Whether you paint from photographs or from life, painting exactly what you see may not be the best way to go.

I recently had a discussion with a couple of artists, one of them a relatively new artist, who was talking about some classes she is taking. She was saying that her instructor insists that she match the colours in her painting exactly to those in the photograph she is using as reference. That led us to an interesting conversation about using photographs and about intuition and artistic licence.

I thought it was a terrible idea to match the photo exactly, whether the composition or the colours. A reference photo is just that, a reference. Once the main elements are in place, I believe one should put the photograph away and follow one’s intuition, and take liberties with composition and colour in order to make a better painting. The same applies to painting on site. I’ve always heard ’paint exactly what you see’, or ’look very closely at the colours that you see so you can reproduce them’. I so completely disagree with that.

The example I used was this: if you go out and paint a street scene, the street is gray; just plain dull gray. Well, you can’t paint that street just plain dull gray, it’ll kill your painting. You’re probably going to want to use some purples or blues in the shadows, and then a warmer shade of gray in the light. You can make that street really interesting looking by adding your own version of colour into the gray, by making it really painterly. Your painting is going to come to life and vibrate with interesting colour. Following exactly what you see would be the worst thing you could do, in my opinion.

Another thing I often notice is that some artists will slavishly follow the photograph, and sometimes there will be an element in the photo that is confusing, either because it’s hard to tell exactly what it is, or maybe only a portion is showing and that adds confusion. Some artists will paint that portion exactly as they see it, so that it continues to be confusing. When I look at such a painting, my first thought is ’what is that thing, why is it in there?’. And I would bet that most viewers would think exactly the same thing. Trust me, you want people to admire the painting when they see it, not wonder what that ’thing’ is. That ’thing’ becomes the focal point because it’s so noticeable and confusing.

So if you use photographs as reference for your paintings, please, once you’ve got the elements mapped out and your composition figured out, put the photograph away and let your intuition take over; let your creativity guide you; let your artistic sense help you figure out where to go from there.

Suzette

"The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through." (Jackson Pollock)