How to Choose the Right Reference for Your Paintings
If you love painting objects but still want your work to feel abstracted, you might wonder—what’s the point of using a reference at all?
Erin Gregory (Ep.90) has a compelling answer.
Why Light Matters More Than Color or Composition
Gregory firmly believes in working from references, but not for the reasons you might expect. She doesn’t rely on them for color accuracy or even precise composition. Instead, the single most important thing she looks for in a reference is light.
If a reference doesn’t have a clear light source with strong highlights and shadows, she won’t use it. Here’s why:
Light Creates Form – A strong light source helps her build realistic forms in her flowers, even in an otherwise abstracted painting.
Light Ensures Consistency – Maintaining realistic light and dark relationships keeps the entire painting cohesive, giving viewers enough visual anchors to make sense of the abstraction.
Put It to Practice:
What do you need from your reference? The answer is different for every artist.
If you prioritize showing up for something like daily painting, maybe the light and dark don't matter as much. You just need something to paint.
If, like Gregory, you follow the reference’s lights and darks but change colors freely, light is your priority.
If you’re painting a realistic scene, you may need a reference that provides both clear shapes and well-defined lighting.
Just because an image is beautiful doesn’t mean it’s useful for your process. In fact, Gregory has turned down stunning photos because their lighting was too flat.
When you know what information you need, you’ll find better references—and spend less time struggling with ones that don’t serve your work.