How do you get from photo to canvas?

[Richard Budig]

Patricia:

I would like to post some, here, but . . .

First, I don't yet know how to upload. Don't know how set up my computer for the proper pixel setting. I'm an old guy. I pre-date computers. I was one of those who actually thought this computer curse would go away one day. HA! I have read through some of the posting instructions, here, but the part about setting my pixels is beyond me. I'll bet it's easy, but not until you've done it a time or two.

Second, I give the sketches to the kids for being my "victims." I do the sketches quickly -- usually 3 to 5 minutes each. Usually near the end of the sitting, I remark to the kid, "Sitting still is a lot harder than you thgoutht, isn't it?" They always say yes.

I highly recommend doing this, or something like it, for anyone who does not have the resources to hire models. But, as I said, you have to be quick, and you will find that you must limit the lower ages to about 10. Twelve is better, and occasionally, you will find an eight year old who can sit still for three minutes, but not often.

Still, it is very good training. Knowing the little beggers can't sit that long forces you to get on with it and not to niggle it to death. Sometimes, my work is bang on, and sometimes, I'm almost ashamed to hand it over. But, I tell them that is a QUICK sketch, and that's all it is. I'll often invite them to come back as often as they like, and some do come back for several sittings -- and new sketches, of course.

Some parents ask why I do this, and I tell them, honestly, that it saves me having hire models. They get a chuckle out of it, and many say they're glad to have the sketch. Many tell me they have them framed.

But, bottom line is, I give them away, so I have none to share, but thanks for asking.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

I liked the Library idea very much Richard.
Maybe I'll start visiting places like this not only to do researches, but to have a different fun time.

[Richard Budig]

Claudemir:

I think you'll enjoy it. I would get in touch with the library's director/manager and explain what you have in mind. I think one of the things that swung it for me was that I made it clear that I was going to GIVE the sketches to the kids, and there they were FREE.

In fact, I made a plain little sign on my computer that says something likd: FREE -- Pencil Sketches -- Mini Portraits -- something like that.

I also made (I'm cheap, you understand) something that looks like one of the life drawing class donkey things that you can sit or stand at to draw. I take it with me, open it, and place a chair in the middle of the room.

I have an age limit of 12, which I sometimes ignore if the child seems like he or she can sit still (not often, sadly). El;even to twelve seems to be the youngest who can manage to sit for three to five minutes. Also, I'll often shoo away buddies/girlfriends who want to sit and make the "victim" laugh, which, of course, won't work very well for you. If you're tactful, you can get them to go read a book for a few minutes.

I go twice a week, tuesday and thursday, from around 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., but that's up to you an the local library boss.

If you keep the sessions short, the kids will have fun, and you'll get to do up to half a dozen or more for your two to three hour stay.

It really will help your eye/hand thing, too.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Thanks Richard for those tips, I really enjoy working from life, I just don't have as much free time as I wanted to do such nice activities like this.

[Richard Budig]

Claudemire

Well, I'm retired. Put myself out to pasture. Sold my businesses, and my home in Omaha and headed for Mexico. I was going to a place called Real de Catorce (Road #14). Strange name for a town. Never been there, but I figured it would take most of the rest of my life to paint everyone in that town, including the church and church mouse. However, I stopped off in Tulsa to see a girl I had dated back in the mid '50's. I made it to Mexico, but kept coming back to Tulsa. We got married a couple of years ago.

So, I have plenty of time to go hang out at the library. We live on 5 acres, keep a few hereford calves, and have a bass pond 200 yards behind the house. I had my faithful killin' dog, Spike, (a blond peekapoo) but he passed a few months ago. We eat fresh bass, fried taters, and watch the sun go down.

Right now, I'm painting a couple more soldiers who died in the Iraq conflict for a project called Faces of the Fallen. Makes me realize how good life is.

[Brenda Ellis]

I occassionally use the grid method and I find that I often, ironically, have to correct my grid drawing quite a bit by freehand. Go figure.

I have used tracings also for a quick placement of the features. I then still draw the features freehand. The exception is complicated fabric folds or patterns. I don't feel bad at all tracing this. (I get lost trying to grid fabric folds and everything is in the wrong square, so I trace this.) And even when I trace, I have to adjust the fabric folds because I'll end up with a weird little shape or the folds are too even or I have to simplify it anyway.

I am not good at gridding and tracing drives me crazy because something always moves and the tracing is off so I have to correct that. My eyes get tired using the brush or pencil to measure. (I wonder if this is because I wear contacts?) So because I am lazy, I try as much as possible to just draw what I see and measure in my mind. I do scan and enlarge the photo to get at least the head the same size as I want it on my canvas even if I am freehanding it. This makes it easier to just draw freehand without worrying about scaling. Often this means printing out the head by itself. Often this is the only thing I print out.

I'm not all that great at drawing a likeness freehand. I usually have to correct everything at least once, but I'm good at catching the errors if I step back and look a bit. It also has taught me to make the first lines very light, and this way, I still am free to use quality of line as expression later on in the drawing once I have things in the right place. I don't do very very detailed drawings for paintings, but I do draw outside of painting because drawing is my first language. Painting is still a foreign language to me.

I am lucky and go to a studio with a live model every Friday. I usually try to just "sight" it and only measure for the initial placement of the figure. Then when I come back after the break I can look and see where I went wrong and correct it. (More about this later). If I get completely lost I'll measure. I find that if I draw a line along the nose (between the eyes down to the middle of the lips), that keeps the angle of the head good.

I like the proportion calipers described above by some of you. This may be handy for me when drawing from life.

But the reason I'm posting this in the first place is my gripe. I love drawing or painting from life but the model never NEVER ever gets back in the exact same position after a break. It could drive me insane if I let it. I have tried getting the face down as quick as possible in the first 20 minutes so I don't have to worry about getting the model back in the exact same position. This is bad because there are details I need to reference later and of course they are all different because the head is an inch more angled or whatever. So I've tried waiting to do details in the face and then I have the same problem and it's worse because the model has shifted slightly at every break and so the neck is now wrong for the head and I still only have twenty minutes to get it right. I've tried taking a photo of the model home with me to correct features at my leisure but I look at the photo and it is not what I saw in person. due to camera distortion and limitations.

This is traveling from the original subject of the thread but ...

How do others deal with the slight shifting problem in models from life?? Or am I the only one bugged by this?

[Richard Budig]

Brenda:

That part about the model moving: I used to study with this old guy in Colorado. He would assing to one of the members of the class the task of keeping the model on pose. Thus, after every break, or at the beginning of the new day, the appointed person would allign the model according to HIS/HER canvas. It worked pretty well. This task fell to me a couple of times, and I noticed that it kept me a little sharper since I felt the responsibility of all the others who were painting. It solves the problem of having "too many cooks in the kitchen," so to speak. Actually, no one ever complained that the person in charge of the model's pose got it wrong.

As for folds of clothing: Andrew Loomis, a now deceased, but one of the best illustrators in the world, says that folds of cloth should further the story, and that there is no need to slavisly reproduce all the folds and wrinkles you see.

I have studied with several portrait painters, and all of them have said much the same thing -- Measure, measure, measure, and simplify, simplify, simplify.