untamedartists

I'd like to open a discussion thread here on the subject of how to get reference material, a tough challenge for many wildlife artists starting out. While most of us probably started copying amazing photos from our favourite wildlife books that isn't the right way to go about it.

How do you source material? What do you use? Do you work mainly from photos? Perhaps you prefer to rely on field sketches to capture the essence of the animal. How about video? Lets look at what works for each of us.

Personally I use a multitude of media and sources for my reference material. Countless trips to my local zoos and wildlife parks have resulted in thousands and thousands of photos from my trusty camera. Not all of them are of great quality but I can always find elements useful. Maybe I've a got a photo where the subject has moved from my focal distance but the background elements are just what I'm looking for to set the mood of the work.
Some of my favourite pieces have been done from sub-par photos. "The eyes have it" was done from an out of focus photo that captured the intensity of the cat with sharing any of the detail. Using field sketches and other reference images I was able to work out the hair directions for the close crop to bring it to life. I also found changing the composition from the references handy and recommend anyone to look at different crops and layouts when starting a new work.



Then with my recent work, "Dingo Spirit" I composed the image using multiple references. I took a reference from a local wildlife park and then hunted through my library for an outback scene to suit it. A rough cut in Photoshop gave an good idea of the finished composition and a little clean up and adjustment of colour casts got me completely ready to get to work. I followed this with some quick charcoal sketches of the dingo a familiarize myself before getting onto the real work.
This preliminary stuff made a big difference once I reached the board as all the problems had been sorted before I started, allowing me to work with complete confidence and clear vision.



Video is another avenue I've been adding to my arsenal of late. By viewing footage of my subject in conjunction with my other reference sources I'm able to capture movement more effectively. I used this when working on "Hanging around".



Let us know what works for you...

Hello, I'm new so this is my first post. I also go to many zoos and places of the sort to get most of my source material. Many of my friends are also zoo junkies so if they get something that I love, they are always happy to let me paint it. For me, the picture doesn't have to be perfect, just useable. I just bought my first digital camera which allows me to take many photos without worrying about the cost of developing lots of film. I still love my film camera but I have used a number of photos which have been less than perfect because the animal has moved. I do get a number of comments from people at shows asking if I paint from life. I just tell them that the animals aren't that patient.

Welcome to the forums! Painting from life is a major challenge but if you can down a few lines to pick up the gesture it's so much easier to create a portrayal of that animal.

Hi leash_wish, welcome!!

I'm way to fussy to work from life! I'm sure it would improve things over time and I would learn a lot but. For the most part since I am going to zoos and such, I don't think I could paint while having some kid banging on the glass at the animal.

Hello back Patrick. We've chatted on Wet Canvas briefly, I recently painted the wrinkly elephant close up.

Yes I know. I commented on how cool your website looked - and it does!!