Working from Photos in Class
I keep telling my class (nagging them) that they should work from their own photographs. not those of someone else. You need to know WHY you are doing the painting, and if it is someone else's picture, you just don't have a good enough reason. You didn't feel the subject, smell it, investigate it.So here I am, working from a photo that isn't mine. And really, as much as I liked it, I just couldn't connect. I had worked on some thumbnail sketches, and in the middle of the night (right after having a dream about discussing Anais Nin with someone - where did THAT come from?) I had the bright idea that a vertical format would work better than horizontal.
What I had really wanted to demonstrate in class was how I would do the white flowers on the left side of the photo. And a little bit of the stone texture of the walls. The flower demo didn't photograph well, and I didn't get the vertical thumbnail started yet, and the stone texture demo is not worth showing.
By the way, I really know nothing about Anais Nin, so please don't hold me responsible if she offends you.
Let's all go do some thumbnail sketches now.
2 comments:
Great post
I work from my photos a lot. I also reference pictures that aren't mine for shape, structure, light. Its like looking at a model, then going off to paint a portrait from memory.
Maywyn, thanks! With such long winters here, we use a lot of reference photos too. It's fun in the winter to snuggle down in my studio and paint from my summer photos.
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