Working from sketches as opposed to photos.

[John Crowther]

Originally Posted by Mari DeRuntz

It is also easier to buy a jar of mayonnaise at the grocer than it is to make a weekly batch of aioli. But the difference is extreme and well worth the good focused work it takes to learn the mechanics of the emulsion, even taking into account all the broken sauces, wasted eggs and wasted olive oil.

Wonderful metaphor, Mari, and hardly a deterioration of the thread, IMO. On the contrary, it seems very much to the point. -- John C.

[Heidi Maiers]

Great topic here. There's something to be said for both methods - working from life or from photos, or working from your imagination. I would think it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to paint a figure without some sort of reference since you have to think about light and color and not just form. I suppose with enough years of experience under your belt, it becomes second nature.

Sometimes I think that working from life is easier - just sculpt what you see. Funny thing is, it is often more difficult to make a person sitting in front of you than it is to make a made up person, because it has to look like the person.

On the other hand, I currently have about 9 unfinished pieces sitting in my studio that went incredibly fast in the beginning, but then I got stuck and never finished them. My knowledge of anatomy only goes so far, and then I need to find a model with a similar body type to work out the problem areas convincingly.

Every idea for a sculpture that I've had that was not a portrait started out as a scribble on a sticky note. I have tons of those scribbles though that never made it to the clay stage.

As a side note, I would say for the most part that pieces made strictly from a person's imagination tend to be more interesting than those that are mainly based on a photo.