A Tip for Working with Reference Photos

'Greeting the Morning'           8x10       pastel       �Karen Margulis
available $145

I was excited to get home to have a better look at my pictures. I just spent a wonderful week in Chicago visiting my kids and grandkids. It was all about quality Grammie time but I did manage to get some reference photos of some of my favorite places in the area. There are several parks and gardens that I like to visit and this was the my first summer visit. The wildflowers were starting to put on a wonderful show! I took hundreds of photos. Now what?

I usually work from my reference photos in the studio but I am old school and like to use printed photos. I don't enjoy working from my iPad because the photos are too bright and in focus. I can see every detail in perfect clarity. You might think this would be a good thing but for me it isn't.

If I see the detail I am tempted to paint the detail. I would rather interpret a bad photo than copy a perfect one. This allows me to make the subject my own.

inspiration from my trip

 One of the first things I do when I return home from a trip is print out a few photos. Since I take so many pictures I don't want paper copies of all of them.

• I load them all on my iMac in the Photos program. Then I scroll through and click on the photos that catch my eye. I try to choose 10 to 12 photos. 

• I then print them as a contact sheet using regular inkjet paper. Each photo is about 2x3 inches.

• I cut the photos apart leaving a small border and put them together in a labeled envelope. I try to keep categories of photos together.

• Next I shuffle through the photos. Usually one will speak to me and that is the one I use!

• I will usually go through the pile of 10-12 photos for a week or so until I feel like I have exhausted the subject for the moment. The photos are then filed for future use.

close up of the flowers

TIP:  Try Paper photos!  I enjoy scrolling through photos on my phone and tablet but there is something about holding the photo indoor hand that brings me closer to it. It is easier to hold a small paper photo to study it. I like to take my time to make thumbnail sketches from the paper photos. It is also easier to clip a small paper photo to my painting board. I like leafing through paper photos when I am looking for inspiration. I like to feel and touch of paper over the brightness of a screen.