Portraits from photographs

Really interesting to read this thread and thanks Lewis for those examples.  I love portraiture (it's my thing).  I've painted from life, from photos and a mix of the two BUT all of my paintings are people (or animals I know) and, for me, this is what takes it to the next level.  I always try and get a good likeness, the eyes and mouth are key for me, get those wrong and  I've lost the essential spirit and character of the person I know.   Get them right and I feel I've made a connection with the person and conveyed the essence of who they are,  often it's 'the mistake' that shifts the gear so I agree with Martin.  I so admire artists who can get a likeness in a few brushstrokes, sometimes I achieve this in the underpainting but often it's lost along the way and re-found (hopefully) later.  I know I like and enjoy detail and that's my thing although others might say it's not painterly but heh, each to our own.

Really interesting to read this thread and thanks Lewis for those examples.  I love portraiture (it's my thing).  I've painted from life, from photos and a mix of the two BUT all of my paintings are people (or animals I know) and, for me, this is what takes it to the next level.  I always try and get a good likeness, the eyes and mouth are key for me, get those wrong and  I've lost the essential spirit and character of the person I know.   Get them right and I feel I've made a connection with the person and conveyed the essence of who they are,  often it's 'the mistake' that shifts the gear so I agree with Martin.  I so admire artists who can get a likeness in a few brushstrokes, sometimes I achieve this in the underpainting but often it's lost along the way and re-found (hopefully) later.  I know I like and enjoy detail and that's my thing although others might say it's not painterly but heh, each to our own.

Yes, Heather. Also, bear in mind, someone that paints painterly and fast can make their work look hollow. On a local level their work could be the best thing since the proverbial, but on a national, you are up against those who know the differences of all things creative. It depends what you want? Paint like your life depended on it, that together with enjoyment of seeing what you have created puts you in an upper echelon. Don’t procrastinate, know yourself and get annoyed with yourself if you do. Do not lose yourself in thought about anything else but your work. Paint everyday for two to five hours. Obsess about your paint products. Fight to do what you think is too complicated, yet keep the simplistic in you, hone both entities to your own perfection. Do not put out what you are not proud of. See greater artists with envy, not jealousy. One day you could nose further in the rat race and be a national treasure.