Photo vs Life

There are artists who sit in studios and use reference photos and then there are artists who sit outside and paint the world in front of them

Real vs Gaming

I personally use reference photos to draw from as I have had many times where I have simply been too slow and careful with my work that my subject or scene has simply gone. For example sunsets disappear so quickly that you cannot capture the true beauty of it if you are a slow artist, just like me.

Ricardo Garduno draws from reference photos

With reference photos you can also easily draw grids to check things such as positioning and proportion. I draw lots of people such as actors and singers (my most recent piece is on One Direction) and to get the proportion of the faces, the position of the eyes, lips and nose just right, I use a grid. Not everyone likes using a grid though as some people draw it on too hard and then cannot get rid of the evidence when they complete the drawing itself. Some people also struggle with grids and photos compared to painting or drawing from life because they cannot see the 3D of the world in a photo. Artists sometimes prefer to sit outside the same time repeatedly till they compete a painting or a drawing of a landscape or even a person.

Rob Pointon paints from real life

Life can be difficult though, unless you are a quick artist. The world moves so quickly and yet so slowly that the moment can be gone within seconds. Doing art from life however can also have its benefits as you can compare the piece of art to the real thing or even get the correct colour by simply comparing it there and then. Doing art from life also gives artists the opportunities to show of their work and their process of their art as almost free advertising.

There are four types of artists in the world. Ones that like to draw from pictures. Ones that like to draw from real life. Ones that like to draw free hand or from memory. And ones who really don't care.

True Art?

What is the real definition of true art?

What is true art? Can it be described as an explosion?

There are thousands upon millions of definitions of what true art is, but it really depends on the person you talk to.

Is this true art?

There are also many different types of art which include everything from drawing and fine art to dance and music. Art is a general term for a way to release our emotions in a unique and interesting way. People within the world can specialize in one or more of these expressive arts at different or perhaps at the same time - some artists sing while they draw or paint and some dancers are able to perform drama in their dances. 

True art - "First of all, true art means producing art that is formed by its context and traditions. Good art shows an awareness of artistic traditions. There is always an element of inter-textuality in art - the appropriation and re-appropriation of other artistic artifacts and techniques. Art is an ongoing conversation. True are is aware of that conversation and therefore able to engage meaningfully in that conversation. True are, therefore, cannot be conducted in isolation from the wider culture. We may sometimes speak from the margins, but we cannot speak from the ghetto." - True Art Defined

My own art: A Copy

Personally, the definition of true art, and art itself is "the expression of human emotions through a variety of media" because that is simply the broad term for art. Any way you express your emotions, you can be showing art. For me, true art also has a background story; every single piece of art be that music, photos or a painting, when it had a background story not only does it make the art piece a lot more interesting but it adds value if people know about the story and if it is a good one too.

However there is also another side of art where you are simply copying photos and other drawings or paintings. Some people believe that this is not true art because it does not express emotion or anything else because it is simply a copy, but, and this is a big but, every single piece of art tells its own story even if it is a copy. It is a copy with a new background story, a copy that is technically a new piece because it is its own.

A copy is an original.

What are your definitions of true art?