Creative Artist - Issue 10_

Getting the

Best References

A

s a wildlife artist, I do a lot of

sketching, whether it be at my local

zoo or out in the wild. Sketching

hones your drawing skills and makes

your inal pieces of artwork much fresher

and more believable. However, for those

inal pieces I do tend to work a lot from

photographs. When I irst started out, I

would use whatever references I could ind,

since I wasn’t selling any work. It didn’t

matter that I may have used a photograph

from a magazine because the art was

purely for my own pleasure. However, since

becoming a professional artist, I’ve made

some rules for myself including that I only

use my own photographs.

Let’s irst deal with those people who

can’t get their own references for whatever

reason. Some people may be housebound;

others may not live near wild places or

a zoo or be too nervous to ask people

to pose for photographs. I never think

these people should be excluded from

wildlife or portrait art simply because

they can’t get their own photographs.

However, if you want to sell art derived

from someone else’s photos, you must get

their permission. There are many photo-

sharing websites on the internet where

photographers, simply by putting their

pictures there, are allowing you to use

them. My suggestion is to still let them

know you are using a particular photo,

and if you can’t contact them, deinitely

give them credit for the reference. If you

see a photo elsewhere, whether on the

internet or not, it is imperative that you

get permission to use it. Try to email

the photographer. If you have no way

of contacting him or her, do not use the

photo. If you do contact him or her, and

you get no response, do not use the

photograph. If the response you get is that

you can use it but not for personal gain,

do not use the photo – you may forget in

years to come and sell the piece without

realising what you’ve done. Copyright laws

are strict.

Crocodile

TOOLS BY PATRICK HEDGES

66 artists