Drawing from photo reference Pt. 1: Gathering Imagery

Over the last 10 months we’ve been developing a photo library of over 1200 portrait, life and clothed poses, with more images added every Friday. We figured it was high time we put together a short series to help you make best use of that photo reference, so this week we’re starting at the beginning – how to source your imagery. However you prefer to source your reference, we’ve included ideas below to help you broaden the scope of the photographs you draw, paint, print or sculpt from.  In the video above Roy Eastland gives a tour around some of his Displaced Portrait series of silverpoint drawings, developed from found photographs – they provide a sensitive alternative to the hyperrealism often associated with working from photography. Next week we’ll be looking at ways to manipulate your photographic imagery before working from it and the following week we look at methods for translating photos into drawings.

NB. This is a reference article – you’ll always be able to find it on our navigator page here. Feel free to dip into it as often as you like, skipping to the parts relevant to you and your work.

'Svanen (Swan)' by Anders Zorn, 1915. Original Photo (left), Etching based on photo (Right). Artists have been using photo reference for as long as the photography has existed. 

Shooting your own photo reference

Whatever your subject or medium, shooting your own photo reference will allow you to exercise your creative vision in choices of composition and lighting. It also ensures you have experienced the subject, helping the photograph become a pneumonic for the moment recorded as well as a pattern to copy from and allowing you to channel that memory as you develop your work later. You don’t need expensive equipment to take useful reference material, but it is important to know what you want from your photographs before you take them, especially if you plan to use multiple reference images to work up a single piece. Here are some considerations to bear in mind while shooting your own reference.

Camera distortions

The lens of the camera you use will affect the appearance of your subject, distorting the proportions of the subject and exaggerating foreshortening. This youtube video shows an example of how different the same face looks  when photographed using different lenses at different distances.  If you are aiming to shoot naturalistic a lens with a 50mm focal length will roughly simulate what we see with the human eye (despite the eye having a much shorter focal length) but also consider how you can use distortion positively in your final image to create visual effects that might be hard to replicate for life.

'The Nest' by Tom Huges, 2019. The curvilinear perspective in this painting by Tom Hughes recalls the distortion of security cameras.

Photographic effects vs drawn effects

Film and photography have become so pivotal to the way we see the world we have come to accept their visual effects as synonymous with reality, so when we are working from photographs we must remind ourselves which qualities in our reference are an effect of the camera and lens, and which are qualities derived from the experience of life. While a photograph can only have a single point of focus, a drawing can have multiple points; blurred backgrounds imply depth in a photograph where a drawing can make use of changes in tone, colour and detail to imply depth and effects life lens flair are unique to lens-based media, although they are sometimes co-opted in drawings for stylistic effect.

The photo by Nicolas Brekespear (left) uses a short depth of field to create the impression of depth, while in the drawing on the right Rembrandt pushes the left hand figure back using a lighter line weigh and less detail, without blurring its clarity.

Lighting 

A photograph is a record of light – in landscape drawing photographs can help you to capture the fleeting effects of light alongside drawings which might record texture and shape. Working from a figure the lighting will be critical to your subject well is critical to achieving a good photograph. Look at figure and portrait photography for ideas of how to set up lighting for your models and get creative with natural light and what you have at home. Blog posts like this one will introduce you to some of the basics. 

Consider how the position of both you and the light source in relation to the model will affect the expression of the light in your photograph. This diagram maps out the light on a figure given a range of lighting positions.

Working with professional models

If you’re shooting photo reference of models for professional projects a simple model release form can be a good way of clarifying how you and the model expect the images to be used. While you can’t always account for the direction a collaboration might take, it is good practice to agree the content of the shoot beforehand to make sure that the rate of pay is fair – Draw recommend a minimum rate of £50 per hour, or £20 for a single shot for photographic modelling for reference, although this might be higher depending on the model’s personal rate. A template model release form is attached to this post for you to edit and use.

'The Performance' by Michaël Borremans. Belgium artist Michaël Borremans makes paintings which seem imaginary – they are the result of elaborate sets in which models pose for photographs which then serve as reference for Borremans’s paintings. The documentary A Knife in the Eye gives a great insight into his process.

Further considerations:

• Only shoot what you need – it is better to take a few dozen focused shots of your subject than to takes hundreds that you will invariably not use.
• If your model is providing you with self-shot images, give them guidance on where they should place a light source (above, below, in front, to the side?), the expression  they might hold (smiles with or without teeth…?) and where they should hold the camera (above, bellow, in profile, front on or three quarters?)
• Drawing gives you time to experience at your subject, while photography allows you to record information about shape and fleeting light conditions - by sketching as well as photographing a subject you will create a stronger memory to support work developed in the studio or at home.

The right hand drawing was worked up in the studio the from a combination of textural reference drawn on location and photographic imagery.

Using photo reference from other sources

It isn’t always practical or preferable to use your own photos – sometimes establishing distance from the subject is part of the creative process and sometimes you just don’t have access to the subject you want to work from. Here are some different sources of photographic reference to consider.

Art reference photo libraries

There are lots of libraries of reference material online, which you can download or view on the platforms on which they are provided. We have a huge library here on our Patreon and pay a monthly royalty to all of the models featured. Buying photo reference is a great way to support models directly while getting access good quality images to work from - here is a list of some sources of photo reference material:

• Françoise has her own photo library of professional photographed poses
• Reconfigure & Drawing Life sell photo sets from their life classes
• Danna provides photo reference through her Patreon 
• CaneYo have a community-led photo reference feed on telegram
• Pixbay provides royalty free photos of a wide range of subjects
• Wild Life Drawing has a library of animal photographs accessible via their Patreon

Considerations:

• Quality of image – check the image resolution is suitable for your needs. Bigger isn’t always better, as a big library of huge files can fill a hard drive quickly – consider how much you will need to crop and zoom in to images to work from them effectively.
• The model - every model pictured in photo reference is a person; choose paid photo-reference providers that pay their model’s fairly and free providers that share images with the model’s permission. If you can’t find the information with the images, ask the provider before buying.
• Terms of use – be mindful of the terms of use that are provided with images you work from. They will usually be provided along with photo sets and will specify whether you can alter the images to work from and whether there are limitations on sharing work you make using the images.

Ellie, Jade and Mark from the Draw reference library, photographed by Olly Hearsey

Photos not intended as art reference

From the glossy pages of Vouge or National Geographic to family photos and your Facebook feed you are surrounded by images that could, potentially be used as photo reference. For personal practice, all reference material is fair game to draw from but as soon as you start to share your work publicly, give consideration to the providence of the image you use. In the journey from learner to exhibiting artist it is easy to establish habits of working from reference that can become more problematic further down the line. When you work from somebody else’s image you are separated from the experience of the subject and when borrowing from another photographer’s imagery you are leaning heavily on their artistic vision.

Considerations:

• Google image search is an invaluable source for illustrators searching for reference material, but whatever you see at the top of the search is the same result most other people see – vary your search terms and collect images from multiple sources to avoid cliches.
• It’s unlikely that derivative artwork would lead to any action from the photographer but it is always good to apply a simple rule of empathy – if you were the photographer or model would you be happy to see your work copied and shared in the way that you intend to use it? While Harper’s Bazaar photographers with celebrity models are unlikely to respond to requests for permission to use reference, other photographers may appreciate the courtesy.
• If you intend your work to be seen as original artwork, consider what your translation into tactile media brings to the photographic image – are you saying something new through your work, are you sufficiently making it your own?
• If you are a teacher sending reference material to paying class attendees, make sure that you have permission to use the photographer’s images.

'Untitled (Man and Dog)' by Graham Little, 2019, Gouache on paper, 19.4 x 25.5 cm, 7 5/8 x 10 1/8 ins, Courtesy of Alison Jacques Gallery, London, © Graham Little. 

Graham Little makes detailed coloured pencil drawings and gouache paintings informed by images from fashion magazines. You find more of his work here.

Film Stills

A photograph is a slice of time – if you were not present at the moment of it’s taking you have little idea of what preceded or followed that frozen moment. By working from stills of moving images you can rewind and play through a movement repeatedly and catch moments that, while blurry and unposed, might tell you more about the subject’s gesture and form than a single still image can.

Considerations:

• If you find drawing and painting from paused TV impractical, take screenshots of a film on your computer and print the stills to work from
• Filming your own reference can help you to find unexpected moments that you might not have – even if you intend to work from a still of a model, filming their still face can give you a range of micro expressions to pause on that may inject more character into your finished work.
• Home videos can make excellent subject matter for personal work, creating sources for compositions that can be combined with reference material from family photo albums.

Lady X No 71, 72, 73 by Dong Li-Blackwell. Dong Li is a Brighton-based artist whose expressive watercolour work explores ideas of identity and sexuality.

Working from found photographic imagery

Photographs found slipped into the dust jackets of second-hand books, bundles of unfamiliar family photos in flea market and ephemeral polaroids make engaging subjects as much for the story of their finding as the imagery itself.

Considerations:

• How does the story of the place or people in the image affect how you approach work you make from the image?
• What journeys has the object taken to arrive at where you found it?
• When you work from a found photograph are you looking through a window into a world, or are you working from the photograph as if it were a still life object? Are tatty corners or polaroid borders part of the nature of the subject?

'Displaced Portrait' by Roy Eastland. Roy Eastland makes silverpoint drawings from found photographs, including this one from his displaced portrait series. You can read more about his work here.

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This article was written by Jake Spicer with additional input from Lancelot Richardson. All uncredited images are by the author.

>> Read Pt 2. Manipulating Photo Reference HERE