they ask you to place along side the "reference" photo. So in a way ,there is a subtle or not so subtle encouragement to use photos. I suggest that the oil critiques for beginners should be limited to paintings done from life and that those who use photos, should limit themselves to submit monochromatic drawings. Experienced painters who paint from photos do not need a critique anyway.