Dear Michael,
Thanks for the post. It was very thought provoking and philosophical. I agree with all that you said and Henry's as well. Both posts provided a lot of insight.
Here is a link to an (most of the experts that we have contacted agree) Franz Aulich painting on porcelain. His paintings were from his minds eye after he was familiar with the subject that he was painting.
This is the kind of thing that very few of us porcelain artists do. But we must do it to create original art. Otherwise, we would be painting photos on vases. Nothing wrong with that, but this type of painting has a bit of 'spirit' in it. Be sure to scroll down the page to see the other side of the vase.
http://porcelainartist.proboards25.c...num=1071497755
I also agree that painting from memory is like muscle building does for a muscle.
However, like I also said, when we are painting Uncle Billy then we might do whatever it takes to get a real likeness or Uncle Billy might reject the painting.
He probably won't like the smoking jacket and ascot that Aunt Myrtle wanted in the portrait either, but he'll probably put up with it as long as it looks like him and if it's not placed anywhere near his area of the house.
Hybrid Mode
