Photo reference
Great article on the Princeton blog about Degas use of the first hand held camera to create photo reference imagery for his paintings of dancers. I’ve always been fascinated by classical artists use of emerging technology to help them in their work, from Vermeers use of an early camera obscura for capturing accurate perspective to Caravaggios employment of a similar technique to project his subjects onto what was apparently light sensitive materials (Mercury Salt) , which according to experts may be partially responsible for the extreme chiaroscuro look he achieved.
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I prefer to paint from life if I can but have been working from photographs more lately as my life schedule doesn’t allow me to go work with a model very often. It’s a fundamentally different experience but both seem to have their pros and cons. Working with the model can be very fulfilling but also expensive and of course requires scheduling, while I can pick up a photo at 2 in the morning when I find some time to paint and do my thing.
I would always encourage drawing and working from life as much as possible as you gain much information and muscle memory which will help you when working from photos later on. The photo tends to spell it all out while working from life you are focused on one area at a time, in and out of focus.
