Hello my drawing buddies. . . are you ready for this weeks topic? Photographing our subject.
I prefer to work from photographs. This allows me the freedom to take my drawing with me and work where ever I please. I'm not stuck to a still life set up.
I like to use my camera to help with the composition of my drawing. I can take from different angles as well as using different lighting sources to see which provides me with the best detail and contrast. . . detail is what I love the best.
I have a fluorescent overhead and two adjustable stand lights that seem to be just ideal for my props though you can use whatever you have available. Sometimes a bright sunny window is the best lighting. . . you need to experiment, different rooms, different times of day. . . find what works with your vision for your drawing.
I like to keep the background light so I often use watercolour paper as my base layer. I then begin to add subjects to the setup. You have your main focal point (main subject) and then you may have related or complimentary items. For this drawing I am going to use the baby shoes and their box (this is the box they came in, isn't that cool) You may find objects that are related or you can use a single item. . . both ways work, there is no wrong answer.
So here we go. I'll take photos from all around the subject then load them onto my computer to have a better look. Once I find the photo I like I can then crop, lighten or darken and clean up elements I don't require. This may take a while and sometimes I leave it and come back the next day when my head is clearer to take a second look and make sure that's the drawing I've envisioned.
So what do you think? Not so hard. Any questions?
Next week we will grid off our drawing.
Happy photographing.
Sheila