The beginnings of a drawing

I am a member of the Colored Pencil Artists and Lovers on Facebook and they recently started talking about how to take reference photographs, so I thought I would show you the beginnings of something.

I am starting a new vending machine piece that will be 18" x 24" and have 3 machines, each with a different color fruit. My mom actually told me I should do it and I thought she was right! I only have one bubble gum machine, so I photographed the vending machines separately and will combine them on the board. Just like my other image I want very bright light with just a hint of a shadow and an all white background. I may make it look like it is on a white shelf like Wayne Thiebauld did with his bubble gum machines. As soon as my Mom suggested doing 3 I thought of his painting!

Here is one of the 3 reference photos. There IS side light, but it is subtle. All the colors are very bright. My printer always prints darker than my screen, so I will compensate by setting it lighter in photoshop and upping the color saturation when I print. 

To photograph this type of lighting I have one foam board on the bottom, and one of those tri-fold foam boards kids use for projects in the back (you can spray paint them different colors) turned a little on the lit side to let light in. I have it all set up in my garage with the set up turned to the side, so the light comes in at an angle. The rest of the garage is dark, but gives off plenty of reflected light. You can do the same setup in front of slider doors inside. Its best (I think) to do it on an overcast day or from North light, but you can't ever count on that. If it is terribly bright you can move further into the garage. 

This is just one of the ways I might light/photograph a set up. It is great for high key situations. 

Some other lighting tips can be found here:

 http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.blogspot.com/search/label/photography

http://www.nicolecaulfieldfineart.blogspot.com/2011/02/2-light-sources-versus-1-light-source.html

two ways to pluck a chicken

I've always liked still-life because they don't require anything that you can't obtain (especially with the help of Ebay). Unless of course you add something like a landscape behind it like in my Monadnock Berries piece two posts ago. That one I got lucky with. I went blueberry picking with my kids and in the little house you pay at at the farm, they have a balcony overlooking the fields and Mt. Monadnock. I plunked my blueberries and leaves right on that railing, squat down to get the right vantage point, and took several photos. When I went through the photos when I got home, one was perfect for drawing (the one that didn't have Christmas lights in the view).

Now I want to do several more still-lifes with landscapes behind and the berry place I believe is closed for the season. Plus I don't know if they would like me to bring other fruits to photograph on their railing... and I'd like not every one to have Mt. Monadnock behind it.

So this time I bought some raspberries and I believe blackberries from the grocery store, went in the backyard and picked some dying raspberry plant leaves and set up a little still-life on my deck. The view however from my deck isn't so good... the tall trees are just too close. I decided to take some landscape photos for the background, but quickly learned that what worked with the Monadnock Berries was that the landscape was from a high vantage point so I could see the soft blue mountains. So, instead of planning a day hike up a mountain, I went to Flickr and looked up NH hills in the Creative Commons.

Creative Commons provides copyright free or limited copyright of images by normal everyday photographers. Since my composition is just using a portion of the cc photograph, cropped and with other things added, it falls under the guidelines for most creative commons copyright photos.

Original Creative Commons Photograph which happens to be an anonymous photo taken in the 1950's.

& here is the photo reference I will use adding my grocery store raspberries in the foreground. I used Photoshop Elements to add the pictures together very roughly since the drawing will correct any problems. Notice how the original photo looks completely different from the end reference photo?

Now today, as it is my birthday, I thought I would go to Alyson's Orchard since it is high up on a hill and gets just the types of views I like for the background. So I trudged around the orchard and picked the two types of apples available right now complete with leaves, and looked for places to set up a still-life with an instant backdrop like at Monadnock Berries. I brought a piece of wood to set the apples on and placed it on a pole in the ground. Crouched down looking through the viewfinder until I got the correct vantage and snap! no photoshop necessary!

the finished reference photo.

here's the post I set up the still-life on.

Either process works and probably a trip to the farm and going to the grocery store, picking leaves from the backyard, and photoshopping - both probably take the same amount of time. I prefer taking the reference shot on location and not piecing it together, because the lighting always works for the two together and the camera creates some of the soft edges between the foreground elements and background that a pieced photoshopped image won't have. Plus it just seems more authentic.

How to drop 5-10 years

I haven't finished Pesto yet. I had to frame some things up, deliver to the gallery and get ready for Art Walk in downtown Keene. I am sharing a window with another artist so I just have my piece Zen displayed at Earth Treasures. (Who were so helpful - thank you!). I'll be out there on Friday from 5-8 (give or take a few minutes) to chat and there again on the 10th during the school tours for the kids giving a demonstration.

Now to get to the title of this post - anti-aging. If you or your model have a few wrinkles that you don't want to show, here's how to lessen the look of those wrinkles.

I have this really oooold model I was taking pictures of today... okay its me and I was taking a picture of me in my new glasses to send to my sister back home. I took the first pic in the mirror next to my front door that had side lighting. Side lighting - although I love side lighting for dramatic effects - also makes wrinkles stand out. :-( If you think about it it makes sense - the light is coming from the side and creating a shadow where that wrinkle or crevice is. Sigh... This isn't even harsh light - the light was diffused through the window... so if it were even harsher more intense light, the wrinkles would have been worse.

After uploading that pic on my computer - in an act of true sistership and vanity - I went upstairs to the bathroom mirror where there is more indirect diffuse lighting. The light is more frontal or evenly distributed in the bathroom so the wrinkles don't throw as large of a shadow. Oila - I'm younger!

The light still comes from the side but is slightly more in front of the face than the other photo. The light is also diffused through a shade on the window which helps. Experiment on yourself in different lighting situations and moving the light source to the side and slowly bringing it around to the front of your face. To get a shadow still on the side of the face put the light in front of the face and then slightly turn your head so the light goes slightly off center.

Of course if you wanted more dramatic light like the first pic, you can just paint or draw the wrinkles with less contrast than seen on the model. I always go down a couple of value steps so the wrinkle color is closer in value to the skin color. & I NEVER draw all the wrinkle lines! :-O Since I have the power to leave some out - why not?!

Shannon Happy Finished

This is just for scale. I find it weird when you can't tell how big or little something is!

& here is the finished version. Was that background worth all those black pencils I put to rest (3.5  total)? I think so. I think it looks like she was sitting up straight in the middle of the comosition but then relaxed into a more comfortable place a bit off to the side and lower. :-)

I wanted to show what makes a good reference photo for a portrait. Even in high-key lighting you have to have directional lighting that creates shapes of light and darker areas. Usually with high key lighting that means you have one bright main light source coming at an angle and reflected light coming from the other angle to partially light up the shadowed side of the face. You can see below the photograph I used for Shannon's portrait broken down into its value shapes. Even though the shadowed side is light - its still is there to create the illusion of form.

Of course if the eyes are not lit up then I would also suggest not to use the photo no matter how good the lighting pattern. Although I've seen amazing portraits done of people with their eyes in shadow - most people commissioning a portrait want to see the color of the sitter's eyes. As I see it, usually the light in people's eyes are really lit up as in Shannon's portrait (where you see brilliant color), partially lit (meaning not in shadow but you see a bit of color but not vibrant color), and when eyes are in shadow (usually the eyes sockets are even dark). I don't suggest using a photo where the eyes aren't lit and brightening them up yourself, using the rest of the light pattern on the face. The end result will be confusing - somehow your mind knows the lighting isn't right. I would just take another photo (no matter how inconveniet) with the light right to hit the eyes. Practice on yourself  with a mirror and a table lamp with the shade taken off to figure out where a good place to place the light to light up the eyes right as well as  a good value pattern.