Painting from a photo - keeping it simpleSee how I simplify a scene by identifying the reason I want to paint it, and then making everything else secondary to this goal. Find out how to paint simply in three stages, drawing the composition, blocking in, and finally a few details.
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Painting from a Photograph - how to create emotionInstead of just copying a photo, try painting what you feel about it by abstracting and changing the colours. In this video I'll show you my approach to doing this.
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Running out of timeHow to finish a plein air painting when you've run out of time and have to head home.
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Make a viewfinder for painting a still life
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Make a handy viewfinder that will help you paint a still life.
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How to paint from a photograph - using a sketch
Most of us paint from photographs from time to time, especially if we can't get outdoors because of the weather. But photographs can be more of a problem than a help, as they often contain just too much information. Also they can alter the balance of lights and darks, and play havoc with the shadows. The best way to use photos is not to copy them directly, but to just use them as a starting point for our paintings.
In the example below I have drawn some quick sketches from my photos, and then used these, not the photos, to paint from. That way i could ensure an interesting painting and not a bad copy of a bad photo!
In the example below I have drawn some quick sketches from my photos, and then used these, not the photos, to paint from. That way i could ensure an interesting painting and not a bad copy of a bad photo!
Here are my photos. They are very detailed and everything in them is competing for attention.
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I tried out a couple of compositions using the church building as my focal point. I left out most of the detail and moved the palm trees around to suit. These sketches were only about 2 inches square and took me just a couple of minutes each to draw.
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I chose to paint from the bottom sketch, and only used the photo for reference towards the end. This little oil sketch (6" x 6") took me about an hour.
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Here's another example showing you how to paint from a photo. |
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Plein air oil paintingHere I am painting a farmhouse in southern Spain, using water mixable oil paints.
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