Day 27. Drawing from Photos (with Delight!)

Referencing delightful people

Friends! It’s day 27. Can. You. Believe. It.

Believe it. Believe YOU. You are showing up again and again and making this time for creativity and curiosity and building a legit drawing habit and holy smokes I hope you feel proud of yourself. I feel proud of you. Of us.

Today we continue our focus on DELIGHT. Yesterday, we talked about the importance of turning our attention to delight at regular intervals to get through (and resist against) challenging moments. Drawing is like a delight-booster. The more delight we draw, the more we see it all around us. The more we see it, the more we draw it. SeeMore/DrawMore/SeeMore/DrawMore/Ad infinitum. A virtuous cycle of delight. Let’s keep it rolling.

Yesterday we drew a delightful thing from life.

Today we are drawing a delightful person from reference.

Drawing from Photos: Is it okay?

Drawing from photo references. We all do it.

But is it okay?

OF COURSE.

Does it have its pros and cons?

Absolutely.

I’m about to get a little wordy, but this stuff is important. Most people who draw don’t think about it, and these days with the internet it’s extra important that we do - for artistic reasons, ethical reason, and legal reasons.

Okay, let’s get into it.

Pros of Using Reference Images

1. Reference! Want to draw an accurate picture of a baby raccoon but not sure how big to make the head? Image search is your BFF. If the thing you’re drawing is not in front of you and you want to get a good sense of what it looks, reference images are the way to go.

2. Endless subjects! Don’t know what to draw? Open a magazine. Every portrait, landscape and but of text is inspiration, fodder, and practice material.

3. Motion! Want to draw a bird in flight? Go to YouTube and look up “birds in flight” and there are a million videos that will give you a sense of their motion. Unlike nature, you can pause the video to examine mechanics and movement.

4. Copy and Practice! In traditional art school, students have to copy a bazillion figure drawings by artists like Leonardo, Da Vinci, and Rubens. And honestly, it’s really one of the best ways to learn. If we aren’t in art school and want to learn like that, reference photos are a great way to learn basic anatomy and practice our noticing skills. You can even zoom in to get really close to a subject. FYI that’s super inappropriate in real life. Even in art school.

Cons of Using Reference Images (well not really cons, but things we need to be aware of)

1. Drawing from reference is not drawing the thing. It is drawing a photo of the thing. When we draw from life, we experience our subject three dimensions, with all our senses. We are experiencing the value, the line and shape, the texture, the space, and the color with our own eyes. We are not just drawing the subject, we are drawing that experience. When we draw using a photo for reference, we are using a flattened, limited, mechanical or digital recreation of the subject, displayed using dots of color on paper or glowing pixels on a screen. When we draw from reference, we are drawing the reference. Which is fine. It’s just not the thing, and the resulting drawings show it.

2. Less time out in the world, looking. More time on screens.

3. Copyright. I know I say “no rules in art,” but there is one or two. And understanding this one is important: If we make a drawing based on a photo we did not take, without the permission of the photographer, and then we publish it publicly, we may infringe on the photographer’s copyright.

   When we make a drawing based on a photo and it looks a lot like that photo, it is using the image made and owned by a photographer without their permission. (Unless it is a Creative Commons image or otherwise approved for public use.)

   If we do this in our sketchbook or on a birthday card for a friend, that’s fine. It’s private. No harm no foul. But if we turn that drawing into a public product (a la the Obama HOPE poster by Shepard Fairy based on the photo by Mannie Garcia) we are getting into hot water. And if we sell that drawing and make money off it? That’s a big, big bummer. It’s not cool between artists, and it will bite us in the butt, big time.

   When we use a photo as a reference and then share the image online we need to cite the photographer. Period. Our work is based on theirs. It’s just respectful. If we are going to publish that drawing in any commercial way (put the drawings in a book, on a shirt, and sell it, etc) then we must get the permission of the photographer or whomever owns the copyright. That is, unless we ALTER it so much that a judge would say “That artist really made it their own!” Does this get tricky? You betcha. Is it easier to avoid the whole thing and draw from life or take our own photo references or combine multiple images into a new one? YES. And those avenues will always lead to more creative and original outcomes, too.

   It may seem like this stuff isn’t relevant to a lot of us at the Grown-Ups Table, but trust me, it is. Everyone making art today really needs to understand this stuff so we can be respectful of other people’s artwork, and demand respect ourselves.

   Note: DrawTogether and Grown-Ups Table is an educational platform, and lessons fall under educational fair use. I never put any copyrighted images behind a paywall, and just generally do my best to do right by artists.❤️

And thus enduth today’s blah blah blah about drawing from reference.

Now let’s do it.

Joni Mitchell and David Hockney at L.A. Louver gallery in Los Angeles, photo by Jacob Sousa, via L.A. Louver, Venice, CA. via NYTimes

Drawing a person from a photo

Today we continue our delight with a drawing of a PERSON or a PHOTO OF A PERSON that brings you delight. It could be a person you know or that you don’t. Alive or dead. Near or far. But looking at the image should make you smile. It should spark delight in your heart. And that is worth putting our attention on today.

“WAIT!” You're saying. “But Wendy, I don’t know how to draw people!!!”

Friends, YOU DO.

You may not have noticed it, but over the past 30 days, you learned all the tools and techniques you need to draw people. All the elements of drawing? Check. Different approaches? YES. Think about it: you can use blind contour. You can break your person down into abstract shapes. (That would be cool.) You can even DRAW THEM UPSIDE DOWN!! :) Heck, if you want to draw a stick figure with a giant face and use text and call outs to point out their delightful attributes, go for it. Whatever you draw, it will be GOOD ENOUGH.

All that matters is that the person in the photo - or the photo of the person, and making the drawing brings you delight. That is what makes a successful drawing.

You really are good enough.

The drawing I chose to draw use as reference is of Joni Mitchell and David Hockney holding hands. They look as vibrant as joyful as I hope to feel any day of the week, let alone in my 70s and 80s. The photograph was taken by Jacob Sousa inside the LA Louver Gallery.

Using that drawing as reference, I drew a contour drawing as I am wont to do. Here is my ten minute drawing - I only got as far as David Hockney!

Based on a photo by Jacob Sousa

And then, friends. I BROKE THE RULES. I set my timer again and painted for ten more minutes. Why? Because artist break rules. Especially at the end of the 30 Days.

I reset my timer and this is as far as I got.

Based on a photo by Jacob Sousa

I wanted to keep going but I resisted. Something fun to come back to later. Remember ending on a high note helps us build a drawing habit!