Self Expression vs. Copying a Photo
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Self Expression vs. Copying a Photo
One of my pet peeves is art instructors who don’t teach students how to develop compositions from reference photos, but rather encourage them to copy what’s in the photo instead. There is no art in directly copying a photo. The art comes in when you interpret the photo to create a world on the canvas or paper that is truly yours alone. The art then is designed by the artist as only each individual artist can see and interpret it. Even beginning painters should be taught how to take a photo and use it as a reference only as a starting point for developing a unique work of art.
Frank Webb, one of my favorite painters, says “Don’t paint what is, but what should be.” I always add “what COULD be.” Each painter has a unique lens through which they see the world and everything in it. That’s what makes art unique. The subject matter in a reference photo needs to filtered through that lens and interpreted as only the artist can do. That expression is, and should be, different for each artist. Wolf Kahn did hundreds of barn paintings in his career, but I don’t remember seeing any with a gray barn, blue sky and green grass. Instead we see colorful barns filtered through the lens of Wolf Kahn, the colorist.
I was taught to do a value study from any reference photo, thereby distancing yourself from the “thing” of the photo. This process also forces you to look critically at the composition and make up what you need to to create a pleasing composition that works. I remember in a Frank Webb workshop once a woman asked Frank to assist her in creating a composition from a photo. The photo was basically just a plain horizon line with bland sky above and calm water below. Frank began doing a drawing of the scene - but it wasn’t the scene at all. He drew in a couple of buildings, boats, pilings, etc. The woman exclaimed, those things aren’t there, to which Frank replied, “no, but they should be.” He was trying to develop interest in a photo reference that had none.
The painting examples I am showing, are admittedly older paintings. I don’t really paint anything but abstract paintings these days, but I felt that the illustration of looking at the photo of the “thing,” then the value study, then the resultant painting would be helpful to some. Hopefully it will be helpful for you.
If you'd like to learn about abstract painting and making your own authentic work, then please join me for a painting workshop: (You can view a list of remaining 2020 workshops HERE)
September 9-11 David M. Kessler Fine Art Studio, Winston-Salem, NC. For information and registration Click Here.
November 4-6, 2020 David M. Kessler Fine Art Studio, Winston-Salem, NC Click Here for Information and Registration
December 2-4, 2020 Hill Country Arts Foundation Ingram, TX Click Here for Information and Registration
January 13-15, 2021 Murrell's Inlet, SC. Abstracting the Coastal Landscape (NEW) Click Here for Information and Registration
January 29-31, 2021 Art League of Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach, FL Email: artleague@bellsouth.net
February 3-5, 2021 David M. Kessler Fine Art Studio, Winston-Salem, NC Click Here for Information and Registration
As always, thanks for your support!
David
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