Thursday, 4 August 2011
Private Art Tutor: Using Photography as a Source
Private Art Tutor: Using Photography as a Source: "There is no doubting that photography can be a very useful source for producing a painting or even a sculpture. Sometimes our subject matte..."
Using Photography as a Source
There is no doubting that photography can be a very useful source for producing a painting or even a sculpture. Sometimes our subject matter will just not stay still or is transitory, is too complex or is too inaccessible for us to work from directly. In such cases working from observation is difficult if not impossible.
In such cases photography can make excellent source material... but there is a 'but'. Often photography is not a good source of visual information for a number of reasons. Simply put, photography needs to be used intelligently if the final outcome is to be successful.
There are two main difficulties with using photography. First, photographs usually contain a surprisingly small amount of information. Second, quality does matter and in the digital age, where photography is everywhere and can be found in all sorts of forms, the quality is frequently lacking.
Both of these limitations become problems when the artist fails to spot them or fails to deal with them appropriately. Unfortunately these problems are often missed as we seem to assume that photographs are reflections of reality and that they therefore must be a worthy source. With the first problem - a paucity of information - the solution is to use a range of sources, be they photographic or directly observed. With the second problem - a lack of quality - well, the solution is simple. Ditch the photo a find a better one.
There is another issue to think about. Although photography can sometimes be a useful source and although it can sometimes be the only source, is that necessarily the case with this particular piece of work. I'm sometimes amazed when students role up with a photograph of themselves with the intention of producing a self-portrait! They have all of the visual information they could possibly want right in front of them, but their first move is towards a photographic source that cannot possibly match the quantity or quality of the information they already have. The truth is that working from a photograph, which is already two-dimensional, can seem much easier than working from direct observation. Working from observation requires from the artist the ability to reduce three dimensions to two and this is more challenging. The results however are usually much more interesting and the outcome much more successful.
There is one exception to the loose rule above and that is in the case of working photo-realistically. Photorealism is a genre of painting that emerged in 1960's America and has now grown into Hyperrealism (incorporating sculptural work as well as painting and drawing). In Photorealism the photograph is not a source for subject matter - it is the subject matter. Artists such as Chuck Close slavishly copied or recreated the photograph and often on a huge scale.
There will be more on Photorealism to follow....
In such cases photography can make excellent source material... but there is a 'but'. Often photography is not a good source of visual information for a number of reasons. Simply put, photography needs to be used intelligently if the final outcome is to be successful.
There are two main difficulties with using photography. First, photographs usually contain a surprisingly small amount of information. Second, quality does matter and in the digital age, where photography is everywhere and can be found in all sorts of forms, the quality is frequently lacking.
Both of these limitations become problems when the artist fails to spot them or fails to deal with them appropriately. Unfortunately these problems are often missed as we seem to assume that photographs are reflections of reality and that they therefore must be a worthy source. With the first problem - a paucity of information - the solution is to use a range of sources, be they photographic or directly observed. With the second problem - a lack of quality - well, the solution is simple. Ditch the photo a find a better one.
There is another issue to think about. Although photography can sometimes be a useful source and although it can sometimes be the only source, is that necessarily the case with this particular piece of work. I'm sometimes amazed when students role up with a photograph of themselves with the intention of producing a self-portrait! They have all of the visual information they could possibly want right in front of them, but their first move is towards a photographic source that cannot possibly match the quantity or quality of the information they already have. The truth is that working from a photograph, which is already two-dimensional, can seem much easier than working from direct observation. Working from observation requires from the artist the ability to reduce three dimensions to two and this is more challenging. The results however are usually much more interesting and the outcome much more successful.
There is one exception to the loose rule above and that is in the case of working photo-realistically. Photorealism is a genre of painting that emerged in 1960's America and has now grown into Hyperrealism (incorporating sculptural work as well as painting and drawing). In Photorealism the photograph is not a source for subject matter - it is the subject matter. Artists such as Chuck Close slavishly copied or recreated the photograph and often on a huge scale.
There will be more on Photorealism to follow....
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Useful Links
We've added a new Useful Links page which we hope will grow and grow. If you would like to be included them please send details and we will add you. The first links are:
Quality acrylic paints http://www.chromacolour.co.uk
Quality acrylic paints http://www.chromacolour.co.uk
The online home of Stanley Spencer's Cookham http://www.cookham.com
Emma Rose, Bath based artist http://www.emmaroseartworks.com
Monday, 1 August 2011
View the Blog for New Ideas
From time to time I will be blogging information about art ideas including ways of working - techniques and processes.
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