What makes a good reference photo? - WetCanvas: Online Living for Artists

This topic has 13 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by pjartwc.

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March 22, 2019 at 6:45 am #470898
Moobuddy
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I’ve been using finished images from WC instruction books as references for my paintings, and I’m now looking to make a painting from my own photo collection.

Grateful for any advice on what would make a good reference photo for landscapes…
March 22, 2019 at 6:56 am #802596
star fisher
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One that is well composed and is interesting to you.
March 22, 2019 at 7:12 am #802592
pjartwc
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Do something that you like and familiar with. Good composition and good values are always there.

C&C WELCOMED

Jan
March 22, 2019 at 8:59 am #802597
madametj
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I’ve been using finished images from WC instruction books as references for my paintings, and I’m now looking to make a painting from my own photo collection.

Grateful for any advice on what would make a good reference photo for landscapes…

Scroll through your photos quickly and stop on the one that grabs your attention. Usually this will be one with a good balance of dark and light values, interesting shapes, good composition, etc. Also of course it’s best to have a clear image that isn’t blurry.

Tyler Alexy

Join me on my experimental art adventures!
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March 22, 2019 at 9:51 am #802594
virgil carter
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A subject with special meaning and appeal.

Artists always revise and interpret their subject matter–whether from life, a photo, or imagination–and never simply copy or render what a photo shows.

So simply look for photos which have a special story about them and start there.

Sling paint,
Virgil

Sling paint,
Virgil Carter
http://www.virgilcarterfineart.com/
March 22, 2019 at 11:45 am #802595
DaveCrow
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Look for a photo that has something that grabs your attention and use that as the focus of your painting. Feel free to edit the image in the photograph when you are making your painting. Even when painting plein air landscapes I will make changes to improve composition or color. Artists are free to interpret what they see.

"Let the paint be paint" --John Marin
March 23, 2019 at 9:45 am #802599
Moobuddy
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Thanks guys for your tips
March 23, 2019 at 11:09 am #802590
CharM Moderator Watercolour Forum
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I love these types of threads because they offer good suggestions that can apply to all of us. Sometimes, there are really good elements in a reference photo and they’re complicated by so much noise surrounding them. I’ve become a fan of simply eliminating everything but what I was drawn to.

In this example, my story was about my Sister’s calf Xena who’d been abandoned by her Mother. My Sister loved bottle feeding this baby and their mutual affection was obvious. Everything else in my photo was just noise.

My painting is actually a little more saturated than this example shows, but it does illustrate what I did with it.

Char --

CharMing Art -- "Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art." Leonardo DaVinci
March 24, 2019 at 3:04 am #802598
Artist from India
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Most of my watercolors are from photographs taken by me or family. I take landscape photos with the intention to paint. Pictures are taken of same subject from different angles and sometimes try out various light filters etc. Later I may make a composite from these different views. One can add and eliminate elements subjectively.

Thamaso Ma Jyothirgamaya.
March 24, 2019 at 9:16 am #802593
janinep7
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Actually, I think the “crummier” the reference photo, the better the painting you can do from it b/c you will not be tempted to copy the photo exactly. A really “good” photo can easily suck you in to the tendency to copy w/out modifying. When I’m taking photos of things I might want to paint, I try to remind myself constantly that it’s just like taking shorthand notes. The photo is not the painting. The photo will not become the painting. The photo is only to inspire the idea for the painting.
March 24, 2019 at 11:50 am #802589
Curtis
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In my opinion, a good reference photo could be good for different reasons.

1. You see the image as making the perfect piece of art!
2. The image simply inspires you. It doesn’t need to be perfect. You can change composition, color, tone, etc.
3. It sparked an idea for a similar work, perhaps not even using that image.

The worst reference photos, in my opinion, are flash photos. They can be so DEAD! And there’s no “resurrecting” them. (You know them when you see them.)

Curtis Verdun - Classic Oil Portrait Artist
"To stifle creative expression is to bind and gag our very souls."
March 25, 2019 at 2:51 am #802600
Moobuddy
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I love these types of threads because they offer good suggestions that can apply to all of us. Sometimes, there are really good elements in a reference photo and they’re complicated by so much noise surrounding them. I’ve become a fan of simply eliminating everything but what I was drawn to.

In this example, my story was about my Sister’s calf Xena who’d been abandoned by her Mother. My Sister loved bottle feeding this baby and their mutual affection was obvious. Everything else in my photo was just noise.

[IMG]http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/23-Mar-2019/20514-BabyCompare.JPG[/IMG]

My painting is actually a little more saturated than this example shows, but it does illustrate what I did with it.

Thanks a lot CharM for giving an actual example. This is helpful… and it’s a lovely and thought piece of work!
March 25, 2019 at 3:01 am #802601
Moobuddy
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Thanks for the helpful tips so far, everyone!

As I scroll through my photos (many of them taken before I ever picked up a paintbrush), the temptation is to make a drawing of what’s in the photo as is and make a copy of it. It’s a bit of a struggle to imagine what a painting of the photo will look like… especially if I’m not making a ‘copy’ of the photo!

I might be overthinking it, especially as a beginner, but sometimes I find myself a bit overwhelmed with the variety of options on how to turn a photo into a painting… there seem to be so many things to consider in terms of composition, colour, what to keep and what not to keep…
March 25, 2019 at 9:20 pm #802591
indraneel
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You may find this interesting https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1392504
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