Copying from a photo is always harder than from reality...if we want to progress in the understanding of the basic notions of how to reproduce reality.
It seems to me (may be I am wrong) that to get the illusion of volume from our model it is not sufficient to reproduce the light/shadow contrast in a mechanical way, but also to underline which light is lighter, which shadow is darker. For instance: the lights towards the source of light is always lighter and so on. There are laws in painting which must be respected
-When we draw after reality we unconsciously are trying to understand or notice these laws.
-After a photo, it is like to heat up a ready "Pizza."
In my personal experiences each time I draw after a photo it became a disaster from the point of view of taste. When I draw after photo plus the model was next to me, in the best case it became "photorealism."
When I draw after a life model, a portrait I mean, and the person took the courage sit for weeks. What came out besides a satisfying picture is also an extraordinary human contact.
I will not enter into the technical problems of that drawing because the positive effect from it is quite evident.
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