please just an honest answer.

[mrstigre]

hello and thnk you ahead of time.
I am new to water coor and I like it very much. my entire family is artistic and have a different part of art that they are proficdfient in. my problem is that I am unable to get around on my own ( can't drive) so I rely on most of my drawings/paints to pictures from magazones and books). other's who lok at the painting are complekemtary about it until they find it came out of a book and then they change their attitude about it and say " you shouls really do the real thing" what is wrong with painting from a book? there is a certain challengr to doing that also ? others should no look down at the artist for doing it that way? am I wrong? please help me out? thank you

[mrstigre]

goodbye

[Joehtosis]

Uh.. If by goodbye you mean you're done waiting for an answer, you need to kinda chill, it's a forum, not a chat room. Might take a day or two for a response.

As for your original post, I say the major difference is getting an understanding of depth. I'm by no means someone who's experienced in still life at all, I'm still practicing at it and studying it, but I can say that you can't get the level of realism from photographs that you can from actual life. Not to mention many images today most likely go through some type of editing from software so you may not be getting the real image at all. (The importance of this probably varies.)

If you have mobility issues, just do what I do. Walk around, paint or draw what you see. It doesn't have to be anything fantastic, hell you could paint a bush, but you'll be doing it and all the while getting better.

Hope this was useful to you. =]

[Droid]

There is nothing wrong from drawing from a book, stuff like that is good for getting ref of landscapes you wouldn't normally see.

But even if you don't drive, you can draw from your window, or bring a sketchbook when you go on a trip/holiday.

Do whatever you want man, you're the artist.

;)

[KarylGilbertson]

Just practice from a book or whatever, get out and draw in your immediate surroundings too like Yowza said.

Once you're able to get out and drive on your own, do so and kick it up a notch.

That simple.

[Black Spot]

It's not what you paint, but if you can show some imagination while doing it.

Check out this (http://www.popfi.com/2009/09/14/painting-via-google-street-view/).

[CGMonkey]

The main problem with it being, someone else already made all the decisions for you regarding composition, value placement etc.

As someone said though, you're the artist -- it doesn't really matter what everybody think is "impressive".