Live Model vs Photographs

Part of every artists training and continued training should be painting and sketching from the live model. The experience involves seeing things with your eyes that the camera does not see. The model asked me why do you paint from a model when you could paint from a photo that doesn’t move? I told her that the human eye sees things differently than the camera. There is reflected light, an ease in seeing lost edges and more depth and ability to see in the shadows.

Plus there is the personality of the sitter that can play into the painting which isn’t there in the photo. It was fun to get to know the person on the other end of the painting. There is that bit of apprehension about “Oh no, what if she comes and looks at the painting and is disappointed, shocked and dismayed with the artist’s ability. But there is also the just dive into the paintingi and get started and do the best that you can.

I do take pictures of the model for future reference and to finish up the painting if time runs out. It was interesting to look at the photos after I had studied the model and painted for two hours. IT was true, the eye sees differently than the camera. Live models are all around us. Start sketching and painting.