By Bob Davies. 1

Transcription

1 By Bob Davies 1

2 Using reference photos as a basis for your paintings is great way to provide yourself with a good source of raw materials it s your own library of images that you can use to create stunning pieces of artwork, but there s a knack to using them correctly Many of the great artists both past and present, such as Paul Degas, Vincent Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec and David Hockney, regularly used or use photos for reference, so you're in good company. I'm assuming that like me, you're not an expert with the camera and basically use it to point and shoot, and that like most people with cameras nowadays, it's the digital version, rather than using film. Having said that, if you use a film camera, your mobile phone, or the latest piece of hi-tech equipment, this article is still just as relevant... So let's look at our first common problem 2

3 Here's an example of a view of a farmhouse my eye saw and I thought would make the nice basis for a picture - or certainly as a reference to include in a future imaginary landscape picture. Above is what YOU see before taking the photo. However, here's what the camera lens actually 'saw' and recorded. You can see what my reference photo of the farmhouse turned out like.. This is what the CAMERA sees the resulting photo. 3

4 Does this disappointing picture look familiar? Wonderful things that cameras are, especially in this digital age, they don't distinguish foreground, middle distance and far distance as well as the human eyeball. Now if you're into photography I'm sure you can make all sorts of adjustments to get the perfect photo, but for the purposes of a painting reference, I'd simply suggest the rest of us zoom in a bit to have a better chance of a picture that's nearer to what your eye sees. Here are some other points to think about: Use your own photos if possible because you can picture the atmosphere, sounds, smells, weather, surroundings etc. which all helps to build the overall atmosphere you want to create. Photos are ideal for checking how many windows there are in a house and how big they are. Take many more photos than you think you need. This shouldn't be a problem if you have a digital camera as you can always delete unwanted photos. Try to compose at least one shot as if it was your finished painting, i.e. concentrating on your main focal point. It may end up quite different but using the camera like this helps to get you used to composing paintings as well. Try to include something of a known size to give a sense of scale. A figure, animal, doorway etc. For a broad landscape, take two or three shots as you pan across the view. You can print them out and roughly tape them together, or electronically stitch them in Photoshop or similar software. 4

5 A lot of software packages have a variety of 'painting media' options, e.g. coloured pencil, watercolour, pastel and so on. Try these out to see what your painting could turn out like. Blow your picture up and print it or photocopy it A4 page size. Remember any image manipulation software on computers (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro - or even the 'free stuff' that comes as a CD with your camera), can adjust the light, contrast and colours of your picture. If you know how to manipulate images, move things around to test out compositional ideas. For example, move a tree to the left, make a building slightly smaller, leave out a lamp-post and so on. Get two 'L-shaped' pieces of card and use them as an adjustable viewfinder frame across your picture. See what different compositions you can come up with - including vertical ones. You're not trying if you can't get at least three! Use a piece of acetate and an acetate pen to roughly draw a figure, animal or other feature you want in the scene. Then move it around on top of your printed photo until you're happy with the placement. Don't rely too much on colours in reference photos - the camera / printer settings may distort these. Shadows generally appear darker on photos and are usually just one single tone. In real life shadows have a variation of colour and are much lighter and softer at the far edges than right next to the item that's casting the shadow. Try printing a copy of a reference photo in black and white as a good basis for a tonal value sketch. 5

6 Let s look at an example I took a number of photographs of a beach in Pembrokeshire in South Wales. I decided I could use three of them to give me my composition for my painting. I then played around with small, black & white tonal sketches (see part 2 of this guide) in my sketchbook until I came up with an idea I liked. Now have a look at the final painting I came up with - having used parts of these three reference photos I ended up with a completely different picture - but one which still says 'Pembrokeshire Beach'. I turned the large rocks in photo 1 around to face the other way so they pointed into the picture and moved the family group further back into the distance as I felt it improved the composition. And of course, it's unique to me because it doesn't actually exist in real life, yet still looks right. 6

7 Right, let's consider a few more do's and don'ts: Photos are great to find out in detail how, say, the muscle structure works in a horse. Or, you could even trace the outline through a print onto your paper as a starting point. If that gives you the confidence to go on and draw it freehand in future - great! Remember though, copying from or tracing over reference photos do not provide a long-term substitute for developing a strong drawing technique by observing and copying from real life. See how much detail you can leave out of your picture that may be in the photo. Ask yourself the question about every single element - "Does this add to the composition? If in doubt - leave it out! Compare Joanne Thomas reference photo to her final painting she has dramatically simplified the composition to get the most striking results in this loose watercolour. Images from Jane Lazenby s free step-by-step guide Dark Horse 7

8 A tonal sketch is an ideal method of working out your composition and also where the lights and darks are going to be placed in your picture, regardless of what colours are involved. The idea is that you work in monochrome one colour. This can be a pencil or charcoal sketch, or even a painting done purely in one colour. Take a look at some more of Joanne Thomas artwork below. She always produces a monochrome tonal sketch before embarking on a full watercolour painting. This helps her to paint loosely and freely when she comes to colour. A while back I visited the pleasant village of Wrea Green. It has everything the 'typical' English village should have - an ancient church, a pub and attractive cottages and houses surrounding the village green, complete with its duck pond. When Pam and I visited, we noticed that the green had a cricket pitch marked out, so this seemed the ideal solution of creating human activity to link all of the elements together in a picture. Always look out for a chance to include animals or people in a meaningful way when considering your composition. It could be a couple walking down a lane, someone on a horse, or even a cluster of hens near a farm gateway. Try to use them to enhance the composition rather than just plonking them any old place in the picture... Anyway, I made three tonal sketches of the scene, using a 4B pencil on a cartridge pad. Each view was changed slightly to try out different angles and arrive at the best composition 8

9 In Picture 1 above I felt the buildings had become too far away and 'bitty' and the cricketers dominated rather than complemented the scene. In Picture 2 I made the figures smaller, but the church was placed too centrally for my liking. I have a compositional dislike of any significant element placed right in the middle of a picture, as it can tend to cut it in two. Equally I thought putting the pond right across the bottom of the picture created an unwanted barrier - even though in real life it would be in that position. 9

10 In Picture 3 I moved the view so the church was at the right hand side - still towering over the village (as it does) - but it allowed me to develop an 'L- Shaped' composition in conjunction with the other buildings using the height of the steeple. I included just a corner of the pond and a couple on a bench watching the game to fill in an otherwise blank area. I also developed the light and dark areas in this sketch so that I knew when I came to paint it the strength my colours needed to be (tonal strength or value), regardless of what colour I was actually using. In picture 4 we see the final painting, still slightly adapted from the third sketch - I made the bench and spectators smaller as it suited the overall composition... The tonal sketch also allows you to 'play' with light and shade so a dark roof in reality might look much better left quite light in your picture. Maybe you could have the sun coming from a different direction. Or you will almost certainly want to move some feature in the picture or leave it out altogether - an unwanted lamp-post perhaps - or maybe adjust its size, if this gives a better overall composition. 10

11 Try producing some simple tonal sketches the next time you do a painting. Don't dive in and paint the first view you see. You will almost certainly get a better composition with this little bit of pre-planning. In fact, most professional artists will tell you that for them, a tonal sketch (or several of them) is an absolute pre-requisite before they commit paint to paper or canvas. These don't have to be a masterpiece - they are in effect your working drawings. But they are a vital stage in organising in your mind the layout of your picture before you pick your brush up. As an added bonus, you frequently find that your tonal sketches throw up more than one potential painting of the same scene - with very little extra effort! 11

12 ABOUT ARTTUTOR.COM ArtTutor.com was built on the back of my passion to help more people take more enjoyment and more satisfaction from art It gives you 24/7 access to hundreds of TV-quality video tutorials from more than 35 professional art instructors. We cover everything from watercolour landscapes to pastel portraits and we add new lessons every single week. What else will find at ArtTutor.com? STEP-BY-STEP PAINTING FOUNDATION COURSES Comprehensive video courses that cover all the fundamental techniques in watercolour, acrylics, pastel, oils, coloured pencil and drawing. SUPER-FRIENDLY MEMBERS-ONLY FORUM Where you can post your artwork for critiques from other members or ask your art-related questions. A PLACE TO STORE & SHARE YOUR ARTWORK Our members-only gallery system allows you to easily add your artwork to ArtTutor, where other members can like it and offer helpful feedback. MONTHLY PAINTING CHALLENGES WITH PRIZES A range of challenges to choose from so that all tastes are catered for and with prizes that are definitely worth winning! My goal is to make ArtTutor.com the best place for anyone looking to improve their artistic skills and get much more enjoyment from the wonderful past-time of painting and drawing. We d love to see you there! 12