Photo Reference

Photos are a big help, but you can’t take them too literally.

I wanted to paint a picture of an elegant gentleman scrubbing the teeth of a Baryonyx. But all I had available for a model was myself. So I grabbed some baggy pants and a long jacket and stood on the driveway with a push broom.

On its own, the photo is pretty lame. The shadows are too black. The legs appear too short. The coat hangs straight down in wrinkles that don’t describe any action. The pose needed a better sense of action and a clearer silhouette. Every photo is just a starting place, and the fun begins when you make departures from the facts they present.