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Jeff Fuchs · 08-28-2003, 10:55 PM

This question still nags at me. For now, I'd be happy just to be able to copy a photo, much less move beyond, but I have a thought.

This applies to painting. I have been studying many paintings on the web and in books, and I've come to the conclusion that one pitfall of photo copying is a potential for a lack of color harmony. Holly's page on Marvin's workshop got me thinking about harmonious palettes.

If I slavishly copied a photo, it might take two dozen or more separate colors to match everything precisely. If, on the other hand, I mixed a palette of harmonious, but limited colors, even if they don't match the photo, I would pull the image together beyond what a camera is capable of.

This is not news to many of you. I'm just trying to flesh out the concepts that I think I'm learning.

I checked out Chris' book from the library, and I'm learning other concepts, like value clumping, that can be pitfalls of photographs.

If I ever get so far as to paint portraits on a regular basis, I'll almost certainly be working only from photos, so I want to prepare myself for the challenges.

Thanks for bearing with me.

08-28-2003, 10:55 PM	#8
Jeff Fuchs Juried Member Guy who can draw a little Joined: Dec 2002 Location: New Iberia, LA Posts: 546	This question still nags at me. For now, I'd be happy just to be able to copy a photo, much less move beyond, but I have a thought. This applies to painting. I have been studying many paintings on the web and in books, and I've come to the conclusion that one pitfall of photo copying is a potential for a lack of color harmony. Holly's page on Marvin's workshop got me thinking about harmonious palettes. If I slavishly copied a photo, it might take two dozen or more separate colors to match everything precisely. If, on the other hand, I mixed a palette of harmonious, but limited colors, even if they don't match the photo, I would pull the image together beyond what a camera is capable of. This is not news to many of you. I'm just trying to flesh out the concepts that I think I'm learning. I checked out Chris' book from the library, and I'm learning other concepts, like value clumping, that can be pitfalls of photographs. If I ever get so far as to paint portraits on a regular basis, I'll almost certainly be working only from photos, so I want to prepare myself for the challenges. Thanks for bearing with me.