Babysitter portrait

[Mike McCarty]

Joan,

If you could humor me for one more thought.

About managing the people ... It has been said here often that you have to walk the walk and talk the talk, regardless of what you may think of your own position on the capability ladder.

I am reminded of a movie that I saw recently called "Catch me if you can," a true story I'm told. The stars were Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Leo was the great impostor and Tom Hanks the FBI agent in charge of trying to capture him.

Leonardo's gift was not that he could fly a plane, do surgery or practice law, his gift was that he could convince all those around him that he could.

The more you do it the more comfortable you become with your program and the easier it is to convince people that your program is the only program worth having.

I understand that the real life character that Leo played in the movie actually lives here in Tulsa, OK. Why heck, for all you know it could be me.

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Hi Mike,

I saw that movie too. With a 14 year old girl in the house, we're not about to miss any movie with Leo in it!

Originally Posted by Mike McCarty

About managing the people ... It has been said here often that you have to walk the walk and talk the talk, regardless of what you may think of your own position on the capability ladder.

I agree completely with this statement. I'm a firm believer in 'fake it 'til you make it'. I used to do freelance graphic design work. I didn't have much experience at all but I went out on my own. I would give my presentation to a client and just basically talk him or her into the job. The one thing I knew for sure was that I knew more about graphic design and logos and brochures than they did. I never said "I don't know", it was always "I'll talk to the printer (or whoever) and get back to you". Getting the job in the first place was 90% b.s. (or to put it nicely, selling) and at that point only 10% skill. It wasn't so much what my portfolio looked like (letterheads, logos), it was convincing those business men that I knew what I was doing and they should let me handle it. I can't remember a job I didn't get.

So, I haven't practiced my 'spiel' much yet for portraiture. I got an impromptu opportunity though when the mom showed up for this last photo shoot and started asking me about my training, etc. I did study in Holland under a wonderful portrait artist so that sounds pretty good! I will elaborate on that next time. They want to, need to, hear this stuff.

I can see that after the conversation I had with the mom that I need some good answers to my 'philosophy' of portraiture and also my style. By my style I mean whether it's traditional, more contemporary, etc. I got all kinds of questions!

Actually, this is the fun part. Getting a new portrait going. I love the design process and I loved sharing it with the client and her mom. It's the painting that's hard for me! But, of course, they will never know that. See, you teach and I learn!

Thanks,

Joan

[Allan Rahbek]

Hi Joan,
If this is a painting you will do to practice painting a portrait, why don

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Hi Allan,

Thank you for your post, that's a great thought. You seem to be able to paint fairly quickly, judging from the three paintings you are doing of your daughter. I, unfortunately, am a very slow painter and I'm still figuring a lot out. I did think of it and I would love to paint them both, thanks for the encouragement.

Joan