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Artist At Work
Posts:2
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| 09/27/2007 9:51 AM |
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 Hi my name is Lenora and I am very new to painting.
I have a small photo of my first granddaughter and I would
like to put her photo to canvas, but on a small scall. Can
any one give me any suggestions on how I can start this
process. |
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JoyK
Posts:196
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| 09/27/2007 3:18 PM |
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| I think you mean you want to enlarge the photo. You can take it to a copy place, and have them enlarge it. Or you could divide the photo into a 4 or 9 square grid, and draw each portion of the grid on paper yourself. The grid method breaks the photo into manageable pieces to draw. Good luck!! |
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JOY
Cogito ergo sum. |
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LauraT
Posts:9
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| 10/02/2007 4:55 PM |
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Joy's tips are good ideas. If you get stuck with those try turning the photo and the painting upside-down and try working that way. Your brain works against you at first when you are doing portraits because it looks at your granddaughter and says "oh, thats "lucy"! She looks like this." and you end up drawing what you THINK is there instead of what actually IS there. By turning it upside-down you foil your brain's ability to 'recognize' and put its preconceived ideas onto your subject. This has helped me iron out some awkward looking spots.
Have fun! |
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one who sees
Posts:508
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| 10/16/2007 8:40 PM |
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the upside down trick is tried and true....also view the piece by looking in a mirror, its much of the same thing...tricks the brain because it now doesnt recognize it as well, and permits you to draw what you see...
let me first add this too...if your new..you need to be sketching...preliminary sketches are where your brain and hand learn the lines,shadows,contrast and values... values are the darks and lights, no matter if in color or not..contrast is the positioning of darks and lights against each other, normally the highest of highlights might be right next to a darkest dark...learn to make your eyes identify these things...
learn to see things in shapes and patterns...instead of outlines..but definetly do preliminary sketches until you can feel you are close...i do tons of em..depending on how difficult the subject...
another key, if your photo is color? have a greyscale copied as well, if you dont have a printer a copier will do or the local quick print shop or staples can do it...its not expensive..but i use my printer for these things....and just replace my ink cartridges with any commission monies i get in...eh...sometimes i run out of ink before i can reap any commission though so i try to print small, to make it last...~wink~
practice practice practice sketching....no matter how long an artist has been at it? we still practice...and like i said..do prelims..and fill up those sketcbooks!! |
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~I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it~
Vincent Van Gogh
www.bettyannlemist.com |
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klippie
Posts:1880
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| 10/17/2007 1:19 AM |
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I dont really like the grid method, its too cumbersome. start by getting yourself" Drawing on the Right side of the brain" a book by Betty Edwards.
work through the first few excersises but stop after the hand and also look on Internet for drawing faces there is a few good ones available.
Then enlarge your pic. and start a few drawings of it...
get to know face proportions there is a relation on the face where the eyes is and where the nose is.
But really look at the book its good and has helped me teach a few poeple who cannot draw to draw in 4
lessons.
And like One who sees said it teaches you to see shapes.... but remember do not go tho the grid part once you start on grid you cannot draw freehand.
Retha
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If at first you dont succeed.........don't ever give up! |
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one who sees
Posts:508
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| 10/19/2007 9:37 AM |
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maybe this will help..its not the traditional grid? but when i have problems with likenesses and sometimes its the smallest of things....i have a lil trick up my sleeve...
draw, diagonal lines from corner to corner disecting the piece, and ref...i use white charcoal pencil directly on my oil paintings, because i just paint it out as i work....
now, disect verticly and horizontally..now...join the middle top verticle line to the left horizontal line and continue to connect the left side now to the bottom verticle point and connect bottom verticle to the right horizontal point and return to the top...this creates a diamond....
if you need more?
start now by disecting and joing cross points....you can take this method as far as you wish...right down to the tinest of sections....and? hehehe...hardly anmy measuring at all.....~wink~...which i dont know about any one else....but i HATE TO MEASURE out anything!...~grinz~.....this graphing style i sort of hybredized from other grid styles to suit my own...and? usually does the trick...
and?
graph or gird or none...you still have to use your drawing abilites your just using a type of tool..~wink~ |
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~I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it~
Vincent Van Gogh
www.bettyannlemist.com |
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Rick Givens
Posts:29
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| 11/02/2007 11:19 AM |
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We live in a high-tech time and it offers artists new ways to start a painting that have never been available to artists of other generations. You say you want to "put her photo to canvas" and if you mean that literally, it can be done by any giclee printer or repro-graphics shop that offers printing on canvas. They can scan the work and literally print it onto a canvas for you to paint over. You would need to have the canvas stretched or mounted to a piece of masonite. At your preference, the image can be printed full strength, screened back, converted to outlines, or in grayscale (black and white) to help you get the values right. You can paint on the canvas using acrylics or oils...just make sure that they print on a water resistant canvas.
If that's a bit to paint-by-numbers for you, here's another suggestion: make use of the digital light table you're looking at right now...your computer monitor. By having a piece of acrylic glazing cut at a frameshop to the size of your monitor's outside dimensions, you can tape it over your monitor and literally use the screen as a digital light table. If your photo is from a digital camera, you're in great shape to start. If not, you'll need to have the picture scanned and then copy it onto your computer. Once you have the file, all you need to do in Windows is to right-click on the file and click on "preview". The image will appear on your screen and then you can use the magnifying glass tool to zoom in or out until it's about the right size for your canvas. Tape a piece of tracing paper over your acrylic sheet and trace the image. If your canvas is bigger than your screen, just zoom until the image is about the right size and then use the sliders on the side of the window to move the image up and down or from side to side and trace the image in sections by repositioning your tracing paper.
Aren't digital times great? Okay, you traditional artists...no throwing over-ripe fruit at me. |
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one who sees
Posts:508
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| 11/02/2007 5:03 PM |
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| okay okay! i was only going to eh...toss it near ya...not hit ya with it..promise! honest!! ~grinzzzz~ |
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~I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it~
Vincent Van Gogh
www.bettyannlemist.com |
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peterworsley
Posts:5
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| 11/13/2007 10:48 AM |
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I have written on this subject at my website i an article titled "How I Paint - Portraits" at http://www.peterworsley.com/On_Painting_Portraits.html. This includes a discussion of my choice of camera, software, and other tools.
Also I frequently touch on the topic at my Blog "Peter Worsley's Thoughts From His Studio And Private Gallery" http://peterworsley.blogspot.com/. |
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I paint interesting people. |
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