Skip to content

Photography

When I was a kid and liked to draw, I collected a folder of pictures that I liked. Some were photographs, some were drawings, and all were interesting to me for various reasons. In college I took photography and learned to develop and print my own photos. Wow! My real collection of photos began at that point. They were mostly slides back then, the most inconvenient method of viewing photos ever invented. I took them because they cost less than prints and took up less room. If something seemed particularly great, I could have a print made.                                                                                                                  Then, I switched to prints for more immediate gratification. Everywhere I go, my camera is with me and I am looking for anything interesting, anything at all that might become a painting or a drawing.  I have tons and tons of photos, more than I can possibly keep organized in their alloted space. Each time I file the stacks that accumulate, I toss those that I know will never be useful. The stacks accumulate because I am continually going through the categories, seeking visual aids for whatever is in progress.                The point here is that if you are planning to be an artist, particularly if you are like me and need to see it in order to draw it,  LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY!!! This skill has been one of the most necessary of my career, and those photos have helped me out time after time.                                                                   Here are some examples: in planning the collage drawing for C&P, they asked me to put in bits and pieces from calendar pictures. That is breaking copyright law, so I only work from my own photos. No problem – I have photos of everything they requested!  In working on the 6-panel mural that has no photos and is supposed to be generic, my photos have helped me out over and over. Sequoia groves, oak groves, trees and shrubs along a river, rocks on a hillside, rocks up close, rocks by the river, mountains in the distance, hills in the distance, hills up close. . . I have them!                                                                         Of course, there is the continual problem that no matter how often I take these sorts of photos, the light always needs to be on the other side or it needs to be in a different season. So, I continue to take photos!

 pict0036.jpg

1 Comment

  1. I love the red of the willows next to the blue of the river. The river is so pretty in the evening, too, when the birds come in and sit on the willow branches before the sun goes down.


Comments are closed for this article!