Video 12: Drawing From Photos

Transcription

1 Video 12: Drawing From Photos Photography can be a great resource for drawings. Because photography on it s own is considered a form of art, it is suggested that artists take their own photographs to use as reference for drawings. When the artist uses their own photography, the drawing is completely their own creation. Photographs can be a great aid in creating highly realistic drawings. In this lesson, we ll look at using the grid technique to create a drawing from a photo.

2 The Grid Technique The first step is to locate a photograph to use for your photo reference. Remember, it is suggested that you use your own photo. The photo that will be used in this demonstration is of a gorilla and is available for download on the video page for this lesson. Next, we ll need to prepare the photo. To accomplish this, photo manipulation software is required. Photoshop will be used for this demonstration, but other free solutions exist. (An alternative program is listed on the video page.) Once the photo is in the photo manipulation software, we can edit the image. Since our medium is grayscale (graphite) we ll first remove the color. This is accomplished by selecting Image > Mode > Grayscale. Next, we ll quickly adjust the brightness/contrast to balance the values. This is accomplished by selecting Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast.

3 Now, we ll crop the image to a size that is proportional to our finished paper. In this case, the image will be cropped to 8 by 10. To crop the image, use the rectangular selection tool to define a 8 by 10 area. Then select Image > Crop. Next, we ll define a grid on top of the image in the photo manipulation program. To do this, select View > Show > Grid.

4 By default, the grid is made up of small squares. We will need to change this to reflect 1 squares. To do this, go to Photoshop > Preferences > Guides, Grid, & Slices... In the Preferences pane, change the Gridline Every box to 1 inches and the Subdivisions to 0. You may pick a color that you want the gridlines to be as well.

5 Here is a look at the edited photo ready for drawing. The next step is to prepare our drawing surface. In this example, the image was purposely cropped to fit an 8 by 10 drawing surface. Therefore, the drawing will need to be proportional to the 8 by 10 photo reference. For this example, a 8 by 10 drawing will be created, but any paper size that is proportional to 8 by 10 can be used. Now the corresponding grid will need to be drawn on the drawing surface. Horizontal lines are measured at 1 intervals to match the horizontal lines of the grid on our photo reference.

6 The grid is completed by drawing vertical lines at 1 intervals to match the vertical lines of the grid on the photo reference. The artist can now refer to the individual squares on the photo reference and draw the contours that exist in the corresponding square on the drawing surface.

7 Using the grid, the artist can draw all of the contours that exist in each of the squares of the photo reference. Changes can be made to ensure an accurate translation. When the contours are completed, the artist can now begin to add the values that exist in the drawing.

8 As the drawing develops, the artist can erase the grid lines on the drawing surface. As the values are added, be mindful of the palm of your hand. In this case, a paper towel is used to prevent the palm from smearing the graphite in worked areas.

9 Using the grid technique, the artist can focus on smaller chunks of information from the reference photo. This allows for greater accuracy in the finished drawing. When the information is simplified into smaller chunks, the artist is less likely to be overwhelmed with challenging subjects.

10 The artist, of course, can choose to remove subjects from the original photo and use the grid technique for selected areas only. In this case, the background in the photo reference is substituted for a solid application of tone. The completed drawing has the desirable characteristics of a drawing (texture, tonal r a n g e, e t c. ) b u t i s proportionally and compositionally similar to the photo reference.