Reference Images for Artworks

One of the key factors when creating art is to make it original. That's not so easy if you don't happen to have some kind of reference image to work with, but you might be surprised at the quantity of possible images you already have at your disposal on your phone or camera reel.

I am using this painting as an example as I took the reference photographs at the Bath & West Show - an unlikely venue to find scary horsemen and evil goats, but the photos I took were perfect to use in my final composition.

The trick is to look beyond the overall picture and see the potential it holds. No one will know what your original reference picture looks like (unless you post it like I am doing!) so you can make as many changes as you like. It can be far too easy to stick to the exact look of a photograph, when in fact your imagination can take it much further.

Even if your painting is taken from a photograph of a real place you can add or remove temporary elements such as people, cars, boats and so on. Sometimes it can be good to remove some of the 'clutter' in your images, such as trees or even buildings that may distract from the intended focus.

Using other people's images for reference can be fine in certain circumstances, but to really show off the originality in your artwork there is nothing like working with your own photographs and imagination.