For long time followers, today's post may have you rolling your eyes and scrolling right past. I'm sure I have written about my journey as a portrait artist ad nauseum. I promise I will try to keep this brief, and (possibly) sprinkle in some new nuggets of information.
Being a traditional artist in the digital age can be trying at times. Ok. All the time. Every time I try to promote the benefits to having a traditional work of art hanging in your home, a comment by a twenty-something reverberates in my head: why pay $100 plus for a portrait when you can get 100 portraits for $8. The comment was directed at the use of AI and the many filters available to everyone on too many apps to name.
And where this comment was meant to make my trade appear insignificant, I cannot help but think of many portraits that hang on the walls in museums throughout the world frequented by patrons daily.
Now, I am not saying that my paintings will make it into a museum (though they have). Or that I am a master (yet) of my field. But this is what drives me. The continuing urge to become better than I was yesterday.
I have been fortunate to have received a few commissions lately. I had taken several years off of doing them simply because I was burned out. With the increasing cost of living, I have found it necessary to begin accepting commissions again. And this time, I hope I can use them to continue to hone my skills.
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