Summer is here and I’m spending a lot more time outside with my kids. While we are out and about, I'll often stop to take pictures of flowers to later use as reference when drawing and painting. It’s so easy to pull my phone out of my pocket and snap some quick photos. When it’s convenient, I do prefer to use my SLR as I get much higher quality images, but most of the time my phone does the trick.
(I also shared a few more tips on taking reference photos in a previous post. I’ll link it at the end of this post in case you want to check it out.)
Having taken so many photos over the years, I’m to a point where I can quickly decide how I want to compose each shot. However, one of the most important things I look for when taking reference photos deals with:
VARIETY
I pay attention to direction.
Within a close groupings of flowers, I’m drawn to those that contain a variety of blooms facing different directions. I also look for a variety of directional lines within the stems and leaves. This variety of direction within blooms and foliage creates movement and helps the composition feel more natural.I find beauty in imperfection.
I also like to look for a variety of blossoms that may be at different stages of development. Again, I’m looking for flowers that are not too much alike. If every petal is perfectly positioned I feel like my composition can become predictable and rigid. In fact, I get excited when I see a flower with petals that are a little droopy as they can give a flower an additional bit of character.
Back in my studio, I’ll use these photos to play with different color combos and cropping in my sketchbook—perhaps getting several different compositions out of just one photo.
STUDIO UPDATE: I’ve been spending a lot more time with neocolors lately. I’m faster at drawing than I am at painting, so it’s easier to fit in a sketch here or there while my kids are out of school for the summer. I’m also tying up some loose ends on a big project that I’ve been working on since last October. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. I’m hoping to make the big announcement within the next couple of weeks!
Great tips! thank you. Do you have any quick tips on taking decent photos of your sketchbook works (yours always look lovely!) as I really struggle to get decent photos and they tend to not match the real thing too well, sometimes I get it right but other times its a disaster! haha