Wet Canvas How to Upload to Reference Library

I've been creating and pedagogy art for several years and dear helping new artists grow and find their own vox.

Yous can await to other photographers' piece of work as inspiration equally long equally you follow a few important guidelines.

Photo by Tobias Negele on Unsplash

This commodity will assistance you navigate the often catchy world of knowing how to use photographic references for your art pieces (such as painting or drawing) without violating copyright.

In This Article

• The stages of an creative person'southward growth.
• Where to find great photo references.
• A primer on what constitutes copyright infringement.
• An breakdown of how I referenced a cat photo simply fabricated the resulting painting my own.
• Tips and tricks for the developing artist.

The Stages of an Artist'south Growth

Here's a quick summary of the general stages of a person's growth when they're trying to get a great artist:

Beginner: Developing Your Bones Skills

When y'all're learning to draw, there is a stage where you're but not capable of violating anyone's copyright, as long every bit you're doing information technology freehand. You can't get the likeness, your drawing has some serious distortions, and whatsoever experienced artist is probably moved to teach you the skills you lot haven't adult still.

Very ofttimes, beginner drawings are the stylized symbols of what they see in the photo reference. If yous saw a stick man with curly springs for hair, you would not think it violated the copyright of the moving-picture show studio that took a good photo of Captain Jack Sparrow.

Intermediate: Navigating Your Evolving Skills and Abilities

The skill of altering images does not come up fast or easy. There'south a difficult, painful stage in learning to draw realistically that begins with accurate tracing and tin be washed even past very new beginners. It generally ends when you eventually understand the anatomy of a human confront, a true cat's torso, a horse, or a mural well enough to merrily alter the angle of the sunlight, the color of the shadows, the creatures around the focal signal, the composition, and everything else until your original art cannot exist seen as derivative.

This is actually the heart of copyright violation—when y'all're piggybacking someone else'southward greater skill and taking credit for something you can't do well yet.

Advanced: Knowing How to Make It Your Own

A professional or very skilled amateur artist, however, volition practice the sorts of things I advise in this article:

• Combine several references.
• Change the composition.
• Flip information technology and mirror opposite it.
• Change the expression.
• Change the lighting.
• Make upwards office of it.

That takes a lot of skill. But in the end, you lot have an artwork that fifty-fifty the photographer would have trouble recognizing. And yous are non actually ripping off Hallmark for that cute kitten leaning on a puppy if you put in a puppy from a unlike card and then pose them on your couch or the lap of your baby instead of the background on the Hallmark card.

"This is actually the heart of copyright violation—when you lot're piggybacking someone else's greater skill and taking credit for something you can't exercise well nonetheless."

Where to Notice Great Photograph References

If you pick a photograph from a source similar National Geographic, it's likely to accept stunning composition, skilful focus, an interesting subject, and slap-up color. But non only do you not initially have the rights to use it, only you are also probably contacting a photographer who gets paid two or three figures for any use of their images. And if you exercise, you'll get quoted a price out of the range of most beginning artists—perhaps also with restrictions like "don't sell the resulting fine art."

Yous'll do far meliorate to seek Artistic Commons photos from their originators and ask nicely, or just follow the instructions for how to attribute the derivative works you created from them.

Here are some suggestions of where to await for great photo references when you're learning how to draw:

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Tutorial Guides

If an artist copies from something like a North Lite Books' tutorial demonstration of wings, adds their ain equus caballus, and makes other changes, no one would heed. Because like my tutorials, how-to-describe books put in sketches specifically to be copied. Even if permission is given though, attribution is polite—and it can comprehend y'all legally if the status of that original sketch changes.

Older Source Material

The age of the original tin can matter. One solution is looking for older drawings to copy. Vintage realism is a practiced example, or everything from Leonardo da Vinci's drawings on up to 19th century engravings. Many of these older artists were very proficient at things like equus caballus anatomy or the faces of young girls in mannerly styles, and these artists' work is now in the public domain.

Prune Art

You can also purchase clip art to use. This is legal and excellent. Copying clip art is fine—that'due south what it'due south for—but be sure you lot know where you got it. The all-time clip art sources are reputable large publishers doing collections that have been doing business concern for some fourth dimension. (The only reason you have to pay for the prune art books published by Dover is because its editor collected all of them and copied them and put the collection together.) A wing-past-night Internet visitor with lots of cute drawings and photos that look far more contemporary, withal, may have been doing mass copyright infringement on thousands of amateurs who posted their fine art online.

Wikipedia

Many of Wikipedia's photos have Creative Commons attributions. Click on information technology to see what'southward allowed or not and go the spelling right for the attribution. This includes photos of works out of copyright such every bit Leonardo da Vinci's sketches.

Museums

Contacting a museum, yous can sometimes get rights to reference various works, but fees vary from nominal to extreme depending on whether and how you want to publish it. Or yous can visit a museum yourself, copy what drawings they have on display while there under any rules the museum has for copying their exhibits. That does not violate copyright as long as the works are older than 75 years past the artist's decease.

DeviantArt

Bring together art communities similar DeviantArt and look for practiced photograph blogs. Brand friends with talented amateurs. Then ask nicely when y'all find an image you lot want to use. Be sure to offering attribution and a link to their original image when you mail it to the community. And if you want to sell the art, tell them. This is 1 of the best sources for free images.

DeviantArt has many clubs, one of the most useful of which is called "Unrestricted Stock." It is of great involvement to artists in the "must copy exactly or it turns out bad" phase of development. If you download any of their reference packs, you have beautiful images y'all can photomanipulate, decorate your website with, draw from, and create any derivative works you desire. As long as you don't claim y'all took the photo, you're practiced. The club is small, and the original photographers donate their work in order to get more than visibility.

I avoid using whatsoever photos where the creative person says you tin't sell the art, however, because I never know when or if I'll sell any drawing or painting I did (including what's in the center of a sketchbook). Taking the risk to make something from this kind of source textile can be a waste material of my fourth dimension, since the photographer may no longer exist a fellow member of DeviantArt at the time someone makes an offer. I endeavor to stick to the "very careful" side of things and get permission specifically from my photographers—and make friends with several whose works I especially like to work from.

WetCanvas

WetCanvas is another online art community and has an enormous Reference Image Library, which is free to use without attribution or anything special. And then far, the RIL is the biggest source of complimentary-to-use images I've found online. If you reference something from the site, however, y'all should link to the photograph or at least mention it's from the RIL and attribute it. I always do this, whether that'south in the rules or not. Simply the master rule is strict—you have to really join the community to apply the photos.

At What Point Does It Count every bit Copyright Infringement?

Look at the bad sketch of a woolly rhinoceros near the bottom of the article. I'm non very experienced with doing rhinoceroses, either extinct or modern. I did it from imagination, inspired by the book I'thousand editing and the book I'm reading. This is what I get for all my skill at animal cartoon when I oasis't ever seen the living fauna and oasis't seen its living relatives since I was a kid taken to zoos. I didn't even re-create the famous Charles R. Knight, any great fauna artists, or the painters of the caves.

I ain a copy of Walking With Beasts. It'south very tempting to only pop information technology in, run the episode that has woolly rhinos in it, pause on scenes with the animals until I notice a good frame, and use that for a reference. I don't accept permission from the BBC, and those individual frames from a video are part of a collaborative work involving many artists—the ones that drew the rhino, including the long-dead Pleistocene artists, the ones that built and moved the models, and the ones that did the CGI work. At that place'southward no one to aspect, and no personal friend to ask, "Hey, tin can I apply a frame out of your flick?"

But I might not get defenseless since information technology is merely i frame out of a moving picture—except to the model builder perchance, or the cameraman, or i of the editors who recognizes that frame and remembers choosing to continue it instead of the ones that wound upwards on the cutting room floor.

I might some fourth dimension run the video, expect at the picture show, not terminate it, and effort to draw while it's moving. This is then close to cartoon animals from life that I probably wouldn't become it accurate enough to exist recognizable—but I'd get likewise shut if I freeze-framed. That's at my nowadays level of skill.

If I drew a dozen modern rhinos, copied the Charles R. Knight illustration from his Animal Drawing: Beefcake and Activity for Artists, altered information technology, used information technology as a reference in the style intended, I might get to the point where my woolly rhinos started looking as practiced equally the cats I practice from imagination. I might get to the point where I could put one into a pose I've got no references for, and it'd be recognizable by species. That'll be fun and I might do it someday.

Referencing My Work

Some things are very clear cut. If you steal an image from one of my articles or one of my websites, for instance, and you repost the photo or scan—either claiming you took the photograph or drew the art or both—then y'all definitely violated my copyright.

On some images, peculiarly photos and the sketches in tutorials, I have given explicit permission for other artists to draw from my images. Merely I usually desire credit—such as "drawn by robertsloan2 from DeviantArt"—and if possible a link to where you lot found it or a link to the tutorial. I'd like to know if only considering I dear seeing how my tutorials might be helping people grow as an artist!

I often give specific permissions like that, such as: "Y'all can download my sketch and color information technology either using these colors or whatsoever X shades from light to dark that you fancy." Specially in tutorials, that'southward of import. The lesson is most coloring and shading, non about how to trace a rose exactly from a photograph reference or sketch it from a photograph reference.

Here is i of my Norwegian Wood true cat pieces based on a photograph past DeviantArt member Wazabees.

Robert A. Sloan, via DeviantArt

How I Painted the Norwegian Forest True cat

I of my friends is a Norwegian lensman, Fredrik Loevik, who goes past the DeviantArt screen name of Wazabees. I asked permission several times for different true cat and kitten photos, got to know him, and he'due south been my friend for years. He loved all of his cats and made sure every one of his kittens got a practiced abode—and he loves seeing my latest paintings and drawings of his cats. I created the above painting with his permission based on i of his cats, Astonish.

Even though I could have painted Amaze exactly as he was photographed, I accept been getting in the habit of irresolute references so much and accept done cats so often that I seriously altered the image. I changed the composition past cropping. I changed the colour of the background to greenish. And since Fredrik photographed Astonish on a peach-colored cat tree, I reflected light-green everywhere that there were pink reflections on the cat's white fur (for the sake of realism). I had a theme in listen: show a Norwegian Forest true cat in a wood. So I created a stump from retention of many chopped-off trees and posed him on it.

I besides aged him a lilliputian. Though I was working freehand and intuitively, I all the same got the likeness, but I shifted his facial expression and mood a lilliputian. I discover information technology hard at present to re-create a reference exactly. I can get the likeness, but my own eye has improved to the point where what I want to say with my painting isn't what the photographer wanted to say with the photo.

That skill level comes to everyone in time if you go on at information technology—simply tracing and exact copying help bring it almost. This is peculiarly true if yous become from tracing to attempting freehand drawing and then attempt to amend on the images or combine lots of them.

Great Techniques and Advice to Help You Grow as an Artist

Hither are only a scattering of tips and techniques—every bit well as all-time practices—to help y'all grow as an artist:

Have Your Own Photos

You can get a digital camera and have your ain photos. This will give yous infinite unending "film," and with practice you will get good photos. Not but that, but it'll aid you lot larn composition too. That is the safest way to piece of work from photos. Just if yous're a new artist and non a photographer, your photos may accept as many flaws as your drawings. (This is where using photos in the Reference Epitome Library comes in really handy, since many of them are from artists who've been taking reference photos for decades.)

Seek Guidance From Teachers and Professionals

Y'all'll notice free classes at every level, from ultra-beginner to master, to help artists draw from life or photos or even from their imaginations. Sometimes the authors of Due north Low-cal books may comment and aid, particularly if they're hosting a class or project. There's nothing like being able to ask the writer to analyze something!

Make Sure to Confirm Who the Original Creator of the Reference Is

Always exist sure y'all're talking to the existent lensman of a reference image, rather than a ripoff artist. If yous use a photograph given to you by a plagiarist, then you lot could also exist liable. Virtually of the fourth dimension the penalties are more social—y'all can get banned from the community—only you can also be hit with heavy fines and jail fourth dimension if yous're non careful.

So stick to the ones yous trust, whom you lot know are the originators of the images you use. Family members may provide practiced photos, simply be sure to get permission merely as if you didn't know them. The dispute could plough ugly.

Notation the Terms of Employ for Each Image You Reference

Pay attending to the specific terms and note them for every image you lot use. One photographer mentioned on her blog: "Experience costless to utilize my photos to draw from. I appreciate attribution but please do Not mention my real name or my handle in whatsoever eBay listings for your art created from my photos."

Much as attribution is my addiction, I will not ever mention where I got the reference if I sell something I did from 1 of hers on eBay. I don't know and don't want to know why she doesn't want her proper name mentioned on eBay. It's none of my business organisation. But it'south her right—that'south what copyright means—to decide things like that and be that specific.

Creative Eatables licensing has several variations. Wikipedia and Lulu and many art communities as well suggest you list images with varieties of Creative Commons permissions—allowing you lot to split the specific permissions yous requite and those you don't on a template of good legal linguistic communication for sharing images and works. These are great because you don't demand to contact the owner, and they're convenient if you want to share images of your own.

Be an Active Participant in the Customs

Information technology's also good course in a community where people are sharing like the RIL to reciprocate with some of your all-time photos and give something back. It's not required and you may non even own a improve photographic camera than a webcam, just information technology is nice.

Many good photographers are apprentice and are but grateful that an artist is interested in working from their images. It's also good form after getting permission and attribution to link to your postal service with your fine art and allow them see what yous drew, even if they didn't inquire you to. That'southward one of the ways to build a practiced, lasting creative collaboration like my Norwegian Forest cats series with Fredrik Loevik. I haven't come close to painting all of his kittens yet. But when I exercise, I know I'll be a far better painter than I am at present and almost feel as if I knew those cats in person from all the times nosotros've talked.

Change It Enough to Make It Original

Better safe than deplorable. Go permission, use public domain sources, and never just employ photos from magazines—even ads—without changing it enough so that information technology'southward definitely its ain original work and not easy to tell what went into information technology. If y'all become to where it's impossible to tell, so all the references open upward and you're only getting ideas from a reference without actually copying anything. It does non violate copyright to check a photo of a bird of paradise to see what its markings are so pigment a bird you put into the pose you saw out on your tree. Or check the stripes on one tiger and put them on your tabby for fun. That'south the sort of thing so original no one could really even figure out whose tiger photo you got the stripes from, and it would never be mistaken for the original.

That is a big part of non copying the cute kitten-and-puppy pose from a Hallmark card. The combined elements of the epitome—the animals, the attempt getting them into that pose without them licking their rear ends or fighting, the lighting, the setting—were a lot of work for that photographer and finally paid off with a expert payment from Hallmark and an image that lucked out and got famous. And if yous copy that exactly in graphite, the grabbiness of the photo and the results of graphite realism will mean you're riding the photographer's work.

Be Careful of Photo Distortion

Hither'due south another point to ponder and 1 that I only understood recently. Photos distort. Cylinders with liquid in them, like a row of glasses of water, volition wind up curving with a slight fisheye result and non be truthful to grade. One photorealist copied his reference (his own great photograph) then carefully that a photography expert looked at the mural-sized painting and found a .JPEG artifact—some colors that came in because it pixelated and could only take happened in a digital photograph. Information technology was a grand piece, and the photo was as practiced every bit the painting. The artist was a true original.

But your eye and hand are capable of far more a camera tin can accomplish. A camera is limited by reality. You're not. You lot tin turn the foal into a baby unicorn or put wings on its dam for a Pegasus. You can practice improve as you get a better and more accurate observer. Y'all can make a pitiful child grinning or turn a kitten into a tigress. That's worth working toward, considering no one can requite y'all a proficient photo reference of a dragon.

The "copying" stage of portraiture and realism is of import as a learning tool most of all, and I have null against artists selling journeyman piece of work. But that's what it is. It's not however masterful until you grow beyond it. It's worth something, just not gallery prices—withal.

Hither is my Woolly Rhino ane sketch, using Derwent drawing pencils on paper. Don't copy this, it's not fifty-fifty accurate.

Robert A. Sloan

Mix It Upward by Drawing From Retentiveness

This bad drawing is an important step on the way to my cartoon practiced mammoths. Every time I do one of these, I wait at it and clarify what went incorrect.

Then if you lot're practicing past tracing and copying photos, give yourself permission to do some of them from memory without looking at the reference. Y'all won't violate copyright and will somewhen build up your skills to the point that someday you'll be able to convey the images in your head and portray them on a canvas so that anyone can see them.

Until then, expect for good references that requite permission explicitly and keep drawing.

Susanna on August 08, 2020:

If I accept my own photos of animals at a zoo or a safari or a farm, can I so draw the animals as they are on the photo or do I need to alter them?

Dale Anderson from The High Seas on May 02, 2018:

This was interesting and a topic I don't think I would ever take dreamed up. Dainty work.

bushraib on April 26, 2018:

As an creative person myself, I often employ reference pictures. I managed to find certain sites that will requite u a gratis trial for whatever catamenia of time, in which you can download a certain amount of pictures of your choice to use every bit a reference. Those are completely royalty free and crawly for using, I believe Lachri Fine Fine art suggests one. Also, sometimes I will just use Google Images, and I change the photo enough in my artwork that information technology does not have an event with the copyrights. Good article!

BBYCGN from Uninhabited Regions on October 05, 2017:

Hello,

Thank you for your article. How do I know which pictures I tin can use for my Hubpages poesy posts?

Bobby on July xiv, 2017:

Wait so... You can't own or copyright poses, just y'all nevertheless have to inquire to utilise them?

Cooper Harrison from San Francisco, CA on April 21, 2017:

So much item hither - thank you.

adeveloper on Feb eleven, 2016:

If I brand a photograph about my poo and put it on the web and you create a sketch about it and put information technology on your site you take just violated my copyrights. How icky you are y'all see. And how I hate every participant of the art creation chain you wrote.

a developer

WickedCats on September sixteen, 2014:

At the moment, I do drawings from photos I find on the cyberspace. What I do is a line cartoon, with a pen. Then, within that drawing, I add other designs. Would my using, simply the line image exist infringing on the copyright? In theory and then, by taking your suggestions, if I wanted to practise a line cartoon of a dog, I would reference several pictures of dogs, and apply a little from each photo, this creating my own image.

Hartwell on December ten, 2013:

There are enough of places on the web to get references that are copyright free, then you don't accept to worry most stuff like this. Mural photos are the easiest to get, and are bachelor on complimentary sites.

Practiced effigy reference and photos of people are less common on free sites (considering of model release), but you lot tin can become quality images from places like http://www.posevault.com and http://world wide web.istockphoto.com for VERY fiddling money.

Inkster on November eleven, 2013:

i'm doing a small newsletter simply for my eight grandkids, and using photos of each one. There is i professional and I'yard concerned whether just attribution is enough. Practice I demand the photog'south permission? I've worked with copyright concerns for years in my own work, merely am stymied about this. Any feedback useful.

anita on Apr 08, 2012:

howdy I am in ireland and am thinkin of setting up my ain card concern, thing is i am finding it hard to contact the original owners of a few photos id like to use on my cards. My captions on the cards would be the selling indicate rather than the paradigm. I have tried the free image sites just the pictures are crap. would you take whatever idea of what I could do please.

KDee411 from Bay Surface area, California on February eighteen, 2012:

Wow your very good, I'll come back for more

Voted up

Kay

corporate photographer in London on August 01, 2011:

I'm always finding my stuff on other's sites. I've plant a expert way is to put a strange tag on each epitome, a weired discussion or a series of messages, and then yous tin can gear up a google aleart and anytime google finds something with that img tag yous get a electronic mail.

starreviewer from CT, USA on September 02, 2010:

Didn't know that taking a picture reference and creating your own was an infringement. thank you for sharing this information.

Sophie on August 19, 2010:

Cheers soo much!! this info has been really helpful.

I was wondering if I could somehow contact you or send you an e-mail??

jill of alltrades from Philippines on July 27, 2010:

What a highly informational hub! I learned so much here.

Thank yous very much for sharing!

God bless!

skillup on June 08, 2010:

Thank you for taking the time to write this article. It was interesting reading about your experience in using photo references.

baby on March sixteen, 2010:

so how about taking an image (jpeg) from the net and live tracing it in illustrator and the combining elements of it into your own design? is this copyright violation???

Cherri Brownish-Jett from Richmond on March 04, 2010:

Thank you for writing this hub. My thought of copywrite infringement was all wrong. Thanks for the enlightment.

stewartcarmseepan.blogspot.com

Source: https://feltmagnet.com/photography/How-To-Use-Photo-References-Without-Violating-Copyright

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