Source Photographs for Painting

Several years ago painting using photographs as source material was frowned upon. These days probably most artists use some photographic reference material but quite often once back in the studio this material falls short of the requirement in a number of ways.

One particular failing is that the coverage of a standard camera lens is insufficient for the requirements of a painter. This failing can be easily overcome once it is recognised. Here is a single photograph taken using a camera fitted with a standard lens -

The picture is fine so far as it goes but it would be nice to know what lies to the left and right of this scene.

One possible way out would be to use a wide angle lens. This would certainly improve the coverage but it would introduce distortion which unless compensated for would make a finished painting appear a little odd. It would be difficult to define the oddity but it would be there and detract from the finished painting.

A better way is to take several overlapping pictures and then fit them together to make a composite whole. This can be done by making a number of prints and cutting them to fit together and then pasting the sections onto a single support.

The method I use is to ‘stitch’ the different photographs together using computer software. This also allows some experimentation with contrast and colour.

Here is the above example extended in this way –

you can see how much better this version is.

Next week I will continue with some pointers on sketching prior to starting a painting.

Until then, take care.

Tony

Sketching - The First Step

Last weekend I received an email from a young lady who said she liked my paintings and would like to do something like them herself but she didn’t know how to start. She wanted to know if there is a simple "painting by numbers sort of technique" that she could follow which would give her the basic skills to create a painting worth framing and hanging on her wall.

Since receiving the email I have given the question a great deal of thought. Is a simple approach which would produce an acceptable painting possible? I think the answer is a qualified yes. The qualification? Well, if the approach has to be simple then the picture content will also have to be fairly simple as well. Complex subjects necessarily imply complex drawing.

The picture above is a scan of a page from one of my sketchbooks. The subject is simple, just a couple of trees. The important features of these two sketches are the layout and the subjects’ lighting. The picture is about light - the effect of low angle light illuminating the trees against a dark, sombre sky.

The page shown here is from an A5 Daler Series 2 sketchbook. The pages are approximately 8 by 5 inches which is large enough for a detailed drawing but convenient in that it fits comfortably into a coat pocket. I also use Daler Lyndhurst sketchbooks in various sizes for different purposes. All the sketchbooks I use have a very firm hard backboard and are spiral bound so that they open out flat for drawing.

The two sketches shown on the page above were carried out using a Pilot drawing pen with sepia ink. I also use a range of pencils varying in hardness from HB to 4B and carry a sharp pocket knife to sharpen the pencils and a soft eraser for making corrections. The latter is not used often as a better way to make corrections is to start with a lightly drawn line and adjust it by overdrawing. This gives the finished sketch a more spontaneous look.

The only other ingredients needed to produce initial sketches are observation and practice. Go out and find a simple subject, which interests you. Then settle down in a quiet position where you will not be disturbed and start sketching. At first your results will probably not look too much like the subject. Stay calm. All is not lost, you can do it. Look carefully at the subject, study it closely, then compare your drawing with it and see where the differences lie. How could your drawing be altered to make it more like the original? Having decided how the drawing could be changed do another one. This time concentrate on those areas which need changing in the first drawing.

Compare the subject and this second drawing. Is it a better representation or can this drawing be improved in any way? If necessary try again. Above all else, do not give up. It will take time but you are only making a sketch. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

I usually put the date and place on my sketches because they are interesting to look back on. I wonder why I didn’t do that with these?

I think that is enough to be going on with. Next week I shall talk some more about sketching and using photographs for note taking.

Until then take your sketchbook with you whenever you go out. Above all use it. Make lots of sketches.

Take care.

Tony

P.S. The two sketches may look a bit like a ‘Spot the Difference’ puzzle. Can you?

About More Space

'Return Flight' . . . . . .Acrylic Watercolour

Since my last post on the 4th September 21 people have visited the site but no one has left a comment or sent me an email about anything.

This leaves me feeling a bit like I felt when I stood on this cliff top in Pembrokeshire one October, alone and wondering if there is any other life on the planet. Human life that is, because of course the ducks were there.

In reality though there were only, I think, five ducks flying home from who knows where that evening.

It was exceptionally quiet, almost no noise at all. Just a very soft hint of wind noise and the sound of gentle waves touching the shore below.

As the sun finally dropped lower the light faded and the sky reddened. Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight was the saying when I was a child. That was supposed to foretell bright sunny weather to follow next day. On this occasion at least it was right.

Well the sun is sinking in the painting above that I did from memory a few days later. Perhaps the sky will redden again and tomorrow will be filled with comments and emails. Who knows?

Till next week, take care.

Tony

Space

'Wind From the West' ................Watercolour

For those of you who have followed this Blog from the start it will be obvious that I have a number of obsessions.

One of course is Birch Trees, which for me are the most beautiful trees in creation. That says a lot because all trees are beautiful.

Another of my obsessions is space, which accounts for why I paint landscapes and why I seek out those places where space is clearly evident. Places like beaches, cliffs and open moorland. In fact any place where I can get away from the crowds.

The painting above is of just such a place. When I had completed the picture I wasn’t too happy with it. In fact I still regard it as one of my least successful pictures and it came very close to receiving the acrylic gesso treatment and having another painting done on top.

The reprieve came about because ‘she who must be obeyed’ liked the picture and demanded that it be framed and hung in her study. And that is where it is today.

Perhaps you will leave a comment telling me what you think of this painting. Who is right – she or me?

Until next week, take care and keep on painting.

Tony