One hundred years ago if you wanted to be an artist you had to go looking for your subjects out in the world, you had to arrange a table, find a willing subject or spend hours in a public setting. Today if you want to paint something it’s as easy as googling “still life photography”. You could still attend a figure drawing session, or spend time out in public spaces for inspiration, but even then, you could take a picture and not worry about your subject moving. Or, you could go a step further and ask why use pictures at all, when you have your imagination? With all the access we have through the internet, why bother with paying for figure drawing sessions, taking time to set up a still life or spending hours outside to paint from life?
Well, *crackes knuckles* let me tell you why painting from life is still a great way to make art!
Exercise Time!
Let’s do a quick exercise: grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Go on! I’ll wait… Okay, got it? Now without any references, or pictures, or real-life-apples - I saw that Linda you dirty cheater! Put it back! Okay, so just picturing the imaginary apples in your head, draw an apple. Most likely what you draw will turn out looking flat - maybe even cartoonish. Don’t worry, that’s to be expected when you pull up the image of an apple in your mind. The immediate image is probably something simplistic, a placeholder, something you might use in a game of pictionary. In art your imagination can only take you so far, and at some point you are going to need references to help you.
Exercise two!
Let’s move up a step on the complexity scale. Search for a photo of an apple, nothing too complicated - we’re not trying to make the “Mona Lisa” of apple drawings here. Now go ahead and draw your apple again, from the image you see. If you try to make a replica of the picture of an apple it will most likely turn out better. There may be some shadow patterns that are a little wonky, or maybe the perspective in the picture throws you a little. The thing about pictures is that, while they are incredibly helpful, your mind is trying to translate the flat image on your screen into a 3D image in your mind which you are then translating onto another flat surface. With all that translating, is it any wonder that what you draw or paint can lose something in the process? I’m not saying it can’t be done! Photos are very helpful; they offer inspiration, and if you don’t have access to what you are trying to paint or draw (a lake, great white shark, sextant or what have you) photos are easier to locate. But photos are tricky because they in themselves are also art, which brings us to my next point.
Artistic plaigarism is both complex and simple. Artists draw inspiration from many things; places, movies, quotes, books, overheard conversations, other paintings and drawings, philosophy, children’s crafts and photographs. With all of the many influences that life and technology provide what is considered art, and what is considered plaigarism, can be a grey area. Is a painting of a photograph art, or plaigarism? If someone uses a graphic design idea and changes it for their own use is that plagarism? If someone writes fanfiction that then turns into a novel is that plagarism? The possibilities go on; luckily the solution is simple. When in doubt, give credit. If something is based on a photograph, add some photo cred. If you used a tutorial, link it and if you’re not sure where something actually came from and maybe you’re just sharing it, make sure people know it’s not your own. And every time you start thinking, agh, I don’t want to add this link, why should I add photo credit? Just think about how gutted you would feel if someone tried to pass your beautiful piece off as their own and people believed them. Ouch.
Back to the benefits of real-life or real-time drawing. Perspective. Perspective can be hard to master if you are trying to understand it by looking at pictures alone. Not only do things get lost in translation, but it is hard to understand the way objects interact with each other in space. It’s easier to get a sense of the structure of a building, for example, when you are around those buildings as opposed to what you imagine the structure to be or a small part of a structure from a photo that might be obscure. There is a lot that you can glean from photos, or building houses in the Sims but there is something about seeing something in real life, with your own unique iris that helps you put it all together.
Of course this doesn’t just apply to buildings either. I like to think of it this way; if you ever played with action figures or barbies or lego, you had to figure out the boundaries of your structure. The action figure can move it’s arm this far in one direction, but it stops here. Each person and thing is similar. When you are people-watching in public you notice things; how the little boy squats in the sand at the beach, how flexible a gymnast can be, how someone’s clothes limit their movement, or how the old man on the bus sits leaning to the left. And when you sit somewhere long enough, your other senses can come into play; the smell of the rain, the movement of the koi in the pond, the sound of the music studio next door. All of these things come together, and when you can involve more of your senses it has a way of seeping into your art, it effects your brush strokes, colour changes and layout.
So, if I haven’t convinced you to at least try drawing from life, then you’re probably a cold hearted Karen, stuck in your ways. That’s fine, you do you. Photographs are incredibly helpful for references, just remember to drop that credit where it’s due.
Now go make art! Fly little birdies! Fly!
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