Your Best Painting Ideas May Well Be Right in Front of You Already
Many budding artists spend hours scouring various online image websites such as Pixabay or Pinterest to find original painting ideas, either from photos or from other, more experienced artists.
In my opinion, the best place by far to source images for painting references is not on your computer but on your phone. You don’t need even need the internet. The best place to find painting ideas is right there on your camera roll.
Why You Should Work From Photos, Not Paintings
If you are working from an image of a painting rather than a photo then your finished work will only ever be a poor imitation. You can’t possibly paint it better than the original artist because only they know how it is supposed to look. Additionally, it is infinitely harder to try and copy somebody else’s style and/or brush technique than it is to develop your own.
When you are learning to paint there is nothing illegal about copying from other artists’ original work for the purposes of learning. I believe it is called “fair use”. However, you must not claim the artwork you create to be your own. The image still belongs to the original artist. This includes photos, because a photo is a photographer’s original artwork.
Why You Should Use Your Own Photos Where Possible
The sentence above “you must not claim the artwork you create to be your own” is the key reason why I never work from other people’s photos. Don’t get me wrong, there are many instances when using someone else’s image is a more practical solution. Hey, I even offer a whole selection of my personal photos for anybody to use for their paintings.
I get that you might be time-poor or not have immediate access to the type of scenes you want to paint. However, I feel the most desirable outcome is to take your own photos for paintings.
Imagine you’ve used someone else’s photo as a reference and your painting turns out to be amazing, the best thing you have ever done. All your friends and family can’t stop raving about how talented you are. But you know, deep inside, that it is actually somebody else’s composition that is part of the reason why that painting looks so great.
You might decide you’re okay with that and just be proud of the copy you have done. So you hang it on the wall with all your other paintings. Now think how you would feel if everybody you know admires the copied painting over all your other work, the stuff you created yourself. Pretty soon I am betting you are going to start feeling inadequate and extremely untalented. You might even start to believe that you don’t have it in you to create your own amazing artwork. (You do have it in you, by the way)
Finding Your Own Painting Ideas Is Easy
Creating your own reference photos for paintings has never been easier. You’ve got a camera in your pocket at all times, ready for when the perfect photo opportunity arises. When I started painting I had to take the camera roll to the chemist to be developed and I would be lucky if one or two on the roll were good enough to paint. Nowadays, of course, you can take 100’s of photos, delete the ones you don’t like and then crop and enhance the rest with photo editing software which is built right into your phone.
There really is no excuse for not being able to create your own photos for painting ideas. In fact, playing around with photos to find the best look is a great way to improve your composition skills.
Where to Look For Painting Ideas
You don’t always need to travel far and wide to find interesting photo ideas. Below are my top 5 suggestions for places you can take photos that will make great paintings. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and view your surroundings from different angles. This will be great exercise for your creative brain.
In The Garden
There’s much more interesting stuff in the garden than just flowers. Try looking for interesting shapes, leaves, fungi, critters or patterns on tree trunks. I suggest you zoom in for a closer look.
In the Home
Here’s where you can really be creative. Set up your own still life or just find a snapshot of every day life. I recently saw an awesome painting posted in a facebook group that was of a bunch of dishes drying on a sink.
In your neighbourhood
Take a walk. Snap lots of photos of houses, shops, trees, animals etc. Catch the sunrise, or sunset if you are not a morning person. If you are lucky enough to live near the beach, lake or river then you have plenty of material right there.
From the Family Album
Painting portraits is an art in itself but that is not really what I am talking about here. I’m talking about finding those family photos that capture candid moments or treasured memories. These are the images that should be preserved, treasured and will be our legacy after we are gone. In my bedroom there is a painting of my dog chewing on a stick at the beach. She died over a year ago but that painting makes me smile at her memory every day when I wake up.
On Vacation
Chances are you will be going on holidays at some point in the future. It is also a good bet that you will be going to a place that speaks to your heart. What better opportunity could there be to find your perfect painting idea.
This was actually how I got started painting in the first place. My husband and I have been lucky enough to travel to many beautiful places over the years. I was always so impressed with all the amazing stuff we saw and I would try to capture it all with my camera. However, when I got home and developed the film, the photos never quite did justice to the beautiful scenery. That’s when I realised that to truly capture the spirit of a place you need to paint it. So I enrolled in a painting class and the rest is history.
Open Up Your Creative Mind
One other, very good, reason to use your own photos for painting references is that it will help to open up your creative mind. When searching out painting ideas you begin to view your surroundings in a new way. You begin to see the world as a two-dimensional image. You will start to take notice of composition, light and shade, colour and negative space. These are valuable tools of the trade that are all taught in any good art class.
More importantly, though, is that by being there in the moment you can better capture that special something that draws us towards a particular image. This will help you to transfer your thoughts and feelings onto canvas and create a more meaningful artwork.
So I encourage you to get your camera out and take lots and lots of photos. Discard the ones you don’t like and use the ones you do like to create your own original artworks. If you don’t have any photos you think are worthy of painting then look at cropping and enhancing the ones you have got. If you still don’t find what you are looking for then I can help.
I have hundreds and hundreds of photos that I have taken with a view to one day creating paintings from them. I have now realised that there will never be enough time for me to paint them all. That’s why I have now made these photos available for others to use.
However, like most artists, I am very protective of my intellectual property. Therefore, I have made these photos available only to my email list subscribers.
You can gain access to the free photo portfolio and receive lots of other free art learning resources on a regular basis by entering your details here
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