Dealing with Portrait commissions

This realization ocurred a Sunday 16th May through a myself-day to work on portraits for commissions.

For a long time I believed that getting portraits from a picture was just copying and little creating. It cannot be said that it was considered cheating but from my experience it had little soul to it. Maybe because it was not talking about me but about other person that I might know or not.

And that’s ok but it was for a time some constricted feeling in a moment in which my need to expand in other directions was more needed that mere exercises.

But now I see it as a pour of my vision into the picture, as I am not tracing. The latter is a technique that I just considered to do when real problems arise, I have a tight deadline or even intimidation due to mixed feelings. There can be certain self doubt or pressure that triggers the creation and more than often I would get myself into a big challenge. I tried to go big and I had to go back to my safety area to thrive and develop.

Like it’s never enough as every piece it has its difficulties, I’d push myself further than my mind can handle. Even by doing long hours and getting discouraged.

Thanks to my long experience with college, for years my main technique it has been graphite. Even better results if done on grey paper. Now, the results will be outstanding that way from a technique I use since I started.

Another example is the case of Julie’s Portraits. The graphite was quicker and I could extract the essence of the people really quickly. Like I was making a clay sculpture I add and substract layers as I can see neccesary. It’s a changeable thing.

And that’s not something I can do with watercolours yet. (Maybe when I find the right paper that holds my water and brushes away). I go with a bit of fear knowing that every stroke will be difficult to go back from if it changes the person’s face characteristics.

The person is more worked and focused even tho the background colours could go gently around it.

Talk about Julie portraits, Colin portrait and retrace back to Xmas commission and the differences.

Use the audio in the phone about the magic of seeing through the faces if I choose or make the pictures myself. I get them as I see them.

Realization about my personal hand as a vessel to bring out part of the feelings or interior that is hardly seen. Even seeing through the soul or the future! : In here talk about your selfportrait with the train that had its own meaning but it ended up being future related?

© María M. Mayorga