reference photos

Painting is a process. But I love the process. I thought today I would share my process from start to finish of my most recent painting. This particular flower is called Blazing Star. The inspiration for this painting came from a garden and art tour that I was participating in a couple of years ago. After I was finished selling my art I walked around the garden and spied this bee flying toward these flowers. I got several pictures, this little bee behind poking out of the flower being my favorite.

Photo taken in Alaska during a garden tour.

This painting is 12 x 22 inches. The first step to any painting this large is to stretch the paper. I do this by wetting the paper under running water until it feels like thick fabric and has become fairly flexible. This is only done on 100% cotton paper (this paper is Arches 100% cotton watercolor paper). I then staple it to what’s called Gator Board. The paper then dries overnight, and the next day it’s ready to be taped down for a clean border and to protect the staples from getting wet and possibly rusting. Then I transfer my image onto the paper.

The first color laid down on the Arches Watercolor Paper.

I then begin laying down color, starting with the lightest color. Once I have a wash of the lightest color, I move on to the darkest and dark mid tones. This helps me see how much darker the lightest parts of the painting still needs to go and usually the darks have to go even darker eventually as well. I also add other colors like the leaves to give balance and compare colors along the way. Putting the first color down in a new painting is hard, I never want to mess up the expensive paper. But putting down the darkest darks is even more scary. What if I put them in the wrong place or go too dark too soon.

All the colors have been applied and most of the darks have been added.

As I go along I begin adding mid tones and texture with more specific brush strokes, and adding additional colors that I might see from the photograph. Rarely is purple just purple. Often there are reds and blues depending on how the sun is hitting that particular point in the composition. That has been a hard thing to learn, how to see color, but once you start seeing color, you realize how few subjects are just one flat color. It’s the variations that give the variety and dimension from one petal to another, or from one rock or tree truck or piece of fur to another, and so on.

The last thing I added was the background. Sometimes I do the background first, sometimes I don’t add a background. This one I hadn’t decided when I started. When I was mostly done with the painting I decided it needed something, but I didn’t want it to be too much. I like how the background gives color, making the flower pop forward, but how it’s muted and unspecific as well.

That is my painting process in a nutshell. this painting probably took around 6 hours of actual painting time, over the course of about 10 days. The next step will be photographing the painting and then digitizing it so I can use it for note cards, paper and canvas prints, and possibly make a fabric panel out of it as well.

As an artist, I use a lot of reference photos. But this can be a bit of a sticky subject when it comes to what you can use and what you can’t use. I never really understood copyright laws until I became an artist. We always see the little copyright disclaimer thing before a movie or video, but do we really understand what it’s saying? For my website I had to research a lot about copyright laws, how to present them on my website, and how to respect the copyrights of others, because I have content that I want respected as well. It was a good education, and I am grateful that I know more about the laws and how they are infringed upon.

Almost everything on the internet is copyrighted by someone. You cannot just pull any random picture off the internet and use it however you want to. As an artist, I cannot pull any picture off the internet and paint it as even a close replica of the original unless I have permission from the person who took the picture. I can however use it as a reference photo as long as that is simply what it is, and I change the picture enough so that it does not resemble the original photo enough to be identified as that photo. For this reason, if the image is copyrighted or if I am unsure, I usually pick 2-3 images of similar fashion, draw my own sketch using a combination of all the images, as well as my own creativity, and then paint the picture I drew rather than using any one picture alone.

The best option is to either take your own photos, know a great photographer who’s willing to let you use their photos, ask permission, or go to a website where there are not copyrights attached to the photos. When taking your own photos there are a couple of things I’ve learned. Take a lot of photos! A lot! With the convenience of digital devices, it’s easy to delete pictures you don’t want. Load those photos on a computer to view and delete the ones you don’t want. Phones are great, but the clarity of a large screen along with the ability to mess with the size and make adjustments is great. If you work better on your phone, I guess this could be a personal preference, but I think it makes a difference. Take pictures from several different angles and distances. One perspective might look great in person, but really bad as a photo, so get a variety. Lastly, delete all the photos you don’t want. I used to save several extras just in case, but I have come to learn that my gut is pretty accurate about what I am going to actually use and what I’m not going to use. It just simply saves space and time later.

My daughter is a great photographer. She is super willing to let me use any pictures she takes that I find interesting. She has even been known to call me and say, “I’m sending you a picture I think you’ll love; you should paint it!” I am grateful for her willingness to let me use any of her photos. I have also had friends share photos on social media that I thought would make great paintings and have asked if they would allow me to use their photo. So far everyone has been willing to allow me to use it as a reference photo, and once in a while I have friends send them to me randomly because they thought it would make a great painting. I love when people get as excited about my work as I am! When I get permission from a friend, I always sent them a print of the finished piece as a thank you.

I take a lot of photos, but I will never travel the world. Maybe someday my daughter will, she would like to, and then hopefully she’ll let me use some of those photos as reference. But, in the meantime … I have painted a lot of pictures of animals and plants from different countries and continents, so I use a website that has photos that can be used for commercial and home use, and a lot of artists use the same website. It’s called Pixabay. The photos on this site are free to use, there is often a photographer’s name that you can credit the photo to, but it’s not required in order to use the pictures. Just be aware that not all the photographs are free. There’s always a band of photos across the top that are copyrighted pictures. Usually 4-5 pictures. Those require permission. However, there are pages and pages of free pictures, on just about any subject, so just scroll past those few and you’ll find inspiration. I find myself looking for a picture of a specific subject, seeing something different, getting sidetracked, and ending up with half a dozen different reference photos that I hadn’t been looking for or anticipated. This is where I go for inspiration as well, when I feel like I’m stuck in a rut and don’t know what to paint. There’s always something there that inspires me.

So, that is reference photo copyright for artists and creators in a nutshell. There is so much more to copyright laws than this, but this is the simplified version. To me, copyright is simply about respect. Respecting that someone else’s work has value, that your work has value, and that we can all create uniquely, without copying someone else’s work. There is so much beauty in this world, and so many unique ways to display it.