Portrait Photos

[Riiroi]

I'm currently in the midst of doing some portrait studies from the masters but would like to try out some photo studies as well.

However, I've heard that some photos, especially those used for commercials and advertisements, have false lighting and are bad to do studies from.

As such, am wondering what kinds of photos I should use and what kinds I should avoid as I do not want to fall into a trap.

Thank You.

[bjoern3000]

Hey.

Read about Rembrand Lighting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt_lighting

[Riiroi]

Whoa, thanks for that interesting link. I didn't know such a thing existed.

I don't really see it in some of Sargent's Portraits that I've done studies of though.

Does this mean that I should fake the lighting on photos I find on the net as well when painting from them?

Edit: I just looked at one of Bouguereau's portraits and realized that her entire face is fully lit with minimal shadows like those seen in commercials and ads. Does this mean that its okay to do studies from these sources as well?

[bjoern3000]

Light follows the form. A fully lit face (like in a flash picture - flash coming from the front) will result in a round face and all characteristics will disappear.

In nature we are used to light coming from one source - the sun. So we recognise things better since then their forms are described with light and shadow. (EDIT: we wouldn´t recognise a cover girl walking on the street. We just recognise her on the covers but when we see her with all her characteristic elements in her face, described by light AND shadow, we hardly would recognise her)

Sargent and Bougie didn´t work with flash lights - this is for sure. They worked with more subtle transitions than Rembrand. Rembrand created very dramatic effects with light while Bougie used much softer light - but it was always light coming from one main source.

[Spirit]

If you want to do some photograph studies, I have a suggestion. Very surprisingly, deviantart has some very good portraits, some with great lighting in the photography section. It's worth a look if you are after photographs from other sources apart from magazines (as they are probably 90% airbrush anyway)

[sfa]

Riiroi:

Use these for studies.

http://www.doctormacro1.info/

Happy drawing.

[Riiroi]

Thanks for the link sfa. Actually, I was thinking more of images like these.

http://xrayvision.today.com/files/2009/07/natalie-portman-bald.jpg

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o20/u_pertz17/NATALIE%20PORTMAN/Portman_sd7.jpg

http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/tt63/daemons666/natalie_portman15.jpg

Are they any good to do studies of?

[bjoern3000]

No. 1 - definetly not good for this purpose
No. 2 - Highlights and Midtones are ok, but there are no shadows
No. 3 - Shadows are - hmmmmm.... ok - but there is no Midtone. Everything in the light is highlight.
A combination of 2 and 3 would be ok but it would not be the best and also not mediocre.

But actually - read what has been written in this thread and you can answer yourself. Don´t stick on these pics. Forget these images and use the link of sfa. ;)

[Noah Bradley]

For learning purposes look for photos with a single, clear light source. It defines the form most clearly.