Working from Photographs (Part 1) - The Difference a Camera Makes

When it comes to working from photographs there are as many opinions as there are artists. Some people work only from photographs, some would never even consider it, some would never admit it. Some of us, likely the majority, have no choice but to work from photos at least some of the time. My schedule with the fire department is odd by most standards, which means my painting time is sporadic and spread out across my days off. It is highly unrealistic to have a model sit for me at 5 o'clock in the morning for an hour before I go to work. So photographic reference it is! 

I'll spread out my thoughts and tips on making the process of working from photos work best for you out over a few posts. Today's post focuses on starting off with the best photo you can. The absolute best thing you can do to help yourself when working from a photo is to work from the best photo possible. This means spending some time (and money) learning how to get that. First off, buy a decent camera. Sure, we all have smart phones, and sometimes you snap some great shots, but for the purposes of creating a refined, detailed painting they just don't cut it. 

This is a photo I took in my studio of my friend and fellow painter Foster Grissim. At first glance its not a bad shot, but when you zoom in you see there are almost no details. 

Now compare that with the photo I took with my Samsung NX1000 with a 45mm F1.8 portrait lens:

Even with the .jpg conversion and compression the difference in the photos is drastic. The richer colors, sharper image, and greater value scale are all very valuable when creating a painting from a photo. Also, by using a dedicated portrait lens, my focus is already where I want it, the face of the subject, while the background is softer and less distracting. This makes it much easer to avoid one of the biggest pitfalls (in my opinion) of working from photos: over rendering the background. 

You don't have to spend thousands of dollars for a good camera. The camera I use is available on Amazon for $340, and you could choose to buy the portrait lens for another $300 (you buy a camera and invest in a lens, a good friend told me that and its true.) While this isn't exactly chump change, it's a small price to pay to set yourself up with the best reference material. Not to mention allowing you take clear, accurate photos of your finished artwork. 

After you've purchased your camera take the time to learn how to use it. They can be confusing at best. Find a friend who knows their way around a camera and ask them to come along on photo shoots for a while or give you a few lessons with your camera. There are apps that break down photography basics pretty well and tons of online reference. 

Think of a camera as another essential material. And like other artist materials, buy the best you can afford. Don't waste your money on cheap paint or brushes and don't waste your time with fuzzy photos.  Its not impossible to paint a great painting from an iPhone or point and shoot camera photo, but, as I've said before, painting is hard enough, why make it harder?

Letting Go of the Fear

"You need to grab ahold of that line between speed and chaos, and you need to wrestle it to the ground like a demon cobra. And then, when the fear rises up in your belly, you use it. And you know that fear is powerful, because it has been there for billions of years! And it is good! And you use it! And you ride it; you ride it like a skeleton horse through the gates of hell, and then you win, Ricky!" - Talladaga Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

One of the hardest yet most enjoyable and rewarding things I've changed in my painting has been letting go of my fear regarding how the painting turns out. Letting go of the fear of going outside lines. Working to turn that fear into confidence in myself and my abilities to see, draw, and problem solve. 

My art background is rooted in drawing from comic books and tattoo designs. Anyone that knows about those art forms knows they're built on solid line work and tight drawing. So that was the natural way for me to approach painting as well. For years all of my paintings began with a very tight, refined drawing. But I found over time that I was constantly fearful of losing my drawing as I painted. I was forcing myself to literally paint inside the lines and it was sucking the fun out it for me. That approach was also leading to odd drawing errors and causing the end result to look more like an illustration than a painting in my opinion. The paintings themselves looked fine, it just wasn't what I wanted. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach, it works really well for a lot of people, and it worked well for me for a time, but I needed something different. 

The first thing I learned painting with Seth was to harness that fear and turn it into determination. No longer was I spending hours on a drawing before painting. We went straight at it with thinned transparent brown paint and started blocking in shapes and shadows and laying in essential lines. Instead of worrying about each little pencil mark I was slapping paint on the board, moving it around, and wiping it out if needed. In the time it would have taken to get the pencil drawing done I could complete the first layer of painting. And let me tell you, it is so much more fun. The concept of starting loose and free and tightening up the image as it progress has really appealed to me more and more with every painting I've done since. 

I encourage everyone to try this method. Let go of the fear that it won't be perfect. Let it be perfect in its imperfections. Dip your brush in some turp, grab up some transparent brown and start blocking in the shadows. Once your shadows are placed correctly, mix a generic skin tone with white and cadmium orange or transparent red oxide and block in the lights. If its not right, scrub it out and start over. 

Yesterday I had the privilege to drop in on an alla prima portrait class with Mia Bergeron in Chattanooga. I had contacted her on a whim and was delighted to find out she had an open spot on the last day of the class. Following Mia's approach I had to further let go of my fears and hesitations and attack this painting with no drawing at all! She encourage the class to carefully mix the right value/color and place it in the right place the first time. Easy, right? No. Not easy. But it was a fun approach, and yielded (I think) a good result. I had a great time creating this painting. Whether this experience influences my approach to future paintings or not doesn't matter. What matters is I decided to let go of my own hold ups and try something new and in the end, I got a pretty decent painting out it. 

So just to reiterate, there is no 'wrong' approach to painting. If a tight drawing works best for you, keep it up. But don't be afraid to try different approaches, you never know what you may like. Try different approaches, paint with fluorescent colors, try new things! Go harness that fear!

Becoming Self-Made (An Introduction to the Author)

First off, thank you for checking out my blog. I hope you've enjoyed the posts so far. Now that there a couple posted you have an idea of the type of content I'm striving to provide. Over the years as I've delved deeper into painting I've become more and more of a paint-nerd. For the first few years my learning was based around what to do/not do, how to go about using different techniques, etc. But over the last year or two I've gotten a lot more into the whys and hows. Its no longer enough for me to know that I'm not supposed to use student grade paint, I want to know why. I want to know how paint is made. I want to experiment with different grounds and different substrates. As I follow these inclinations I will do my best to document and share the progress. My goal is to make this blog the kind of blog I would have loved to have when I started painting.

In these present days of the infinite internet I find myself re-thinking my definition of “self taught.” I had always considered myself a self-taught artist, but maybe a self-made artist is a better way to put it. In my first 6ish years of painting the only instruction I received was in a three-day alla prima workshop taught by Mia Bergeron. Aside from that, everything I learned was from every book I could get my hands on, every youtube video I could watch, every DVD I could afford, and every blog I could follow. There was still a fair amount of trial and error, but I had some absentee guidance. 

In April of 2013 I had the honor of having a painting in the same show as Seth Haverkamp. I had been a fan of his work for a while and finally seeing something in person was big moment for me. After a brief meeting and a couple months of schedules not lining up, Seth invited me to his studio for some informal painting lessons/critiques. Getting to paint with and learn from him drastically accelerated my progress in my art. Having someone to help with those tough spots, to give guidance, and introduce techniques is an amazing privilege. Almost more than that was having someone to pick apart “this totally amazing painting” I had just completed (or thought I had completed.) I’ve always considered myself to be my worst critic, a trait I think one must possess in this field, but Seth has an amazing way to pick apart my painting while, at the same time, telling me good it is. For this I'll be forever grateful. Often times the “one last thing” he suggests to do will make all the difference in the world. 

I no longer consider myself a self-taught artist, but I am 100% self-made. No one has made me practice my drawing, no one has made me scrap a painting 10 hours into it and start over. I have made myself do those things. I've made myself read and study and sketch and draw whether I felt like it or not. I've made myself focus on the flaws in my work instead of reveling in the areas that I was happy with. I encourage you to do the same.

So to anyone who is going down the self-teaching road, take to heart these few things that have helped me on my path:

•      Be your worst critic. You have to be able to look at your work and see every little flaw, every little improper or unnecessary brush stroke, every drawing error, etc. Because, trust me, every juror or curator who reviews your work will see those errors.
•      Take in all the information you can. Read books about technique, materials, Old Masters, and new masters. Watch videos, buy DVDs, take workshops.
•    Use the best materials you can afford. I’ll get into this in further posts, but trust me cheap paint and bargain bin brushes yield poor results. Art supplies are one thing where you really do get what you pay for.  Painting is hard enough, don’t fight your materials.
•     Find another artist to pair up with and give each other critiques. Be honest, but be helpful. Don’t just point out the mistakes; help them see how to fix them. Accept their criticism and grow from it. 

Here's a (bad) progress photo of a rooster painting I'm working on.