Dear Swalroth,
I am also a representational figurative painter. It is true that it is not “hot” right now. But many people fail to realize its resurgence. People who claim painting is irrelevant usually have no vision in the medium themselves, and fail to see all of the incredible work (the likes of which haven’t been done/properly exposed to the public before) being created everywhere. There are tons of amazing figurative painters doing all different kinds of work right now.
That being said, I was in a very similar place as you, when I graduated undergrad. You have the building blocks of a talented painter, but still have much to learn in terms of technique and concept. If painting is the be-all-end-all for you, keep at it. Painting from photographs will always hinder your work. Use yourself, willing friends, family, etc. Paint from life in order to learn how to paint poetically. There is a difference between painting what you know is there, and painting what you actually see. Composition is also essential. When I left undergrad I went and studied personally under painters who I admired and knew I would learn a lot from. Many living prosperous painters have assistants, residencies, people who go and study with them for a period of time. Steven Assael does workshops in NYC, LA, and I imagine other places. I haven’t studied with him myself, but I know people who have and found it to be very transforming.
In addition to others’ suggestions, here are some people you should look at just to have an idea of what is happening right now and the many different ways your work could grow.
Look at:
Antonio Lopez Garcia
Alex Kanevsky - http://www.somepaintings.net/Alex.html
Sangram Majumdar - www.sangrammajumdar.com
Odd Nerdrum - http://www.nerdrum.com/works/index.php?id=132
Paul Fenniak - http://paulfenniak.com/
Fabian Jean - http://www.flickr.com/photos/30317999@N04/
Sophie Jodoin - http://www.sophiejodoin.com/
Israel Hershberg
Rita Natarova - www.ritanatarova.com
Paula Rego
John Currin
Vincent Desiderio
Tina Newberry - http://missioncreep.com/newberry/index.html
Dead, largely unknown, and amazing:
Euan Uglow
Vilhelm Hammershoi
Eugene Carriere
Antonio Mancini
Edwin Dickinson
Harriet Backer