LET'S PUT AN END TO THIS FALLACY ONCE AND FOR ALL...

Thank you so much for sharing this!! It’s such a relief because my art teachers always said that painting from a photograph isn’t real art. I never really understood that, and to be honest I really doubted that. I love what you have written here. Thanks so much Janis! XX

Yes, I agree with everything you said Janis. My life is so busy that I take many pictures of thing I am moved by and then when I finally have time to paint I can go back and look thru the pics. I like to bring them to life! Sometimes I do paint on location but then I take lots of pic there and finish the painting at home when there is time.

HipaHipa ..cheers to you wahini…..
much of my work comes from photos as well as memory..
I just about never paint on site …......
many times my scenes are created with artistic license _{as you would put it}
People have a choice of what they enjoy viewing….........
I do not care what others say in a negative way…......only positive expressions are aloha for me…..

It pays to ignore statements from folk with predudices, especially when their words contradict there actions. Snobbish critique, is always best avoided. The narrowness of their view must be so restricting for them in the world of art ….......... :))

I don’t work from photos much but don’t see anything wrong with it, either. At some point the artist must veer from the thing in front of him or her, be it still life, landscape or photo, and do what the painting wants us to do. Unless you are a photo-realist, and even then I’m sure the painting will talk to you a bit.

Your comment above about being uncomfortable on-site made me wonder if you have ever seen Prince Charles’s book of watercolors? He does not photograph where he has been, only paints. He is one of the best plein-aire painters around, I think. Some of the paintings are extra fun because they will have big splots of raindrops on them, or be extra-scribbly because he is on a boat and losing his view. There is a great photo of him on the back in his little tweed outfit, sitting on the ground with his Windsor-Newton Field Kit, that warmed me up to him to no end. The book is not easy to find – I got mine on ebay, but if you run across it it is worth a look.

I entirely agree with your stance, Janis. Isn’t art about breaking rules so ensuring progress?
I love the art of Shirley Trevena whose vibrant watercolours break all the rules.I also love working in mixed media which must be a nightmare for purists. There’s room for all sorts of media, techniques and approaches in creating art. A photograph can be a starting point for an impressionist interpretation or cropped to create an abstract interpetation. I thoroughly admire the hardy souls who can paint in all weathers but for those who want to paint a spring subject in autumn or vice versa I can see nothing wrong in referring to a photo from a personal resource built up within the year or over the years. It’s the pleasure and satisfaction of creation that counts not following rules made by unknown people who can have the power to restrict and undermine.

From time to time I like the challenge of painting from life but most of the time I use photos. I paint children and there’s no way they are going to stay in any one position for more than a few seconds. I have a lot of fun taking photos of things, people, & scenes that I would like to paint.

Excellent article Janis!! As a beginner, I find photographs very helpful in the process :)

Very informative Janis, im just glad that im in a place where those people dont effect me one way or another lifes too short …........

As far as I am concerned there are no rules in art. art is what you make of it and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, not some stiff upper lipped so-called art critics !
I saw a tv programe about how the camera has influenced art over the years and one veiwpiont was, the camera freed the artist to explore other avenues, rather than creating lifelike images. but l still prefer to work from photos, than from life !

Lovely read Janis well done. I would scratch on my arm if I thought it would help me get an idea down fast. I use the camera a lot as you know, both in my art, and to record a scene I want to paint. Of course using part of a photograph in the painting as a collage is not new either and works very well. All good things to try and use….thanks for the link to Doig :-)

Nice piece Janis, firstly many an acomplished artist works from photos,even if it is just reference shots to make up ones own composition, secondly, artists,wether painting from life or photo,s have there own desired pallette anyway, which makes it different from the photo or scene,also as artists we only paint what we feel is vital in the photo,s, all superfluous detail/ clutter is removed, again only referring to some parts of photo,,also we recompose the image to suit what we want, , I know of personally and through history that many artists use photo,s and as for me personally i dont listen to critics,the media or any other art body/ authority on this matter as art itself changes year by year in do,s & donts, whats good & whats not, Art is Art however you created it techniques,methods so that in itself is art and personally i think a photo,/ camera is another part of our tool kit.!

No Problems with it..as long as the photo is the artists own work.

xxxxoooo

Yes Janis! The skill comes in the interpretation of the subject matter from whatever reference material you wish to employ!
Degas was another artist who use photography extensively as a tool!

Thank you so much for thisinfo Janis, I agree with what you say as I have always used my protographs as reference material and also to bring back memories and feelings and then translate it into my own creations. I have found that over my life I have not always had the time to do the work as my family, life, work always came first and then When I had some time for me I would squeeze in some art, if I wasn’t too tired! Thanks also for the info on Doig, I haven’t heard of him. mainly because I don’t follow the art world, I just do my own thing.
I have also walked the gallery route and found they can be quite elitist or mainly about money, I haven’t be able to get someone to support me in that way, so I just do my own thing and try to get my art out where I can, and try really hard to make some sales, which it seems I am better at painting that marketing. Still i feel it is about the journey and not the destination, so i feel blessed to be able to paint and express what i feel. RB is a great place for all us creatives to be able to express not only with art but with writing, as I believe it is so important to stay true to ones self and not let others try to influence us. I have galleries tell me “why don’t you paint like this artist as they do well” and I just shake my head, and keep creating as me, because there is no one else like me and I don’t want to be like anyone else. So the debate goes one…Thanks so much for opening up this discussion, look forward to more. xxxooo

Bravo Janis !! Well said.

Janis i actually meant a place within myself lol there was a time when people like this has a great effect on me but no more and its up to the individual to say enoughs enough and just do your own thing to please yourself not others…...........dont get me wrong it was a long battle to get to this place but now i am there and its liberating…........

oh yes thats right my life away from art is chaos lol art is the constant ,thats why i wont let anyone stamp on my feelings when it comes to art ….

oh and i meant to add i have never sold a thing but then that would be a bonus, i do this cause it makes ME HAPPY lol

thank you janis
xxx

Hi Janis. As much as I didn’t want to have to do this (this is a great piece of writing) I had to decline this piece in the Let’s Pay Homage group. The reason for this is that it doesn’t say anywhere in it or in the description/title what specifically this is an homage to. If you could put a brief note somewhere that says “this is an homage to…[place words here]” you could resubmit it and that would be awesome. Is it an homage to the artists you quote, or to painting itself, or to photographing images when it comes to painting or what? I’m sure you don’t want us to have to guess so tell us straight out. Thanks :)

Great post ,Janis. I use photos a lot and i heartily agree with the above..BUT. I do think it’s very important for beginners to learn to sketch en plein air, or from life. It’s an important stage in an artist’s education ( only in my opinion, of course :)

Well let me be REALLY difficult. I think unless you grind your own paints using minerals, insects, etc mixed into home-grown linseed oil you’ve hand-pressed . . . and unless you hand-bind your brushes using found cypress sticks and any mink you happen to capture running through your yard, make your own rabbitskin glue for gesso from those multiplying neighborhood hares, build canvasses from fallen oaks that you’ve hand-milled . . . or better yet, unless you use torch smoke and the burnt end of a fire stick building images on cave walls, well you’re just plain cheating Janis. : >D TPS

Right ON!

Janice, I agree with you! My aunt has always painted portraits from photographs and they are each so unique, imprinted with her own style. A dozen artists can paint from the same photograph, in the same light, at the same angle, etc…and their paintings will each be different. There is no room in art for judgement. It is all subjective, and the means by which one accomplishes it shouldn’t be a debate. Artists should be too busy creating for the nonsense of argument, or just not be threatened by it. Snobbery stems from fear, which is useless.

Janis..I didn’t mean if it was a collaboration..that’s perfectly fine ..Oh my God!!
no wonder I am misunderstood
I guess I should have made myself clearer ..sorry .
I meant if an artist uses someone elses photo with out the photographers approval .
Then I think it’s stealing someone elses ideas..
In No way have I ever thought of you as stealing or cheating..and you know I love your Art..all of it.
and I know you like mine too.
You were the first person to help me with R/B problems when I first came here..and I’m eternally grateful for your advice and friendship.

cathy walker
xxxooo

100% totally agree with you Janis!! well written. You so light the way for some of us artists. Whether a photograph is used or not is the artist’s choice and sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t… but most of the times I do. I remember when I started to paint being told by someone once that painting from a photograph is cheating! Did not like that comment at all and this coming from a person that cannot paint! One could say envy played a part!
The end result is the important thing regardless of what tools or methods are used as you still need talent and a creative eye to produce unique works of art. The camera is just another means of catching this in a more convenient way for the artist to produce their art at their leisure regardless of subject..and also who in their right mind would set up their easel and paints on a windy day to paint the scenery, impossible anyway!

Cannot understand why some people who create beautiful art can also be critical with ugly comments towards their fellow artists ….live and let live I say.. life is too short! thanks for bringing this topic up Janis.

Great article Janis, I read somewhere that ‘good art is not how it looks, but how it makes you feel’ and that image can come from anywhere. Thank you for always enlightening your fellow artists.

If its good enough for Peter Doig its good enough for me. anna : )

interesting reading Janis, please add to the Just Watercolours group….anna : )

excellently written, extremely interesting and informative
most enjoyable reading, thank you for adding this to Impressionism Cafè group

Janis wonderful writing, I enjoyed this very much…..

I know Janis going on two years, it has been a wonderful two years here..I have enjjoyed this site so much more then any other I have been involved with…The Art ,the writings everything here is just awesome. I havve enjoyed our talks as well and your art which has inspired me so very much.