A photo has already processed the 3d to 2d which is what drawing generally is, it has already done the interesting part of the process. When you draw from a photo you are not exploring the shapes in the same way as drawing from life so the drawing is generally less dynamic. Some artists like Alex Ross use the frozen in…
When people start drawing they draw things as though they are flat. Copying from a photo as a beginner makes it harder to see the underlying primary shapes. You can see it in Byzantine art, no perspective or depth suggestion. People who draw well search for underlying forms and can use photos as reference because they…
I keep hearing this, usually from the more experienced and credible artists. Can anyone explain the differences to me? Confusingly, I see many contemporary artists rely on photos for studying. I'm really interested in hearing Polycount's perspective on this matter. Thanks
Other than what other people said, a lot of decisions have also been made in the photo already which would probably influence you differently than drawing from life and figuring out certain elements on your own; such as the composition, lighting, angle, and pose. Of course photos are by no means bad however, there are many…
Okay, it's nice to see there is somewhat of a consensus on the matter. I think I've always been biased towards whatever is convenient to study over what's actually profitable to study. (I didn't know any better!) So life drawing is the end all? Nude models? I guess my new question is, how often do you go to figure drawing…
Also with a photo your ultimate end goal would be to have a drawing that looks exactly like the photo. With a drawing of something from real life, you have to figure out the composition, how the colors translate onto the paper, what's the most important thing for you to capture, etc.
As it was explained by one of my life drawing professors - as you're looking at something in real life and your head is bouncing around as you draw causing tiny perspective shifts (not to mention having 2 eyes for depth perception) you get a better feel for the object in space then you would if it had already been…
Well that depends. For example if a novice, I wouldn't personally recommend drawing from life initially, simply because without the ability to draw in 2D, it would be counter intuitive too say the very least, a beginner will be able to interpret and/or execute in 3D by drawing the nude human form [ typically ] in its…
The most major issue I find is that Photos don't self-correct perspective distortion like your eyes do when you're looking at something in real life. The more experienced you get with drawing from life, the more you can recognize these issues in photos and use them as reference without copying the bad parts into your…