Painting from a Monitor instead of a Print

Michael Georges · 09-06-2004, 10:30 AM

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.

Julie Deane · 09-06-2004, 03:32 PM

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.

Michael Georges · 09-06-2004, 04:28 PM

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.

Allan Rahbek · 09-06-2004, 04:55 PM

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 Herrick · 09-06-2004, 05:55 PM

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

Allan Rahbek · 09-06-2004, 06:30 PM

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

Garth Herrick · 09-06-2004, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allan Rahbek

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!