Disappointment under pressure

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

The very successful portrait artist Bart Lindstrom recently said in a lecture to a room full of other artists, "Every 10th portrait is a disaster".

I must remember this one!

[Richard Bingham]

That is worth remembering. (and sobering!)

However, the "commercial" aspect of a portrait commission makes that cold comfort for the client. Two aspects of this problem are worth careful consideration. One is the amount of "experimentation" involved in producing the work. A rule of commercial music is to reserve "pushing the envelope" for rehearsal time, and drop back to "tried, true, and well-polished" when on-stage. The caution would apply to portrait commissions, I think. The other is that while no one should ever turn out a piece they cannot "stand behind", it's more important how the client receives it than whether it's entirely pleasing to the painter.

That said, and given the homage to Cezanne, I like it!

[Cindy Procious]

Ilaria, I'm wading in late, so I'm sure you're well underway with your next painting of your friend.

I wonder, though, if part of the issue with the first one is the proportions? Doesn't his head seem too small for his body?

Other than that - to me - it is a lovely painting - and very much your signature style.

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Thanks Cindy, that might be it !
Marina, Richard, I appreciate your input
thanks
Ilaria

[Mari DeRuntz]

Would it have been better instead to honestly start again ?

Always trust this voice - it is your intuition and is usually telling you what you already know.

Have a lovely trip to Italy. While you're spoiled rotten in London with centuries of design and art everywhere you turn, and the British Museum's recent Michelangelo show, the invenzione of the Italians remains a benchmark, up through Annigoni, anyway.

I hope western culture has not completely overrun her charm.

Buon lavoro....

[Linda Brandon]

Ilaria, I know you're trying to paint children from life and I just wanted to say that I think there should be a special Artist's Medal of Valor for this. I think the problem that you are having - that we all are having - is that clients generally expect tight photographic fidelity, something hard enough to achieve with an adult client, much less a fidgety child. He is not a still life and not an artist's model. I personally haven't been happy with the stupified expression that a child gets when he watches TV during a sitting, though I know artists that do this and a few are successful.

I think your loose, charming, painterly approach is the stylistic solution.

I think there is a way to combine life sittings for head only (full face or profile I think would be easier than 3/4 view) and clothing on dummies and stretch out the live sittings over a few days, working only on the head during the live sittings. I'm still working on this myself but your brain will be the first one I pick apart with respect to working methods.