I have always noticed that in portraits of really great writers the mouth is always firmly closed.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The problem with being a writer is that some readers tend to think that anything that comes out of a character's mouth is you talking.
A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.
If you're going to make a statement, I think you should write it in prose and make a statement. If you have characters who are mouthpieces for a point of view, then you have to be very clever about disguising it.
Every man's work, whether it be literature, or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.
When I paint a person, his enemies always find the portrait a good likeness.
I feel it's very important to let individual writers' voices come through. But the character has to be consistent.
I've been writing for people long enough to know that it has got to feel comfortable coming out of their mouths, especially when you're doing something that is first person and is so near and dear to you.
The best portraits are those in which there is a slight mixture of caricature.
I often concentrate on the eyes and lips, they are great indicators of mood and feeling, and I find that I can project character into my portraits by bringing the viewer's attention to these areas.
Writers are articulate. Artists find it more difficult.