Robin Wellner, Artist

I just recently started painting from a computer monitor when working from a photo reference.  I love to paint from life, but sometimes that’s not a option; or, I’ve started a painting from life and I want to work on it some more to complete it.  That was the case here.  I have gotten frustrated with trying to work from photo prints.  First of all the ink is really expensive. And typically I have to do many prints to arrive at one that I’m happy with — right color, contrast, size, etc.

 

 

 

 

Here are the advantages to painting from a computer monitor as I see them:

• Closer to real life than print
• I can resize the photo at will at any time.  Choose a part of the photo and blow it up if need be.
• Adjust color right then and there
• No ink costs

Disadvantages: 

• Initial outlay of cash for monitor and the rest of the setup
• When measuring I’ve managed to get some paint on the monitor! LOL! Cleans off with Alcohol usually.  I may put some clear acetate over it to protect it.

It took some research to find the articulated arm to mount the monitor on.  The next challenge was finding a way to mount the whole thing and make it flexible enough to take down if necessary.  My husband came up with the brilliant idea to get a wooden ladder.  It’s stable enough to handle the weight and it’s easy to take apart if need be.

The only other consideration I might mention is that I went with a cheap monitor to start out.  To make sure this whole concept was going to work.  It doesn’t have the greatest resolution particularly for color — especially compared to my Macbook’s resolution.  So eventually I’ll probably upgrade to a better monitor.  In the meantime I’ve found if I use my photo editing program I can boost the colors so that they look better on the big monitor.

Here’s the result from the painting you see in the photos.

I would say that my painting from a computer monitor experiment has been a success.  Now I’ll be keeping my eye out for a monitor with better resolution.  Happy painting!!  All the best!!