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I've been following several blogs such as Silvina Day's, Jala Pfaff's and Joan Breckwoldt's and the comments readers have made about figurative paintings related to the vision or message involved in creating a portrait. Opinions differ greatly but in general I think those of us who create our figurative studies in class are limited by the pose which is set up by the teacher or the model...... (and also by whether we, as the painter, happen to get into class in time to set up in a "good" spot.)

After reading Leffel's book and reading the various thoughts in cyberspace, I've tried to think of a story I want to convey when I paint a portrait or do a figurative study--- or in reality -- anything else I paint. In the last class of Johanna Spinks' LAAFA session, our model was a beautiful girl named Stevie. Of course I had come prepared to paint a guy, so was amused when I saw this Stevie. However, she was a delight. She came in an outfit that she had created and dyed herself and she passed the time between sittings by knitting. She also was kind enough to allow photos (for a small fee). I appreciate this because not all models do allow photos even for a fee and sometimes I actually LIKE what I do in class, but rarely can finish in a three hour period.

Unfortunately, although I THOUGHT I was starting out fine, my class portrait of Stevie began to take on the appearance of Frankenstein's monster. I had toned my canvas with a reddish orange wash... Initially I thought that would be great because so much of her outfit was orange... however, her eyes and uncovered canvas seemed to glow werewolf or vampire red through the covered canvas and I had been hasty with my initial sketch so my proportions were off creating a too large and squarish head. EGAD! Disaster followed my initial pleasure in devising a "story" behind the portrait.... It became the stuff of Mary Shelley - definitely NOT what I had been planning.

However, I really liked Stevie's look so I took the painting and the photos home. I repainted the study from class...... (see Stevie on the left.) It's better but doesn't convey what I wanted to convey. Johanna had wanted to see Stevie's really lovely eyes, but somehow it didn't seem right to be looking up from her knitting. So I did another from one of the photos I took of Stevie during the break. I really enjoyed the comfortable, content and intent feeling in this pose. The larger top painting on the right is my story .... Stevie on a break. I really like it!