PaintMyPhoto Quarterly Newsletter - Issue 10

Summer Edition 2014

Paint My Photo

10

‘Cherries’ - Photo by Judith Haynes Levins

PACKED WITH ARTICLES YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS...

Congratulations to Sara Bardin, our winner of the April Monthly Challenge Her winning painting, ‘Atlas Moth’, takes pride of place on our front cover

Where Photographers and Artists Meet

Original reference photo, ‘Atlas Moth’, provided by Carrie Layne Mashon

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EDITOR’S WELCOME

Here Comes The Summer!

Here is at last - a few days later than planned, but better late than never!

We continue to see so many fabulous and imaginative works of art being created from the photographs so generously provided by our photographers. It is wonderful that the site continues to inspire and bring together so much creativity and talent.

At some point in the future we are expecting an upgrade to the mechanics of the site, which we hope will make its usage a little more straightforward, but please bear with us until then. Don’t forget that you can follow your favourite photographers and, of course, if you discover a photograph that you really like, why not go and take a look at their other images in photographer’s gallery? You may discover many more great photos to add to your to-do list. You can find the link to a member’s gallery in their profile page.

Another Gondola

We’ve had one or two spammers attempt to infiltrate the site recently, but Roy and his trusty team of volunteers have dealt with them swiftly.

Unfortunately, they are a fact of Internet life, but rest assured, they never see your personal information (including your email address) and once removed, all trace of their messages disappears too.

OK, enough of me, I hope you enjoy this issue!

Ruth Archer

Beauty Has Her Way

If you aren't a member of PaintMyPhoto, then please have a read of our magazine and find out more about us. Are you are a photographer who would like to contribute good quality, copyright-free reference photos for our artists to use for inspiration? Are you an artist using traditional media (a complete beginner or a professional, it really doesn't matter) who would benefit from being able to use photos without copyright worries? Perhaps, like me, you are a bit of both! Membership is free and you will find the

Brixham Sunset

site a very welcoming and friendly community.

Everyone is welcome!

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MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Helga O Visit Helga’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Helga via PaintmyPhoto

Helga O Early Morning

Delightful Landscapes and Inspirational Animal Photographs First and foremost, on behalf of all members, may we thank you for your generosity in sharing your wonderful photos! Can you tell us how you first discovered Paint My Photo?

What, if any, photography/image software do you use to manage your photos?

Picasa.

I was on a site called "Art Colony" and one of the members had mentioned it, so I decided to check it out and am I ever so thrilled that I did. PMP is an AMAZING!!!! concept, bringing photographers and artists together, each inspiring the other in their creativity.

If you had to choose just one photograph that you have posted on Paint My Photo, which one would it be and why?

Now that's a hard one, choosing just one ...hmmmmm ... thinking, I guess I would have to say this is my favorite:

What is your favourite photography subject?

Ristorante Trattoria European Cities.

What type of camera and equipment do you use for the photographs that you post on Paint My Photo?

Panasonic Lumix Digital Camera - no special equipment.

The reason being that it could be anywhere in Europe (were it not for what is written on the awning). I love outdoor cafes and restaurants, it's colorful, and also has some plants in the planters that are appealing to the gardener in me, which is another of my passions.

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HELGA O

Finally, we’d love to know a little more about you, do you have a personal website (or other online presence) where we can see more of your work?

Just my photo albums on my Facebook Page.

https://www.facebook.com/helga.ort.5

Shadow

I love to travel and never go any place without my camera. Gardening is also high on my list of favorite things to do and of course, my kids always tease me about my garden photos outnumbering pictures of them by the hundreds. Were it not for digital cameras I wouldn't be able to afford to take the pictures I do; unfortunately when my children were growing up everything was film and expensive to buy and get processed. I love to cook, taking advantage of my family heritage and travel to acquaint myself with a lot of ethnic cuisines, Austrian/Hungarian being my favorite. I've never understood anyone saying they are "bored" - there's a whole big world out there to explore and so many things to experience, to make memories - something no one can ever take from you!

Links to Helga’s gallery and PMP profile can be found at the beginning of this article.

Supreme Sultan

Helga’s Choice Ristorante Trattoria

Violin

Montana Barn

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HELGA O

Fever

Mask

Venice in the Rain

Snowy Pines

Straw Hat

Wine & Roses

Michigan Lighthouse

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HELGA O

My Rocky

Peterson Mill

Quiet Corner

Lobdell Lake

Falconer & Owl

La Tour Eiffel

Winter Sunset

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Reflections

RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES

Robyn Lovelock Robyn (Ro) is a very talented artist and photographer based in Australia. She is also one of PMP’s superstars, helping to keep PMP running smoothly and looking after members.

You can view Ro’s gallery or contact her though PMP.

Robyn Lovelock ‘Red and White Striped Roses’

Robyn’s Been Busy Finding us a Fabulous Selection of Photos - Enjoy!

A Still Life by Valavan Manohararajah

Glencoe by Marily Kingfisher with Fish by ChrissyM

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RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES

A Mixed Special

Villager of Ban Baw by John Warren

Monet’s Garden by Alice Kaplan

Pink Hydrangea by Julie Alice

Tree by Raido Holm

End of the Ride by Ruth Archer

Thinking by Elaine Cross [8]

RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES

A Mixed Special

Bluebell Wood by ChrissyM

Sticky Beak by Robyn Lovelock

Cornflowers in the Grass by Terri Walking Bridge Lapeer Michegan by Rodney Campbell

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ART IN THE MAKING

Peter Williams Visit Peter’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Peter via PaintmyPhoto

Peter Williams Pigeon Hole

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial Whenever I do an exhibition I get asked quite a few questions about my techniques and methods. One of the most frequent is how I create the effect of fur in my wildlife drawings. Therefore to save me having to keep repeating myself I've put together this tutorial which shows a drawing from start to finish, step by step, explaining my methods of creating fur as well as all the other aspects. Of course this is just my way of working, it's not to say it's the right way, the only way or even the best way but it's what works for me. I hope it may be of assistance to fellow pencil artists who are struggling to achieve realistic fur effects. Perhaps it will just cause a bit of amusement for those far more talented than I. Either way I'll be happy....this is going to be a long article!

As well as an A3 sheet of Bristol Board, for the majority of this piece I will be using just 4 grades of pencil; 5H, B, 3B and 5B. I may also use other grades here and there, we'll see. Other tools on my table are kneadable erasers; a stylus; a small brass screw; fine sandpaper and blade for sharpening; tortillons made from rolled up pieces of paper, 'J' cloth and card; some colour shapers and a pot of graphite dust (which I save from my sharpenings).

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial The first thing I did was remove the colour from my reference image and adjust the levels to show as much detail as possible in Photoshop before printing off at the same size as my drawing is to be (A3).

Next I sketched out my basic outline using a B grade pencil (not too sharp). I tend not to put much detail in, just the barest minimum but I can't stress enough how important it is to get this stage right. I've seen so many brilliantly rendered portraits where unfortunately a small misjudgement was made in the positioning or size of an eye or other feature which has resulted in a glaring error in the finished art work. There are many ways of transferring your image to the paper. You can just go for it freehand (if your draughtsmanship is up to it), or use a grid method, a projector or even a tracing. I don't believe there are rules to be followed here, just use the method which suits you best and make sure it's accurate. The final result is what counts. The image below has been boosted a bit in Photoshop so you can see my lines, but in reality they are very faint so as not to indent the paper too much. Also where possible lines should be drawn in the direction of the fur, rather than an outline running around the edge which would be difficult to disguise in the final drawing.

Being right-handed, I'm working from top-left to bottom-right, using a clean sheet of paper to rest my hand on so as not to smudge or dirty the area underneath.

You may just be able to make out where I've used my stylus to draw some eyebrow hairs and a few of the lashes into the paper, which only become visible when a light layer of graphite is added over them. I've also begun drawing the hair around the eye with a fairly sharp 5H to begin building the fur texture. You can also see where I've roughly applied some graphite to the brow area using a tortillon.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial I have continued to work on this area using 3 pencils in sequence.

Always working in the direction of the fur (no matter how short) I've used strokes of the 5H to drag the graphite from the brow down into the light area above the pupil, then the B and finally the 3B. I then gently blended this area using a very fine paper tortillon before forming a sharp edge with the kneadable eraser and gently lifting out highlights. I repeated this process until I achieved the tone depth and detail required. I also darkened the eye, working the 3B up toward the brow area, allowing the 'pre-drawn' hairs which I drew in with the stylus and 5H to emerge. I made sure to maintain the lighter part of the iris, in this case shaded lightly with the side of the B pencil and blended a little with the finest tortillon, to give it the shine and roundness of a real eye.

Quick Tip: If you can, have two pencils of each grade at your disposal. One kept sharp and the other less so as you don't always need the sharpest point.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial You can see I've continued working down along the nose area, using the same methods described previously. The fur on the nose is the shortest of all so all the marks made with the 5H take that into consideration before blending the graphite over the top with the tortillon and lifting out with the eraser.

The fur below the eye though, heading towards the jaw, is a little longer so a slightly different method is used.

I make strokes in an inverted 'V' shape, making them quite dark at the point of the 'V' before blending them out using a colour shaper or tortillon. This seems quite pains taking but once you get into a rhythm you can make steady progress, always concentrating on the fur direction as you work across the face.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial You can see here how it's beginning to work. I should add that this area is by no means the finished article. As I gradually work my way across and down the drawing, I'll constantly be going back in to the previously worked on areas to refine and adjust. There will be a final going over at the end also to tidy up and make final adjustments to light and tones.

I put the nose in next, using the side of the 3B on the surface and the point for the dark shadow and nostrils, lifting out a bit of highlight with the eraser. At this point I used my stylus again to draw some whiskers and light hairs that overlap the mouth and bottom lip. Then I worked on the muzzle in the same way as I did under the eye. As the 'pre-drawn' whiskers appeared I was able to put in the dark spots from which they grow. Then a bit of gentle blending again with the tortillons and colour shapers.

I went back to the top of the head next. At this stage I was still undecided about the background so a light wash of graphite is all I put in, using a bit of tightly rolled 'J' cloth and some of my graphite dust. I didn't work it in too firmly at this stage so that I could lift out the white fur around the top of the skull using the kneadable eraser, then carefully going in with the B pencil to sharpen it up. The white fur and hairs were again drawn in front of the far ear with the stylus and 5H before the ear was drawn in, using the 3b for the darkest area at the bottom, the 5H to give a bit of hair texture further up and the B and 3B combined to finish. Then a little light blending. This was as far as I got in the first session, about 4 hours in.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial Quick Tip: If you have a scanner or a decent camera I find it very helpful to get an image onto the computer after each session. I find I can see it almost with fresh eyes once it's on the screen, showing up any obvious mistakes or bits that might need slight adjustment. It also enables me to play around a bit with the tonal values in Photoshop (or whatever photo editing program you use) to see if it can be improved by adjusting them one way or another.

In the next image you can see I've started work on the forehead and I've scanned it here to show the stages of completion. I began by drawing with a well sharpened 5H, the fur here is short and woolly in texture so a stippling method was used, working in the patterns of the reference picture.

The 3B was used next, getting a good dark tone at the base of the fur and using short strikes outwards before blending using the colour shaper.

The colour shaper blends the fur to a slightly blurred finish rather than leaving the hard pencil marks. This is what gives that fluffy, ruffled effect which is so pleasing. The deeper the tone in the shadows, the thicker and deeper the fur will appear to be. You can see below how I've continued down to the jaw before beginning on the longer fur around the neck area.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial This area proved to be very challenging. After mapping out sort of arrow shapes I began with the stylus to put in some fur tips. I then continued using the same method as above on the face but with longer strokes, again ensuring a nice depth of tone at the root and then blending it out using the colour blenders. I also did a little lifting out with the eraser here and there to give better highlights.

These fur clumps are a bit too pronounced at this stage but will be softened further towards the end. I've also worked a little more on the bottom jaw, refining and darkening it as well as adding the far side of the body which is in shadow. Next thing I tackled was the nearest ear.

Again I began by drawing with the stylus and 5H before applying some graphite powder with a 'J' cloth tortillon, making sweeping strokes from the dark inner ear out towards the edges. Then I went in with the 5B for the darkest tone in the centre, as well as the 3B and B for the detailing before blending out with a colour shaper.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial More of the same as I worked around the ear and down towards the neck area.

Before working on the back of the neck I put in more of the background wash by lightly blending in some graphite powder with a 'J' cloth tortillon. This was mainly because there are areas of bright white fur.

These areas are lifted out with the kneadable eraser before adding in more strokes with a small tortillon and adding detail.

Quick Tip: For small fly-away hairs and fine fur detailing use a small brass screw as a stylus, which is much finer than the regular stylus. Make sure it's blunt as you don't want to damage the paper surface, I do this by rubbing the point on a piece of leather.

After completing the neck area I began on one of the front legs at the shoulder. The fur here is more of a thick woolly texture. To achieve this I started by dipping my index finger into my pot of graphite and then used a gentle slapping motion to apply it to the paper. Slapping it over and again the graphite starts to give a lovely random texture and looking closely, little tuftlike shapes appear which can be exploited by doodling over the area very lightly with the 5B. No blending is used on this area to avoid losing the texture, just a little lifting out with the eraser at the edge where the light is hitting it. Get some deep shadows under the longer neck fur.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial At this stage I put in some dark shadow under the leg to enable me to define the longer hair underneath it. Then laid a wash of dark graphite to ground it. In the reference the wolf is lying on a dry rough ground but I'm considering putting him among some dried wood branches and logs......haven't fully decided yet, I'll wait until I've completed the wolf entirely before thinking about what will work best. I always prefer to put my subject back into it's natural environment, even though the reference may have been taken in a zoo. It's a chance to use some imagination to make the piece my own, rather than sticking too religiously to the reference image.

I darkened some areas of the left leg before moving on to the paw. As the paw is sitting in bright light I've used very dark tones and bright highlights for contrast. The right shoulder is very light too so just a hint of shading here before completing the right leg.

Quick Tip: The darkest tones are achieved not necessarily by pressing harder with the pencil, rather layering over and again but always making marks in the direction the fur would be lying even though it's not really visible. This is because pencil drawings, depending where hung, often reflect a little light and it will look better if the light just reflects fur texture rather than a scribble. Also, if at a later stage I decide to lighten a shadow slightly, a quick dab with the kneadable eraser will work fine without much extra detailing.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial More of the same on the hind quarters which are in bright sun.

The contrasting shadow areas are working well using mostly the 5B. I've put my little brass screw to good use here too, using it to get some nice fly-away hair effects.

Next it was on to the beautiful tail with it's multiple tones and long locks of fur. I've pre-drawn quite a bit with the 5H and then applied long sweeping strokes of graphite in the fur direction using a paper tortillon. Before continuing with this area though, I need to continue the wash of background graphite so that I can define the boundary of the tail.

Above you can see I've brought down the sky and worked up the darker top of the tail buy using the B and 3B grades. I've used the feather shapes again here with the dark tone put in at the bottom, dragging it out toward the end of each shape before softening it a little with a colour shaper and the odd dab of the eraser.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial I completed the tail with more of the same making good use of the eraser in the lighter areas. Then I started putting together the foreground and background. Using the eraser and the tightly rolled up piece of 'J' cloth I lifted out some clouds and softened them. I added a distant line of trees in the lower left background using the paper tortillon dipped in my graphite, then started on the foreground large tree log. I dipped my finger into the graphite and spread it roughly over the area before lifting streaks out by drawing the eraser along the length, twisting and rolling it as I went. This left me with a lot of interesting shapes and texture which I brought out further using the 5B. The right hand foreground next, starting by very firmly pushing and twisting the kneadable eraser into the dark area below the tail which starts to bring out a suggestion of rocks.

Then I dragged the eraser horizontally and upwards to get some more dead tree branch shapes. I continued using my imagination and had fun adding more details to the background and foreground to complete the scene.

Quick Tip: Try to avoid the habit of removing loose granules of graphite or other debris by blowing on it, rather just waft a piece of cloth or paper over the work to blow it away. This is because if you get any droplets of moisture on the surface of your paper from your breath then as soon as you apply graphite over it, even after it is dry, you will get a very dark mark where the moisture has altered the paper surface. This will be permanent. Having said that, I have been known to apply a light mist of water on purpose to get a 'spatter' effect. I'm not using that effect here though.

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial

Above you now see the completed drawing. I've put in a suggestion of distant hills, finished the foreground and gone over the whole thing to tidy up before applying a light sealant. Just needs to be signed.

Quick Tip: Use a clear, pastel fixative to finally seal the drawing. I use a spray can of Ghiant fixative. Not only will this protect the finished work from smudging, but will also give a slightly matt finish to it which will decrease light reflection after it has been framed and hung in position.

I hope the tutorial will be of some use to some of my followers. I'd be very interested to hear any comments and if there are further questions I can answer, contact me and I'll add the information to the tutorial on my website if I can. Now to frame it.......

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by Peter Williams

ART IN THE MAKING

A Whisper on the Wind - Drawing Tutorial

Peter at the Mall Galleries in London for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist Of The Year 2011 with his entry 'Desperado' which sold at the preview evening.

Many thanks to Peter Williams for sharing this tutorial with PaintMyPhoto. This and other demonstrations are available on Peter’s website.

Take a look at more of Peter’s amazing artworks!

Visit www.mightyfineart.co.uk.

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ART & MUSIC COMPETITION

Roy Simmons Roy is the founder/owner of PaintMyPhoto and a fantastic artist too!

Contact Roy on his profile at PMP. View Roy’s paintings in his PMP Gallery.

Roy Simmons ‘Rome’

Here is a fantastic opportunity for all PMP members to enter a fabulous competition and help a very worthy cause! Our Painting By Ear competition is being run in aid of the Music Man Project, which provides a unique music service for people with a learning disability, difficulty or special educational need. Find out more about The Music Man Project. Composer and musician, David Stanley, runs the Music Man project and has composed 8 unique pieces of music for the competition, all of which are untitled; the competition is for artists to listen to the individual pieces of music and create a painting that they feel reflects its mood.

Once the competition ends, David will reveal the title of each piece of music and select one painting for each piece that he feels most appropriately reflects his vision when composing them. An E-book containing artworks created for the competition will then be published and sold in aid of the project to raise much-needed funds.

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ART & MUSIC COMPETITION

by Roy Simmons

Here's what you could win: • The winning artist for each piece of music will receive a £10.00 Amazon voucher, and one of the 8 winning paintings will also be selected to take pride of place on the cover of the E-book.

• Your work (not just the winning paintings) may also be featured in the E-book - what a great way to have your artwork seen!

• Above all, you will have a great time creating artwork to music and be supporting a wonderful charity in the process.

The rules are simple: • • • •

The competition is only open to PaintMyPhoto members (natural media only).

Any reference photos used for the artwork entries must be sourced on PaintMyPhoto.

Entries are limited to 1 artwork per piece of music i.e. up to a maximum of 8 entries per artist.

Entrants must be happy for their artwork(s) to be reproduced in the Music Man E-book that will be published following the competition and sold in aid of the charity.

Here's how to enter: Have a listen to the music and choose a piece that sparks your imagination. Create your artwork and post it in the main gallery, give it a title and ensure that you write in the description field "Music Man Competition - Piece No:#". It would also be great to read a little bit about how the piece of music inspired your artwork. Please also remember to add links to the reference photo(s).

For those of you whose imaginations are soooooo on fire and don't need a reference photo, you can still enter the competition, but please post your entry in the comments area at the bottom of the ‘Painting By Ear’ competition page and not in the main gallery.

If you are inspired by more than one piece then that's fantastic, create another artwork! You can enter one painting per piece of music, so a maximum of 8 in total.

Are you ready to join in the fun? Visit the competition page to find out more and hear the wonderful music.

Example painting for Piece No. 2 called ‘Forbidden’ by Ruth Archer

The competition closes on 31st August 2014 - Good Luck!

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

Lorna Webber Lorna is a very talented artist and photographer based in the UK. View Lorna’s Gallery on PMP. You can contact Lorna by visiting her PMP profile page on PMP.

Lorna Webber ‘The Plough’

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!

Art and Craft!

When learning the art and craft of painting, most of us start with the aim of faithfully reproducing our chosen subject. Does that sound familiar? Progressing toward this goal, we build our skills and knowledge – always important, often downright frustrating!

It’s important to develop these basic skills, so we can express ourselves as effectively as possible. In the language of art, these abilities are the vocabulary and grammar that enable us to say what we mean.

All the while we are learning the craft, we should also be thinking about the main purpose of making the work – the art. Our art is to represent our own personal view of the world, be it photo-realistic or abstract or anywhere in between.

Tellervo’s Shadow

Sooner or later, most artists experience a desire to make work which is not a direct copy of their chosen subject. Once you discover that you are able to create anything you can imagine, it opens up infinite possibilities for self-expression. The paintings and drawings I am highlighting in this article are splendid examples of how PMP photographs can be used creatively to produce outstanding pieces of art.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will

Here, Sabzuyd (Sabine), shows us how a single source photo can be interpreted in a number of exciting ways. Let’s not stop at the first idea: Why not try out different formats and approaches to the subject?

Sabine’s source photo was shared by Rob McEwen, posted by Sharon Whitley.

Taking the Essence One of the simplest and most effective ways to adapt a source image is to select only the parts that meet your aims for a painting.

Cropping the photo is one way of doing this, or you can omit unnecessary elements.

This fascinating and popular photograph by Rosie The Closet Painter, has been painted at least eight times!

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!

Renee Reinhardt has focused on one figure, giving us a real sense of involvement with the girl. We study her as she studies her herbs.

Artforhue (Donna MacDonald) has also zoomed in on a single figure, to give her painting more intimacy and character. Donna used a great photo by Ruth Archer, called “Keeping in Touch”. You can see more of Donna’s work at www.donnamacdonald.ca.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! In my painting “A Little Bit of Night”, I was inspired by Craig C Johnson’s atmospheric photo "Magic of the Night", but I used only a tiny part of it… you may have to search to find it. It goes to show that this photograph is incredibly rich in its content, when such a small part of it will make a whole painting.

By being selective, David Stribbling has given focus and presence to the main character in his outstanding oil painting “Tribute to Gage”. The source image for this was the superb photo “Wolves” by Angeline Rijkeboer.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Climate Change Changing the environment of the main subject can alter the mood completely, and the painting becomes a different work of art entirely from the photograph.

Sarah Finn’s interpretation of Max Hemingway’s lovely photo is magical, and full of meaning.

A lovely watercolour by William James Butcher (Guilli) makes great use of the family group in another gorgeous photo by Glennis Weston called “Mad Hatters”.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!

Guilli has given the setting more colour and textural interest, without detracting from the central figures.

Ugo proves that artists can turn day into night. From Michael Yates’s splendid photo of Venice, Ugo has employed some radical colour shifts to alter the time of day. The cool blues and greys become hot reds, yellow and purple.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Chameleon colour Chameleons can change their colours to suit the environment. PMP artists can change their colours to suit the painting.

Franklin’s photo of lavender fields in France, has soft muted colours and a great sense of depth and openness.

In Donna Sommer’s painting of this scene, she foregoes the depth of field and open spaces in favour of vibrant warm colour, giving the scene an immediacy and liveliness which is enhanced by the expressive brushwork.

Jiah Kim has also painted lavender fields – this time the source image was shared by Simon via Robyn (Ro) Lovelock. The photo is already so colourful, you wouldn’t think it possible to make it even more vibrant and intense, would you?

Well see what Jiah has done!

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Paola Richey’s “Girl ACEO” is a masterpiece of pre-Raphaelite beauty – and it’s only 3.5” x 2.5”. This lovely little painting shows how the feeling of an image can be altered dramatically with a different colour palette. In this case, Alex Lee Johnson’s photo is a moody black and white, full of mystery and titled “Anonymous”.

Alex was our featured member for May 2014, and you can find out more about him and his work here https://www.youtube.com/user/johnsonleealex and here https://www.facebook.com/ AlexLeeJohnsonPhotography.

Here is another colourchange that hits the target. Mark Peters has based his almost abstract colour explosion on a terrific photo by Charmaine Diederick called “Little Fishes”.

Mark’s acrylic painting is 22” x 28”, and I love the title - “Age of Aquarium”.

Very funny, Mark.

Fantastic painting.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! I know you will enjoy this fabulous watercolour by Liz Chadderton. “It’s called “My Best Side” and it has colour to spare.

The source image has all the fun and humour you could ever ask for. Thanks to Patricia Anne Jones (Dizzy) for sharing her photo “Mirror Mirror”

Interpretation to the Max The paintings in my final group take interpretation of a photo to a new level. Have a good look and see what these artists have done.

Can you modify some of these ideas for your own work?

Carla Whelan has used her own photo and has clearly drawn on the remembered experience to make more than one exciting painting.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You!

These representations really push the boat out.

Cathy Wester has gone to town with colour in this version of Nigel Moores’s super photo. “Cakes in a Window” has an abstract look with its vibrant colour and strong pattern.

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Finally, I’m delighted to feature a great painting by Ruth Archer (and not just because she’s my editor!). Ruth has skilfully combined two photos to make a painting which is greater than the sum of its parts.

I leave you to enjoy all the possible narratives that “Forbidden” conjures up…. Ruth combined Rob’s brilliant photo of Dave with guitar, with Alex Lee Johnson’s “Anonymous” (featured earlier in this article).

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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY

by Lorna Webber

A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Well I’ve taken up a load of space in the magazine. If you have got this far – well done!

I’ve written on this topic in the last 3 PMP magazines, so if you like what you’ve read and want more explanation and examples, please feel free to look here:

http://issuu.com/paintmyphoto/docs Once again, I would like to thank all the terrific photographers who share their inspirational work so generously on Paint My Photo. My thanks too, to all the artists who have kindly allowed me to include their work in this article.

May I take this opportunity to remind every artist to let the photographer know when you have created a painting inspired by their photo? It doesn’t happen automatically when you post a painting with a link.

All it takes is a grateful comment on the photo in question, to show your appreciation.

Keep those super-creative paintings coming. I love looking at them and who knows?.... your work may feature in my next article.

Lorna’s work can be seen here

http://lornawebber.blogspot.com/ and don’t forget to look her up on FaceBook https://www.facebook.com/LornaWebberVipond

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MEMBERS’ TOP TIPS

Andre Van De Sande View Andre’s gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Andre via PaintmyPhoto

Andre Van De Sande ‘Pansy Orchid’ - reference photo by Steven Meister

Members’ Top Tips - Needle Bottles Here is a great tip from one of our members that we thought was worth sharing with everyone - Thanks Andre!

I find these filler/needle bottles very helpful to dilute my watercolour paints, before I would use water from my bottle to wash the brushes.

By using these needle bottles I have more control over the amount of water I use and it’s always clean, You can use them to drop water into your wet paint onto the paper to achieve some effects, and even fill them with paint to squirt over your art work.

I found them quite cheap on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-x-E-Liquid-Needle-Tip-Dripper-Dropper-C...

They cost about £4 for 5 bottles and if you buy 10 you get 15 for £8.

They are available in in 5ml and 10ml sizes.

I just love using them.

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ART IN THE MAKING

David Stribbling View David’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact David via PaintMyPhoto

David Stribbling ‘Main Coone Painting - Original Reference Photo by Rachel Stribbling

The Eye of the Tiger Internationally renowned artist, David Stribbling, recently published his first e-book in which he shares ‘secrets’ that will help and inspire all budding wildlife artists.

Here is an excerpt from the book that David has generously shared with PaintMyPhoto members.

As always, the eye is an important part of the painting. In the reference photo, the tiger’s pupil is not really very visible. Photographs are often inferior to paintings and this is one reason! Without delving into a deep explanation, the fact is when we view a scene with our eyes they adjust to different areas of the view by focus, and also adjust to the light, whereas cameras are fixed to a single exposure.

You could study other tiger photos for details; here David relies on his experience. Without deviating too much from the reference image he nonetheless decides to include the pupil, and as he explains to us, a small highlight is added, which is a reflection from the rippling water.

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ART IN THE MAKING...

Demonstration by David Stribbling

The Eye of the Tiger

You now see the eye complete, the few eyelashes overlapping the darker part also enhance the effect. Notice how more blue is added to the ‘white’ stripes in shadow.

This photo shows a wider shot of David at work. Notice the slight angle of his board, the close placing of his reference image, with just a glance up he can see the area he is working on. The print is resting only lightly on the still wet surface, this is OK as oil paint only disturbs with sideways movement. He is adding, with dark thin paint first, the base of the whiskers.

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ART IN THE MAKING...

Demonstration by David Stribbling

The Eye of the Tiger

Here you can see David adding in some of the short white fur at the base of the whiskers. David pointed out here how the underpainting of burnt sienna acrylic helped with this section, and the area of broad white long fur to the right. By making this paint thinner some of the underpainting shows through, which creates a range of tones while only applying one color.

You can see that the tiger is now almost complete. Whiskers have been added with the rigger brush, and as before, this is applied with white paint made very ‘thin’ with the white spirit medium. At this point, as in the previous demonstrations, David takes a break and cleans his palette before tackling the background and environment.

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ART IN THE MAKING...

Demonstration by David Stribbling

The Eye of the Tiger

David’s finished painting of a tiger drinking

This is just a small excerpt from David’s fabulous book.

To see the full demonstration of this wonderful painting and others, why not treat yourself to his ebook? There are also bonus videos available on purchase.

It is available on Amazon for Kindle and other reading Apps, and is very reasonably priced!

USA Link UK Link For other countries search in the Kindle store. Please leave a review if you are able.

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FEATURED PAINTING

Sara Bardin View Sara’s gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Sara via PaintMyPhoto

Sara Bardin Our Winner!

‘Atlas Boy’

An Interview with Sara Bardin - Her Painting Features on the Cover 1. What would you like to tell us about yourself and your art? Did you have specific training in art, or are you a selftaught artist? Is there a particular medium or style that you like to work with most?

I have always loved to draw and paint. As far back as I can remember I was always drawing a boat on the water, rainbows or princesses. While I took art classes in high school and college, I was never formally trained in painting techniques. I have tried different painting media, and have found that acrylics best suit my style (unfortunately, I am allergic to components of oil paints).

2. Sara, as wiinner of the April 2014 challenge, "Flights of Fancy," we wondered what it was about the challenge of painting butterflies that caught your attention and gave you the inspiration to take up the challenge?

I generally paint portraits and flowers, but while perusing the PMP Gazania website I came across many flowers with butterflies and insects and I became inspired by them. When the April challenge was issued, I jumped at the chance to finally paint one, but I was unsure about entering it in the challenge, because of the approach I took. The wonderful comments from PMP members encouraged me to enter it.

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COVER FEATURE

An Interview with Sara Bardin

An Interview with Sara Bardin - Her Painting Features on the Cover 3. What made you decide to use Carrie Layne Mashon's reference photo of the Atlas Moth?

Why did you choose to paint it in acrylic? What do you like best about your winged creation?

The moment I saw the photo I knew I had to paint it. The colors were screaming at me. There were a few other pictures that I was interested in, but I kept going back to Carrie Layne Mashon's fabulous photograph.

Color is very important to my art, and the way this beautiful creature displays its colors made it impossible to pass up.

4. Do you have other hobbies that you enjoy besides art? When did you know that you wanted to pursue painting as a form of creative outlet?

I love to play tennis, practice yoga, and read, but nothing compares to the level of relaxation I can achieve through painting. In 2009, I started painting portraits of my daughters as a therapeutic release from the stress of everyday life. Shortly thereafter I began offering portraits to raise money for charity. Last year, painting became a full blown passion for me

Birds of Paradise

and I added floral paintings to my portfolio.

5. We are always interested in where art originates, sometimes artists work from the kitchen table...others have a studio. Still others paint out in the great wide open spaces!! Where do you create your beautiful art?

I live in Washington DC in an apartment. I paint in my bedroom in front of a large picture window that allows a lot of natural light.

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COVER FEATURE

An Interview with Sara Bardin

An Interview with Sara Bardin - Her Painting Features on the Cover 6. Have you shown and sold your art in galleries or online, and do you have a website that you would like to share with us?

I have only sold a few portraits so far. Currently, several of my pieces are being exhibited for sale at Well Being Massage in Dupont Circle in Washington DC. I also have a piece that is being exhibited at the Washington ArtsWorks in a juried exhibition.

My full portfolio can be found at: www.facebook.com/artbysarabardin

7. What are your thoughts about the great contribution of photos provided by our photographers in the main gallery for artists to use free of copyright?

I stumbled upon this website in March. I am amazed at how generous the photographers are.

The quality and amount of resources available are invaluable to artists like me.

Water Lillies

8. Since you have joined PMP, have you found the site to be of benefit to you in your art experience? What's your favorite thing about PMP? This site has been a huge benefit to my art. A few months ago I found myself continually searching for inspiration, now I have more projects queued up than I can possibly handle for the next year. Other than the abundance of beautiful photographs, it’s the sense of community and support that impresses me most.

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Last but not least...

A recommendation from the editor While on my travels around web-world, I happened upon a brilliant video on YouTube by artist Stan Miller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruazvqznIJg&list=UUw1PhINYrZcunZYrRWBahHg This is a portrait that I painted using his methodology - fantastic, I get to use all my favourite colours with wild abandon!

I used one of my own reference photos for this: http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/photo/captain-jack-sparrow He emphasises the importance of tonal values. It is very inspirational and I thoroughly recommend watching it to everyone.

Captain Jack Sparrow

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