Use of photos - 2

In the first part i had mentioned my insistence on taking your own photograph.

Every painter is not a trained photographer and may not have a great instrument. But taking ones own photo, has a certain positives. First, you see the 'original' yourself while shooting. You are there and have experienced the place, and seen through the viewfinder. Seen through that hole you get an idea what you are intending to paint and that view is like that of a  'window' we use in on the spot working. We can choose a part of the whole. 

And for the more sentimental painters, the feel of the place, the sun, wind, and smells too subtly influence  your work.

The whole exercise makes shooting your own photograph a better choice. 

Now we go deeper in the positives of the photograph as a reference.

Photo is 2D. So the romance of conversion from 3D is lost. But then the original 3D is vast and seems daunting to the painter with its vastness or number of things. Photograph reduces the numbers and vastness. But that is not only result that we are seeking. Usually on locale, the whole question of selecting and deleting and conversion of perspective and simplifying the colours around, all these create lot of questions and in solving them most of the 'thought process' gets exhausted . And artist has little chance and energy for experiment and deviating from reality. We are going to paint our 'own' image and not 'paint' a photograph by hand. Most of the times the whole exercise of the selecting thwarts the search for original.

Taking your photograph can be said as a first step where we do most of the selection and 'composing the view' part. We find less questions to solve in the second part of painting the landscape itself. But this second part which simplifies the process, many times misleads the painter in actual practice.

As said earlier, one slavishly copies from photograph. So the idea of simplifying the process backfires. But we can also argue, that one who 'copies' or 'illustrates' can easily manage that on the spot too. So whats the key? First understand that by using photo we are not going to just 'ease' the inconveniences of painting on locale. You are not replacing the hot sun and dusty air with cool enviornment of the studio by using photos.

We are going to utilize the energy saved in 'thinking' , in finding new ways.

While working from photo one may have to desist from oberving the photo a lot. Rather look at it as least as possible. Use it to see the composition or colours for just 'refering'. This is really important. 'refering'. Just refer. And paint what you remenber or more important what inspired you when you saw that scene. I for one, many times prefered black n white photos. Its a personal choice. But black n white in my experience tends to influence the colours in painting near to nothing. So you can paint the colours you want, not what the photo dictates.

No Influence! Dont allow the photo to influence. It is just a reference and you are taking this route to 'deviate'. Lesser you rely on the photo to find the reality, better it is. It should not dictate what you are going to paint but just help you in stop getting dictated by vast scenes on locale.

And slowly one day, photograph will be just an aid to refresh the memory. To remind the 'original shapes' and not to show you how the objects were like. The clear aim and understanding will make it a fruitful exercise to paint from photo. Or it will be a bane. Then on the spot painting will be the right choice. It has its own positives and negatives. But if you cannot surmount the problem of 'slavish copying' then please leave this path of painting from photos. From my experience watching others, its easier to get slaved in copying a photo than on the spot!

So even though i use photos a lot as reference, i admit its not an easy way as it seems and better be mixed alongside constant practice of on the spot painting.

Ultimately the final work is important and not the path. The quality is important not the method!

Enjoy!