Painting yourself into a corner

This week. I have been having a discussion with another painter about making paintings from photographs. It's my view that a professional painter, under no circumstances, should ever paint a photograph taken by someone else. It's a given that painting from someone else's photograph, without permission, and selling it as your own is an illegal copyright infringement. Even with permission, copying a photograph will not advance your creativity or skills. If you love the photograph, as a photograph, enjoy it for what it is, another person's expression of creativity; not your own.

Painting (copying) from photographs is a technique that I see all too often in student painters. And when they learn to paint that way, they stay that way. You can paint yourself into a corner by relying on the photograph. You will never develop drawing skills (or you can loose drawing skills). You won't develop the painting tools which only come through painting from live observation. Too bad...there is SO much to add in a painting when using a photographic reference.

So can you ever paint from a photograph? I don't like to but I do it. It's OK if
1) you have taken the photo yourself
2) if you already know how to paint
3) if you do not have access to the image for the duration of making a painting.
(I always paint my still lifes from life because they are set up in my studio as long as I need them there to paint from.)

I use photographic thumbnails as the starting point for my Burano laundry lines. The thumbnail is there to remind me of THE PAINTING that I saw in my mind when I looked at the subject. I take the photograph not because it makes a good photograph...but because it reminds me of the painting I want to paint.

Above is the photo of the laundry line that I liked. You can also see the painting which I saw when I took the photo and then painted in my studio. After the painting was completed, I decided to paint out the white shirt against the blue building. I liked it there originally but in the end, evaluating the painting, I decided it was a better painting with out the white shirt.The white shirt was distracting.I drew the painting by hand...using the photo. I am surprised how close my drawing is by drawing by "eye balling" (meaning by just looking and measuring the angles with my paint brush).

On the March 4th, SoWa First Friday,from 5-9 PM, I will have several works up showing my process for this laundry line series; starting with the thumbnail photo, the painted studies and drawings in between. Come by and tell me what you think.