Many artists start out painting from slides and photographs rather than painting from life like the outdoors. Although this works for some, others may feel they are lacking improvement when it comes to shadows, light, and colors while sticking to a photograph. Painting from life rather than a photograph can change your perception as an artist and accelerate your artistic journey much quicker. Artist George Strickland firmly believes in painting from life and outdoors from his own experience. George used to “paint from a roll or hundreds of photographs and choose the best one,” which worked for him, but he was not seeing much improvement. When he started painting from life and outdoors, he had to learn to adapt and “find the painting that was already there.” Strickland learned how to distill things he was seeing in real life and translate them into his paintings. Painting from life may take practice if you are used to painting from photographs, but we see so much more in life versus painting from a photograph or slide. You are learning to paint from life with what is given to you in the moment instead of something constant. Painting from life/ outdoors is a challenge because there is a lot of movement with shadows, light, wind, etc., says Strickland. But remember, if you are not challenging yourself as an artist, there will be no improvement.

“I think painting from life whether it’s still life or whether it’s painting portraits or painting outdoors is kind of like painting on steroids… it is going to accentuate your learning curve because it’s the very best way to see things.” - George Strickland

To learn from George Strickland, we recommend his video download series. Find out more here:

If you’d like to hear more from George and Gabor about Painting from Life, check out the Paint and Clay podcast: