Painting from a Monitor instead of a Print
 

I recently followed some great advice I got and decided to stop using prints when I paint from photos.

Apple has just come out with a new line of monitors that work with both Macs and PCs. I just got the Apple 20 inch flat screen monitor and it works great with my PC. The monitor image is much cleaner, colors are more accurate, and you get much more visual info than you would get out of most prints - especially in the shadow areas.

With my new Canon D10 as my camera, and this monitor to display my reference, I am good to go when I paint from photos.

Other artists agree
 

When Michael Shane Neal was giving a presentation for the Portrait Society of Atlanta, he was very enthusiastic about this idea. He said he was planning to set his computer up in the studio and work directly from the monitor.

One thing he planned to do was build a black box-like structure around his monitor so that he could see the colors more clearly yet still be able to work in daylight. This idea is similar to something I saw in an older video: the artist used a slide projector, projected her image onto a small screen and surrounded the screen with a box, lined in black material.

Hello Julie, thanks for your thoughtful reply. :)

It is interesting to see that this leap in technology is spreading in our industry. I know of about 6 artists who have converted to painting with a monitor as their reference.

The interesting thing about this Apple monitor is that I think I will not even need to build the black box. The screen is amazingly non-reflective and since it is an LCD monitor, you don't really loose your colors in light or even when viewing at an angle. I have two commissions right now that I will be using it on for the first time. It will be interesting to see how it performs and to have the opportunity to perfect the distance from my easel, the angles to the easel, etc.

Hi Michael,
I have been using this method to do my latest 4-5 portraits.

I placed the labtop by the side of the easel about the same hight as the painting. It works fine, almost as looking at a live model.

But the value range is much wider than what can be achieved on a 2D canvas, because you look at real light, in the monitor, and not a reflection of light from a photo.

I mean , that you can actually paint the values that you see on a flat photo, but not all the values from a monitor !!!!

Also it is not possible to compare values , say on a colorcard, to the values on the monitor, by holding the card up in front of it. Even a white card will look almost black. You have to decide the relative value by pure vision.

Or do you have a solution on that problem?

Allan

Garth's Solution
 

Hi Michael,

Congratulations on your gorgeous new monitor! I think you made an excellent choice.

I have been painting from a monitor for four years. I got my Apple Studio Display two years ago which was a tremendous improvement over my old CRT monitor. I personally rate Apple Studio Displays as the best available, especially the new generation like your's. Since my monitor is of the previous generation, it is only compatible with a Macintosh computer.

Since mine doesn't tilt like yours, and I needed it to tilt, my solution was to attach it to a very heavy duty 1950's movie camera tripod, which is quite sturdy and portable. A great benefit is that I can adjust the height of the monitor from 3 feet (1 meter) to 8.5 feet (2.55 meters). This enables me to always have the monitor at a comfortable viewing height.

Actually I am returning to the use of reference prints in conjunction with the monitor. I can do a lot of work from the print and save the monitor from overuse. The prints are calibrated to the exact values I intend to use.

Pictured below is my setup on the tripod.

Allan: The round disk is my gray reference scale calibrated to Photoshop Lab Color. This is my way around the problem you just described.

Michael: As you can see, I have used your olive green studio paint recipe (but I forgot which thread it was that you mentioned it). Thanks for the tip! Also we can visually compare the Photoshop interfaces in both PC (in your photo above) and Mac (in my photo).

Garth

Garth,

Interesting to see your tools.

Actually I got the idea of using the monitor, directly as reference, from you, when mentioned in a tread somewhere.

As I understand it, you measure from the monitor by pointing with the arrow (mouse) and get a code that referrers to a value on your round card. With the card you can compare with the color/value you are painting, right?

Allan

Right!

Allan, I generally only need to refer to it a few times. After a few initial comparisons, most the values seem to fall into place with visual comparison. But it does help me to get onto the right value path sooner.

Garth

PS: You know, it is kind of weird standing at my computer monitor while working at my easel and looking at a photo of the same in my previous post!

Michael, I looked at those lovely monitors too. They are the first generation of "flat" screens that are actually good for artist, is this what Bill is using too?

My questions is; since they are measured on the diagonal, are you finding the size hard to work with. Do you have to scroll with the reference full size to your canvas, or do you keep your image smaller. On my PowerBook, it frustrates me having to scroll, especially when I am trying to protect my keyboard if using pastels.

Thanks, Beth

Hello Beth:

Thus far, no problems. The monitor measures 10.75 on the vertical. You might have to scroll a bit, but the benefits far outweigh the slight inconvenience of having to scroll around the image, IMO.

Allan: I too have a grayscale that I use to try to judge what I am getting out of my reference. The nice thing that I will be doing in the future is setting the model up, taking my shots, selecting the best one, and then pulling that shot into PS and color correcting it while comparing it to the model - to get it as close to life as I can.

Garth: Glad this is working so well for you! It is nice to hear that others have had success with it. In our business, we cannot always get the person to pose for the whole portrait from life. Thus it becomes imperative that we use the very best reference we can get outside of the live person. I think this is a major step up from using printed reference. :)

I've been using our old computer and old CRT monitor in my studio for a few months now. I've also found, however, that the images on the Dell LCD monitor of our main computer are far superior to any print I've been able to create. While the CRT monitor is a far cry from our LCD monitor, it's still convenient. It's nice to be able to enlarge or shrink the image at will, and not have the expense of printing out copies. Thanks for showing your setup Garth.

Holly

What's new from Apple - 30 inches!
 

Elizabeth, and everyone,

The new Apple monitors come as large as 30 inches (less scrolling; see the whole width of your portrait at once)!!! But they are probably too expensive and precious to use at an easel, at least for most of us. It's okay to dream of having one, isn't it?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....2.1.3.0.0.1.0

Another option to consider is the all-new iMac G5. This is a self contained 2 inch thick machine with a built in flatscreen 17 inch or 20 inch display:

http://www.apple.com/imac/

Garth

This winter I bought a Sony Viao laptop, which I set next to my easel and use as reference instead of prints. I still make prints, but as a complement to the laptop. I have black and white and other variations all on file, and so can flip amongst them as needed. Having multiple versions I think helps me break free from just "copying" too literally any one version.

I completely love it. It is much more accurate and flexible than using prints alone. I particularly like being able to zoom in at out as I work through the canvas. I also like that I can just turn the image off altogether, and paint without any references - just concentrate on the painting by itself and work on it as you see in front of you.

Another bonus is that this has dramatically cut down on my printing costs (photo paper is expensive!) and the HOURS of wasted labor getting prints that are satisfactory to use.

I bought the sony viao in particular because of the screen - it has a great contrast ratio.

Since it's a laptop, I can also bring it to the client, and show them the initial layouts for their approval - again circumventing the wasted time of making a print to show them. I still show them prints as well, but the monitor can help the approval process.

my next big purchase eventually will be to get a HUGE flatscreen monitor - so that I can make the image even larger and therefore step back from the canvas better.

Dumb question
 

I have a dumb question regarding these monitor's horizontal orientation. Can you turn it on its side?

I went shopping recently for a flatscreen to hook up to my wife's Sony laptop. Sony said I could plug a monitor to her model, but someone at BestBuy told me I could'nt because it did'nt have a monitor port. I was also told (not including Apple, as they do not carry them) that the CRT are far superior to the flatscreens. They looked it. I myself have never seen the Apple in person, so I can't compare. I might invest in a refurbished 22" CRT monitor until I can afford something better.

Linda, your Sony must be newer and better than my wife's because I can't see a great image unless I'm directly in front of it, which gets annoying. It's still better than a print, but setting it up to view is extra work.

Tim, I believe the widescreen monitors can be viewed vertically originally intended to view documents in whole.

My computer is a laptop, so I can rest it on its side if desired (I never have though, as it would make accessing the keyboard more difficult).

My mother's computer monitor (samsung Syncmaster 213T) IS a truly pivoting monitor, with a neck to swivel the monitor from horizontal to vertical. The software she added to her computer to tell it to orient the screen vertical or horizontal is called Pivot Pro.

Attempt
 

I may try this in the future. I think I'll use life and photos with it because as someone noted our subjects are not inner lighted in reality. I can't imagine the adjustments in store especially in the darks.

DVI monitor
 

TIm

I use a Viewsonic digital flat screen monitor to paint from. It has a DVI input which is the highest quality input possiple. AND it rotates from portrait to landscape... this is the only substitute to painting from life that I will do. The color and clarity is so real looking. I don't like painting from photos to start with but since we all have to at some point this is THE only way to do it.

Tony

Tim they do make monitors that rotate, I am not sure if they are as good as the new generation of mac flat screens.

As Linda said, you just turn your PowerBook on the side. Once you do, you'll never go back! Why would you when you can manipulate and zoom in quadzillion percent?

Sorry, I can't attest to the quality of the picture in picture!

:) Beth

Rotate
 

Tony and Beth, I was just thinking I'd roll it over onto its side. I don't think it would care and I know I wouldn't-or I could just turn the painting over!!

True Tim, but what is really sad is when you try and find the zoom key on your canvas so you can blow it up 1600 percent too! ;)

Old age eyes - you have to love them!