REDESIGNING A REFERENCE PHOTO
REDESIGNING YOUR REFERENCE PHOTO – How to Avoid Being "Trapped" and being totally dependent on photo references
"A photo is what it is. A painting is what you want it to be." - Marilyn Simandle
Painting isn’t about how well you can copy a photograph - it is about making a great painting. The photo should serve only as a starting point. Make whatever changes are required to improve the image and make a greater impact.
Some methods that help in making a better painting.
1. Squint to eliminate unnecessary detail.
2. Show only what is necessary and interesting. Use a cropping tool. It is important that the cropping window is the same measurement configuration as your substrate. Two right angle cardboard or stiff paper shapes work well. White, Black, or Grey are the preferred colours for the cropping window so that one is not distracted by colour. The angles slide to reveal only the important parts of the photo, and can be configured into a rectangle that corresponds to standard rectangular or square size canvases or boards.
4. Do a quick thumbnail sketch that shows only large shapes for the darkest, mid tone, and light areas. Check the sketch for balance and strength of the composition.
5. Paint your substrate a mid-tone colour of your choice. Choosing a warm colour for a cool subject and a cool colour for a warm painting works well.
6. Sketch the tonal shapes from your thumbnail sketch onto your substrate and add matching tones.
7. Choose colours to fill the shapes that match the same tones as those in your sketch. Colours don’t have to be the same as the local colour in your photo. Use a colour wheel to determine which colours will go well together (such as triad colours). By choosing one colour that you wish to use, the other colours that complement that colour are given to you on the colour wheel.
In the example below, local colour was ignored and the main focus is on the strength of the composition. The vocal bird is added to create interest and focal point, while the driftwood is subdued and acts merely as a background design element.
For colour choices that work well together but are not local colour, see examples of work by artists such as: Mike Svob, Robert Genn, Julia Veemstra, Cameron Bird, Stephen Quiller, Leonid Afrimov, Francois Nielly, Voka, and Harley Brown. So long as the shapes and tonal elements are correct, the colour choices are secondary and almost immaterial.
You can see more examples of redesigned photos in my portfolio of works at: sitkastudios.faso.com
