>>4255602hmm well, you -can- paint 100% from imagination. Its just depends on how good you are and what kind of pose your characters have. It gets exponentially harder and more energy draining the more complicated it is though. It doesnt help that when painting one thing for a long time, because you have been staring at the same canvas for such a long time, mistakes will become invisible. Then when you come back from a tea break or the next day the parts of the piece suddenly looks like shit, it can be very frustrating.
when i was younger i used to think that using references was "cheating" and "having no pride". But the truth it, it just saves alot of heartache, time and energy. Even the masters of the past had models or painted from real life.
>Btw, the picture you posted is also not entirely "realism", it has a loose style too.I know, thats why its a blurred line, between pure realism and loose painting, it depends on how much detail you want to throw in, theres no end to it. I agree with you, the hard part in this case is choosing how and what to simplify without losing the essence and "life force" of the subject
>We need to discuss this with a cup of tea.yes we do
