Photos Lie: Using Photographs for Color Reference

A lot of us use photographs when painting to help us with our color decisions. To be able to capture how color shifts underwater, or the way fingertips flush at the tips can be invaluable. And although sometimes you might be able to paint from life, most of us don't have the ability to do it all the time. So we use photos. There is just one problem with relying on photos for color information: they lie. 

Photographs are not nearly as good as the human eye at picking up subtle color changes, or even accurate value. They tend to have a lot of black in the dark areas of the image, where the human eye would be able to see the form and color in the shadows. This is because anything that the camera does not have enough light to "see", it will render as black. Sunset photographs are a classic example: while the camera does it's best to render the vivid sky, it can't do that and also pick out the darker shapes in the foreground. So you get a silhouetted effect.

Photos tend to differ from observation in the following ways: 

1. Value: the camera cannot see both dark darks and light lights at the same time. These areas will become white or black.

2. Hue Variation: similar colors tend to get clumped together so you get a lot less color variation than in nature.

3. Subtlety: Low-light sources of value or color are usually lost.

Here is an example from my own experience:

Copyright Jen Betton

On the left is a photo I took. On the right is the pastel I did from life just after taking the photo. You can see that the photograph is much duller (I did exaggerate the saturation a little bit in the pastel, but not much), bluer, and the values are very different. The background foliage is blown out and the dark areas of the tree trunks are almost black. Obviously, if you are a good photographer (I'm not), you can counter some of these issues.

So how to use photos for color reference? Here are a few tips:

- If you are taking your own photo, take two shots. For the first, focus on the light area of your shot, and for the second focus on the shadow area. If you are using a digital camera you can see the image lighten and darken depending on where you focus. Use this to get a good image of each area (light and dark) and then use both photographs for your painting. (Also don't use a flash, it will front-light your subject matter – which flattens form – and change the lighting entirely.)

- Paint from life occasionally. It will help you realize when photos are lying to you.

- When not using your own photos, use the best quality photos you can – look on professional photography sites like Getty or Corbis (but be sure not to violate copyright!)

- Make a color study. Shift and add colors, experiment. If you just rely on a photo, you will often just end up copying exactly what you see.

- Change value structure as needed, realizing the photo may over-emphasize darks or blow out lights.

- Consider adding more color variation; evaluate your image to see if areas are becoming too monochromatic. Make a point not to use black or gray in the shadows, and also not to use white for highlights.

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For more information on painting and color:

James Gurney has a marvelous book called Color and Light. His blog is also a treasure trove of information.

I also have a series of posts on color here, covering topics light atmosphere, temperature, and mood.
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Jen Betton writes and illustrates for children. 

You can find her work at www.jenbetton.com

@jenbetton on Twitter

www.facebook.com/jenbettonillustration on Facebook