A Better Way to Use Photos.

Ah, the old days...taking a ton of photos, losing the film, finding it again, and finally getting it developed, only to wonder, "why on earth did I take this photo?"

It does help now that digital cameras can be had for a pretty fair price, and no more waiting for your prints to come back.   I take many more photos now that developing isn't an issue.

But I still found myself looking thru the file confused at what I seen when I was there, why did I bother taking a snapshot? 

In Richard Schmid's book Alla Prima, he addresses this issue and I find his advice very useful.   Take the photo if you must, if painting directly from life isn't possible, but paint it as soon as possible!      Its been barely in the double digits temp-wise, so yeah, I'm not sitting outside painting.   Maybe I'm a whimp.   Maybe I'm just smart.  yeah, I'll go with that one!  

I do find that bringing in a photo, putting it up on my laptop screen and working right away brings in the freshness that a stale photo can lose.   Sometimes its not possible, true, but I am trying to do it more often, and I find it more fun to work this way.   

Krista's Gift   15x25 pastel on sanded paper.  Private collection

This painting was a commission, and I sat on this hillside with the client for quite a long time, watching the light change.   We talked and had some good laughs, enjoying the view.  Isn't it fabulous?   When I got home to start work on this, all those feelings, smells, and sounds were right there again, as I took the time to observe then didn't waste time getting to the painting.   Pure joy.