A likeness, why the difficulty?

[Clayton J. Beck III]

Thanks Allan,
You are absolutely right about body language. When I'm working with a model for the first time often it is a bit awkward in the beginning. Inevitably as I tell the model to take a break they will always fall into a pose that is much more natural for them and that's when the real work begins. I often am given (and probably take) too much credit for the poses I have my models in. If there something I could probably take credit for it is recognizing a good pose when I see one. If I had to "set up" every pose that I did, my limited imagination would probably cause me to repeat myself over and over again without realizing it.

I see this done far too often with figurative artists. I can tell in most instances whether or not the pose was the artists idea or the models idea. This isn't limited to modern work. It is quite evident throughout the history of painting. I've been asked on more than one occasion to write a book on how to pose a model. I find this impossible as 99% of the time my contribution to the pose is something as simple as "could you move your arm to the left the little". I do take credit for the setup though. Before a model comes in I make a definite effort to set up a scene as far as lighting and arrangement of large values and colors and textures. Occasionally my setup will be torn apart and rebuilt as my original idea was wrong but most of the time it seems to work out well for me. Simple ideas of lighting and arrangement of pleasing patterns and textures are usually enough to spark quite a bit of creativity once the model arrives and we begin searching for a pose. This all goes back to the idea of there being a symbiotic relationship between my subject and myself. Before the model shows up I literally have no idea what the pose will be but I do have an idea of what the painting will be. Once the model shows up and we begin working I realize occasionally that I have completely misjudged the character of this particular person and my setup will not work. I never try forcing a square peg into a round hole.

Once again, you are absolutely right about body language playing such an important part in "recognizing" a person. Therefore body attitude should be added to the idea of what a likenesses. Thank you again Allan.