This is Pamela — an amazing artist friend who I paint with —and recently modeled for us.  We have a wonderful small group of women artists.  We paint from life together, critique each others work and mainly support each other in this crazy life as an artist.  I painted her one morning — about 2 hours — from life.  Came back to my studio and completely wiped it out.  While some of the brushwork was nice — it didn’t look a thing like her.  So I worked from photos.  I know that’s a faux pas for some artists.  I’m an desperately trying to make the transition, but I’m still struggling and sometimes I resort to photos to help me along.