"It Looks Just Like a Photo!"

Call me a grump (grouch? crab?), but this ain’t a compliment. Oh, I know, I know, it’s very likely meant kindly. When you’re 8 or 12 years old and working fiercely to learn how to draw, using up more art supplies than your family can afford, and spilling a whole bottle of india ink on the living room carpet (not that I would know about any of this - the ink wasn’t my fault, Mom!), “it looks ilke a photograph!” would be high praise.

However. When one hears the phrase repeatedly, and lavished on works like the scratchboard shown right, well...one finds oneself baffled. Sometimes one even wants to indulge in career-limiting repartee.

Firstly, I’ve never seen a photo that looks anything like this - you know, all black background with deep black shadows, and white linework defining the lights. I suppose you could take a photograph somewhat like this on the moon, but I’m skeptical there’s rodeo there. (Feel free to correct my ignorance.)

But more importantly, if “it looks just like a photo”, then ... I feel like a complete dunderhead for spending so many days agonizing over my composition, my working sketches, the transfer of my design to the support, and of course the scratchwork or paintwork. I should just print out a photo and put the same price on it! Geez, I’m a nincompoop!

Now, there are artists who specialize in photo-realism - who work very hard to capture every bit of what’s going on in a scene, the way a photograph would. I credit you, my readers, with more observational acuity than to suggest I’m a photo-realist; I don’t recall ever seeing an abstract background like the one at right ("American Original: Renegade") in any photos.

And by the way, don’t get me wrong - there is a lot of fabulous photography out there! I just don’t want to have my years of experience and weeks of labor compared to the average smartphone snap.

So. What should you, the savvy art appreciator, say to compliment an artist who is not actually working in a photo-realist manner? Here are some suggestions:
“Your composition is dynamite!”
“I just love how you’ve interpreted the subject matter!”
“This is far better than any photo!”
“These are gorgeous! You’re a genius!”

OK! You are now ready to go forth and rock an artist’s world!

FOOTNOTE to the April Artzine:

[In reference to "Burning Bright", my tiger scratchboard] "This might very well be your best scratchboard ever. Wow wow wow. I just need to sit here and stare at it. The face is amazing. But then the back catches my eye and that's pretty cool too. I don't want to go to bed. I just want to sit here and stare at it all night and find more amazing details. Like the eyes. How DO you DO this!?!" -- Kara K.

"OH MY LORD IN HEAVEN! 'Burning Bright' is the MOST gorgeous thing I have ever beheld. I am stunned, speechless (apparently not) and cannot stop staring at what I would personally call your best work EVER in ANY medium." -- Kahtleen M.

I had other similarly lovely compliments about my tiger scratchboard, headed for the David Shepherd exhibition in London...and thank you, each of you who responded with the kind remarks!