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Painting from Life


I do paint from photographic images. Some of the best artists I know use photographs. There is nothing wrong with using them, but the only way photographs will help you is if you paint from life. Painting from life could be a still life indoors, it does not have to be outdoors per se. You just need to paint from life. I call it the “well.” The well is information and is dry in the beginning processes of our learning. As we add more knowledge, that well gets filled up. So, we can start dipping into that well of knowledge we have gained painting from life when we are using photographic images.

The difference between a photographic image for painters to use vs. standing in front of the subject matter is fairly simple. A photograph takes 1/60th of a second and you have all this detail recorded. But, standing in front of that image for an hour and a half to two hours allows you to absorb the knowledge of value, color, and design as you’re painting the scene.

“The well is information and is dry in the beginning processes of our learning. As we add more knowledge, that well gets filled up.”

So, as you can see, 1/60th of a second or two hours is fairly simple math. You are absorbing more knowledge in two hours than you are in 1/60th of a second. We don’t think this way because photographic images are so beautiful and detailed. But, the camera will not give that knowledge to you in 1/60th of a second. It will take time to learn about mixing value and color and design and brushwork.


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