I saw a conversation online the other day that I keep thinking about. I wasn’t part of the conversation, I just read it, and then thought a lot about it.
Someone had posted a painting they had done using a reference, and they had included the reference, and a bit about how they had interpreted the reference.
They were sharing their process, and talking about how they weren’t trying to recreate the likeness. This is something I enjoy doing, it’s not always about the likeness, sometimes something else happens, and that’s not failing.
Among the responses someone gave their feedback, despite there being no request for feedback on the post. The person seemed to have hooked into the part about the painting not being a likeness, and gave tips on what to change. When the painter replied that she was fine with what she had done, the commenter got defensive, and a bit aggressive, and the conversation, naturally, blew up.
I keep thinking about the painter, who was no longer commenting on her own art post, and how it must have felt, and hoping that won’t affect her art making.
Anyway, I found an old painting of mine today that I wanted to post because it fits perfectly with the idea of using references as a jumping off point, not tying yourself to perfection and likeness, and letting something interesting happen.
The reference for this was a very masculine presenting face, but the character that emerged is much less easy to define in terms of gender, and I like that.
This is an older painting, from around three years ago, painted on sandpaper. It’s good to revisit old work and see how your art has progressed, and also the things you are still enjoying putting in there.
Art is a process, not a destination.
Til the morn,
Suzanne
137/200
Thrummie Bizzum 
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