REFERENCES: Beware the Siren Song of the Photograph
Reference photos are a great tool for you as a painter, but if you use them, you’ll need to be vigilant.
Ep.12 guest Andy Evansen says that even experienced artists can get sucked into the reference and forget to ask, is this good for the painting.
Put it to Practice:
A photo is inspiration. It offers a spark. You as the artist then follow that spark and work to create something different from the photo.
After all, if you wanted to be a photographer, your work would be finished already.
But a photo is very powerful. It will whisper things like, “You can’t move that tree. That’s where that tree was. It’s in the photo” Or “Those thirty people at the corner of the image, they would be so hurt if you didn’t include them. They are in the photo.”
If you hear yourself starting to say, “but it’s in the photo,” try and stop yourself and think. Think about whether or not it needs to be in the painting.
You are the artist. You can do whatever you want.
And if your goal is a strong PAINTING you will most likely need to move a tree and get rid of a bunch of details. Don’t listen to the photo.