Making Art From Life

Making art from life is translating a real subject in front of you into an artwork. This can be a painting, landscape, etc. It sounds straightforward but for me it's one of the most challenging kinds of art.

Working from a photo reference is easy and predictable. The photo never moves. The colors never change. If you're painting a landscape from life you'll find lots of elements that seem stationary actually move. Clouds, vegetation (because of wind), and even mountains can appear to change shape as the sun shifts over- highlighting different ridges and textures. Even in a controlled environment like a studio your subject can be vulnerable to change.

Another aspect of making art from life is dimension. Unlike a photo which is fixed, physical objects' proportions and appearances can change significantly even by a slight head tilt. This can make it difficult to render what you're seeing on the page.

Color is another aspect of making art from life that's hard. Usually it's impossible to get the exact color but some artists get extremely close. It's something I care less about because my goal is to make a representation of what I'm seeing- not a copy.

I realize after everything I've typed this doesn't sound like an endorsement of painting from life. Despite all these difficulties I enjoy it a lot. There's a timeliness involved because your subject can change, it's like working against the clock. It always gives me a rush of adrenaline. If things are going well I can get into this feverish state of artistic creation that helps me paint faster.

Since I've began painting from life, I've become faster, more accurate, and less daunted by things I feel are impossible to paint. It also gives me the opportunity to study and represent an object I'm curious about like a car or flower.

If this sounds unachievable for you or painting from life doesn't match your style of art, I have solutions for you. You don't have to make super hyper realistic art. There are all kinds of painters from all kinds of genres that have done this. You can do line and wash, pen sketches, watercolor studies and more!

My next solution is that the art doesn't have to be realistic to any degree. If you're an abstract painter you can make a painting by trying to match each color to your environment. If you like patterns you can paint different patterns you encounter- on coffee shop tables or on flower petals. There are many ways to do this and none of them are wrong!

A section from my sketchbook. I painted these birds from a pond I visited.