How to Use Photographs for Painting Landscapes
When I first started painting from photographs, I found myself falling into the trap of relying too heavily on my reference photo. It’s a common problem and limits the artists ability to really express the landscape beyond what is simply shown. So how do you break free from this trap? I have a few tricks that I use!
Create a value sketch of your landscape.
Squint at your photograph, then using value markers or pencil, make a quick thumbnail that marks out the shadows and highlights. Set the reference photo aside and paint only from the value sketch. I will only look at the reference photo to remind myself of colors but I look quickly and set it face down again.
Example of one of my value sketch using markers.
Add more or less color.
Sometimes photographs can look dull and muted but you can up the chroma (color intensity) and make the colors pop in your painting. Don’t try to match every color. Instead just keep color temperatures the same. For example, if you have a bright blue, you can mute the blue as long as it is still a cool color in relation to the other colors.
Remove any unwanted objects/move things around.
You don’t have to wait to find the perfect composition for your photo. You can create it! How exciting is that! Take random trees, bushes, etc. out if they are blocking the focal point of your painting. Move the focal point over. Move the horizon line up or down. You are in control and realizing that is so freeing. A great time to map this out is in your value sketch.
Combine two photographs.
I love taking two pictures and photoshopping them together to create a completely different landscape that doesn’t exist. Below is an example of how I took the sky from one photo and placed it on top of a different foreground.
I loved the sky in the top photo but it was over a Target parking lot. Not exactly my ideal landscape. The landscape in the bottom photo was taken on our drive up north and the colors and layers intrigued me. It just needed a more interesting sky.
I hope this helps you to break free of being limited by your photographs or when you paint on location. You get to paint the scene you want and you are not limited to what is directly in front of you.
xoxo,
Anna