When I first began taking art lessons all those years ago in Worthington, Ohio, I never dreamed there would come a day when I would enjoy painting from a live model. In fact, I never dreamed there would come a day when I would enjoy painting outdoors rather than painting from a photograph. I now know these feelings are typical of artists who are just beginning to learn their craft.
Here I am, many years later, with a complete understanding that nothing takes the place of seeing things firsthand.
We had a live model at Southern Colours last Friday. She was a beautiful natural redhead wearing a vintage black velvet dress. Counting 20-minute breaks, we had approximately 2 1/2 hours to attempt to capture her image. That's a challenge in itself, not to mention the difficulties of finding a good view and ignoring everything around her; i.e., other artists painting, tables, chairs, posts, windows, and everything else that one sees when there is no backdrop.
What a great experience it was. We were so focused; there was almost complete silence in the room - a first for Southern Colours. When we finished, we stood all of our paintings in a row and applauded ourselves. The applause was for the very act of attempting such a thing and for what we learned by doing so. It was applause for trying to do something that most of us knew in advance we would not be able to do - capture a true likeness in such a short time.
The comment, "Every portrait is a combination of the model and the artist," was never more true. While none of the paintings look exactly like our model, all of them look somewhat like her. Since we knew she wouldn't be coming back, all of us took pictures for later reference. I looked at my pictures this morning and realized, once again, what a poor substitute they are for the real thing but they will be helpful for finishing those things I didn't get around to.
My effort is at the top of this blog, along with a picture of our model. With a little more practice and a lot more time, I might even be able to make it look more like her.
After all, Michelangelo didn't get there overnight.
Here I am, many years later, with a complete understanding that nothing takes the place of seeing things firsthand.
We had a live model at Southern Colours last Friday. She was a beautiful natural redhead wearing a vintage black velvet dress. Counting 20-minute breaks, we had approximately 2 1/2 hours to attempt to capture her image. That's a challenge in itself, not to mention the difficulties of finding a good view and ignoring everything around her; i.e., other artists painting, tables, chairs, posts, windows, and everything else that one sees when there is no backdrop.
What a great experience it was. We were so focused; there was almost complete silence in the room - a first for Southern Colours. When we finished, we stood all of our paintings in a row and applauded ourselves. The applause was for the very act of attempting such a thing and for what we learned by doing so. It was applause for trying to do something that most of us knew in advance we would not be able to do - capture a true likeness in such a short time.
The comment, "Every portrait is a combination of the model and the artist," was never more true. While none of the paintings look exactly like our model, all of them look somewhat like her. Since we knew she wouldn't be coming back, all of us took pictures for later reference. I looked at my pictures this morning and realized, once again, what a poor substitute they are for the real thing but they will be helpful for finishing those things I didn't get around to.
My effort is at the top of this blog, along with a picture of our model. With a little more practice and a lot more time, I might even be able to make it look more like her.
After all, Michelangelo didn't get there overnight.
