Portrait Drawing: Live Models vs. Photos
Savannah Tate CuffDescription
Portrait artists have a choice of working with live models or working from photographs, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Artist Savannah Tate Cuff breaks down some of these pros and cons for us. First, Savannah notes that working from a live model can be inspiring and sometimes challenging. Poses can shift, making it hard for beginners to compensate, but in time, observing and choosing between different poses can be a fulfilling experience for any artist.
Working from photos is less expensive, with no live model fees, and allows you to paint those who are unable to sit for the necessary length of time. The photo option gives artists a wider range of subject possibilities. Savannah points out that if you like drawing models in challenging poses, you’ll gain flexibility and have more choices with photography, as a model may not be able to hold a challenging pose for a long time. This depends on the pose, the model, and the artist, of course, so you may be able to work with live models in challenging poses with no problem.
Savannah notes that with photos, she has a tendency to copy more of what she sees and add more detail; this can be a positive if a lot of detail is desired, but if you like a more impressionistic painting or drawing, too much detail might work against your aims. In addition, a camera perceives light differently than the eye. You may see darker shadows and stronger highlights in a photograph. If you do want to work from photos, take your own photos so you can control the lighting and take notes on the model’s angles and positions. With experience and practice, you’ll gain an understanding of the benefits of each alternative for yourself.
Hey everybody, I'm Savanna Tate Cuff and today I'll be discussing the pros and cons of working from a live model versus using photography. Working from a live model is great because personally, I find it more inspiring having a living, breathing person in front of me. There are a little bit of challenges around using a live model because there are pose shifts. At first, it's hard for a beginner draftsman to compensate for those pose shifts. But over time, it actually becomes a positive and a fun thing to pick and choose from those pose shifts. So I'm going to put slightly more inspiring in the live model category. As we're working from photography, it is less expensive. You don't have to deal with all of the model fees for X amount of hours that you would have when working from a live model. So I'm going to go with less expensive as a pro for photography. Photography also allows me to paint someone that wouldn't be able to sit for those amount of hours that I would need to work from a live model. So I'm going to put specific person as a pro for working from photography. And this is also particularly great for working artists who want to accept commissions and maybe a kid, you know moves around a lot and you can't work from life when painting a kid. So photography would be a pro for that situation. Lastly, the flexibility of the pose, you can do a more challenging pose with photography. It's easier in general to take a photo of someone in a complex pose than paint it from a live model. But I am going to put this one in the center since it's possible to do a challenging pose with a live model. It just depends on the draftsman and the amount of hours that you'd need. So I'll do flexibility of pose in the center. When I'm working from photos, one con for me is that I tend to copy directly what I'm looking at. And typically I tend to add more detail. That could be a pro for someone who wants a lot of detail in their drawing or painting. I tend to like a slightly more impressionistic painting or drawing. And so that for me would be something that is more of a con for photography. Another thing to keep in mind is that a camera perceives light differently than the naked eye. So a camera will, it will increase the exposure. The shadows will be a lot darker and lights will be a lot lighter. And that's something to keep in mind when working from a photo versus working from a live model. Another thing is that I find it a little bit easier to take measurements from a live model than using photos, but that's also a personal thing. I would recommend taking your own photos if you are to work from photography. That allows you to have the proper light set up. And it's good to also be in front of the model at some point to take notes on the var, on the various angles and positions of the model. From my personal experience, I like using both for different reasons. However you choose to work, the most important thing is to enjoy the process.
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