How to take a picture.

I think the most common question I’m asked by clients is “What makes a good picture to draw from?” – And it’s a really good question!

I draw from photos.

So the truth is, the better the photo, the better the end product will be. So it is imperative to take time capturing, editing and picking the picture that best represents your animal. The truth is, the better the photo, the better the end product will be.

This includes your animals expression, position, colouring, lightness/darkness, exposure of your animals eyes and filters may look nice online, but sadly prove difficult to work with when drawn.

TIPs
Place ham or a treat over the top of your phone.
Lower yourself to your animals level so your phone is in line with their face and facial expressions.

Drawing from a poor reference photo:
• It takes longer to draw as I have to use “artistic licence” to fill in the gaps.
• It will never look as good as a picture drawn from an excellent reference photo.

Phone pictures are absolutely fine, but if you have the option of using a decent camera please use the camera. If you know someone who is obviously talented with a camera, ask them to take the photo for you. Try to avoid using portrait mode and the like on your phone, it can sometimes distort the image in the wrong places!

SCREENSHOTS and photos pulled from Facebook or Instagram 90% of the time are useless, the image is stripped of its quality. Please (if you can) track down the original photo.

FILTERS! Try not to send photos with distorted colours. The origional is always better to allow me to choose accurately colours.

Most importantly you MUST own the rights to the photo.

Below are examples of well taken reference photos from my own collection and clients photos.