We put a lot of pressure on artists (on ourselves) to be original. We think we should be able to turn that blank canvas into something no one has seen before, something totally authentic, illuminating and wondrous. Truth is, people aren’t very good at being original. Inventing totally new things from scratch is nearly impossible for us. What we’re really good at is taking something and altering it slightly. Copying is one step, altering slightly is the next.
Use photos as a jumping off point. The painting must be allowed to be it’s own image, not confined to match the photo. If you find yourself saying “I copied the photograph perfectly, so my painting must be good,” check yourself.
Below is a blog post illustrating how some impressionist paintings were born from photographs. Photography was new then, and likely very exciting. It caused painters to question what the point of painting was, if an image could be captured in a click. It also allowed painters to play with a new tool, which ended up changing how they recorded moments, movement, and how they established compositions. For example, Degas’ hazy figures, some cut off at the edge of the frame, to my knowledge did not occur until photography hacked them off with the shutter click.
You can see how the painters used the photographs as inspiration, collaged them, altered them, and the painting was made “original” from that process.
FAMOUS IMPRESSIONISTS COPIED PHOTOGRAPHS
Source: http://www.fogonazos.es/2006/11/famous-painters-copied-photopraphs_06.html
No invention of the Industrial Revolution influenced Impressionism more than the camera. Most of the Impressionists had cameras and experimented with their new images. Photography inspired impressionists to capture the moment, but did you know that some of the most famous paintings of Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec or Paul Gauguin were inspired on an original photograph? Here you have some interesting examples:
Bump Hunting – A figure drawing technique in which an artist not well versed in anatomy compensates by looking for subtle bumps in the model’s contours. These bumps can be slightly exaggerated to articulate bones, tendons, fat, and muscles beneath the surface of the skin. V-cabulary is a new dictionary of invented art terms that would not …
One year ago in March, to protect our students and teachers from a new coronavirus, the Seattle Artist League moved our classes online. The virus was declared a national emergency, and we went into quarantine. We have now been in quarantine for thirteen months. Through this year, we have met each other online to draw, …
Aliza Nisenbaum was born in 1977 in Mexico City. She trained at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and has been living in New York. Her large scale paintings are part of her social practice, focused on the strength of communities, painting people such as workers or immigrants – people who tend to …
These days seem to be built for introverts. Stay at home, don’t congregate in groups, avoid contact. While the rest of the world goes stir crazy, introverts quietly read a book. …Unless their family is trapped at home with them. Call for Art: 6′ of space At the end of this collection of people quietly …
Impressionists and Photography
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PAINTING FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
We put a lot of pressure on artists (on ourselves) to be original. We think we should be able to turn that blank canvas into something no one has seen before, something totally authentic, illuminating and wondrous. Truth is, people aren’t very good at being original. Inventing totally new things from scratch is nearly impossible for us. What we’re really good at is taking something and altering it slightly. Copying is one step, altering slightly is the next.
Use photos as a jumping off point. The painting must be allowed to be it’s own image, not confined to match the photo. If you find yourself saying “I copied the photograph perfectly, so my painting must be good,” check yourself.
Below is a blog post illustrating how some impressionist paintings were born from photographs. Photography was new then, and likely very exciting. It caused painters to question what the point of painting was, if an image could be captured in a click. It also allowed painters to play with a new tool, which ended up changing how they recorded moments, movement, and how they established compositions. For example, Degas’ hazy figures, some cut off at the edge of the frame, to my knowledge did not occur until photography hacked them off with the shutter click.
You can see how the painters used the photographs as inspiration, collaged them, altered them, and the painting was made “original” from that process.
Wherever you are in this process, enjoy it.
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FAMOUS IMPRESSIONISTS COPIED PHOTOGRAPHS
Source: http://www.fogonazos.es/2006/11/famous-painters-copied-photopraphs_06.html
No invention of the Industrial Revolution influenced Impressionism more than the camera. Most of the Impressionists had cameras and experimented with their new images. Photography inspired impressionists to capture the moment, but did you know that some of the most famous paintings of Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec or Paul Gauguin were inspired on an original photograph? Here you have some interesting examples:
[/vc_column_text][nectar_image_comparison image_url=”1190″ image_2_url=”1191″][nectar_image_comparison image_url=”1192″ image_2_url=”1193″][nectar_image_comparison image_url=”1194″ image_2_url=”1195″][nectar_image_comparison image_url=”1197″ image_2_url=”1196″][vc_column_text]Paul Cezanne[/vc_column_text][nectar_image_comparison image_url=”1198″ image_2_url=”1199″][vc_column_text]
Paul Gauguin
2. Paul Cezanne
3. Toulouse Lautrec
4. Vincent Van Gogh
5. Edgar Degas
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Coming soon: More examples from Toulouse Lautrec, Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, and more!
Original post: http://www.aloj.us.es/galba/MONOGRAFICOS/LOFOTOGRAFICO/POSTIMPRESIONISTAS[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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