10 Tips For Taking Photos Of Your Paintings

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[@millienexu5684]

VIDEO RECOMMENDATION: how to paint large paintings / transition to large paintings You talk quite a few times about recommending smaller paintings to get more practice but for those times when we decide to make a bigger “masterpiece”, I find it difficult to extrapolate, especially if it’s the same reference. Please talk about what to look for and how to best approach! LOVE your content by the way, I’m so impressed by the volume and quantity of your educational material as well as your sheer passion and transparency.

[@paintcoach]

This is a great idea!

[@omnesilere]

Best tip not mentioned: Get yourself an 18% gray card and set it next to your painting on the same plane, and focus on that with your camera (phone), it will correct your white balance and nail your exposure (brightness.) Just crop it out after the shot.

[@Jigger2361]

sweet!

[@victoriarose5099]

A good app I use if I need a photo and can't get it perfect I use snapseed. It has a perspective edit, where it evens out the piece if it is uneven in the photo and also great light altering and color edits. I use it for every art photo I take.

[@paintcoach]

I'll check it out!

[@lechwiatr749]

So true. Snapseed is excellent for perspective correction.

[@missytaylor8452]

@@paintcoach I'm a Patreon member. How do I get a critique. Is it another level requiring additional fee?

[@bakalakadka]

I have 2 suggestions for taking pics if ur up to considering them. 1) after taking a photo throw the it into Lightroom to correct for lense distortion. Depending on which camera or lense u use this can make a huge difference. 2) if ur taking a photo with a wide angle lense like you’d find on an iPhone then zoom in to correct for stretching. Usually the lense that you use to take a natural real life photo would be a 50mm. iPhone uses like a 35mm lense and tends to stretch things out quite a bit. Those are my 2 cents. Keep up the good work bro!

[@gogetbamboozled]

Started my oil paint journey not even 12 hours ago, your videos and guides helped me feel more confident in working with oils! Thank you.

[@paintcoach]

Wonderful!

[@krystyna_mari]

I deleted all of my art accounts just because I thought I'm not improving. But hearing all these things from you, made me realize that there are ppl who love my works! I wish I realized it sooner though. I appreciate them and people like you, your support keeps my artsy self alive. Keep going!

[@yourcommand6823]

You are my favourite Painter❤️🤗

[@paintcoach]

Thank you so much 😀

[@crisalidathomassie1811]

Thanks so much for the great tips when taking protons of your work. I usually place my painting on the carpet with good daylight, avoiding glare, not to close. They turned out great. Your tips are very reassuring, knowing I’m in the right track. Happy Holidays and I wish you the best each day. You are an awesome instructor! Blessings and take care! All the best for 2023! Cheers!

[@tylersimpson5541]

I love Christine’s work. She does really well when painting. Chris is the man he really kicks ass when teaching and being a good role model for a well rounded knowledgeable painter

[@DannySabraArt]

Great tips! Especially the retouch varnish! I’m gonna try using that!

[@adrianjohnherrera]

This video has come at a perfect time for me! I have really struggled to photograph my artwork. I will keep all these tips in mind!

[@fp7601]

Love how you get right into it

[@dr.patriciadoddd.c.3235]

Thank you so much for all your paint talk videos! I've just started to dabble with oil pain. Been doing acrylic for 3 years. I do get frustrated with the learning curve differences. LOL. I do love your tips! Thanks again!

[@dixieturner7402]

This was soo helpful, especially at the end...I've been lacking in my marketing skills with social media. The photo idea and video idea at the end are just what I need to do next!

[@bubeni_]

Many thanks! I live in a place where the day lasts only 6 hours and there is very little light even during these hours, so i bought a big round selfie lamp, it helps a lot :D But your tips will be very helpful, this is what i needed! ❤

[@Restless318]

THANK YOU happy holidays and new year

[@paintcoach]

Same to you!

[@NickLMears]

Please make a video about taking pictures for prints.

[@vincemazo341]

Thank you for the all the painting tips!. I started painting in July 2021 and have been learning from your videos.

[@PogueSquadron]

My wife thinks I’m crazy for taking paintings downstairs to photograph paintings (we live on the third floor). I’ve tried so hard to take photos of paintings on the balcony, but there’s always so much light bouncing around the walls outside, and it’s never ideal. Always appreciate it when it’s cloudy out! I also sometimes have luck taking photos of paintings upside down, and then merging them with the rightsjde up paintings in Photoshop. This way, I can take the best parts of both shots to reduce glare.

[@dogloverjb6873]

love the trumpet painting

[@maple5703]

Excellent advice. I just ordered some retouch varnish online. Thanks, Chris! 🙂

[@areebahakhlaque1872]

Always love your videos!

[@dez3332]

GREAT tips. Thank you!

[@artlhomage]

You're so helpful! Thanks!

[@judylanum2551]

So so helpful. Thank you.

[@tbm7187]

Great tips! Thank you!

[@lechwiatr749]

Thanks! My way to completely eliminate glare: single light source with a polarisation filter and a camera with a polarisation filter. The light hits the surface of the painting and returns to the camera in 2 components: diffused (the good component) and reflected (the glare component). Reflected light remains polarised, so the filter on your camera can cut it out completely (you need to rotate it until you are happy with the result). The only light component that reaches the sensor is the juicy diffused one with the full color information.

[@user-vn3pc8ej8q]

I really enjoy your in depth and yet very practical explanations. Tips that I have been thinking a lot about putting to use-speaking more to your painting than photography. One of my favorite tools you present are your videos on improving this or that skill that include an example painting to put that suggestion to work - such as using the planes of an object. My question for you today is how do you choose the size that you are going to paint your subject? Your drying rack showed 8x10's? How do you decide what to paint that size? I know that sometimes the subject or reference photo lends itself to this but frequently 16x20 or 24x36 is just the standard.

[@blue3381]

That painting of that black dog is exquisite 8:56 . Congrats.

[@PhantomFilmAustralia]

On several occasions I've used diffused sunlight to expose my photographs, though I make sure to avoid being near walls that aren't white, as the radiosity from coloured walls or foliage can throw the colour balance out and, tint the whites.

[@GrlRock]

Great tips!

[@smasica]

Thanks, good practical guide.

[@paintcoach]

You're welcome!

[@notyourtypicalpainter]

This was very insightful! You made a very interesting point about being in the photo or showing the scale as well as progress shots... especially with AI art now!

[@evelyndominguez4757]

Wow, great tips. Thanks so much!!!!

[@paintcoach]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Nova9I]

This was very helpful thank you!

[@paintcoach]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mellybo7368]

Thank you!

[@thestaz8564]

Tnx great vid 🐶🎨

[@qadaralhosni4198]

Thank you

[@Gigi-hq5rk]

Love the John Dutton painting lol

[@kyledunn7941]

Hey, I have been wanting to try oil painting for a while now, just wanted to know if you have done a video explaining what to do if you have piles of paint to leave out and how to not waste if you have to leave your pallet. Reason why I ask is cuz I have kids so I'm always bouncing around.. if I lay paint out.. I don't wanna waste it. Love your videos! Thank you. Kyle.

[@artlhomage]

My art is acrylic and glitter or crystals on canvas, so I need direct light. But this is still useful. Thank you

[@simon54]

Hi Chris and happy new year. Is there a place I can find a list of the books you recommend? I know you put them up in your videos but going back to find them is more difficult than I expected

[@MarsK84]

I use Pro mode on my Galaxy phone camera to adjust the iso, shutter speed and white balance to get my photos to be as accurate representations of my paintings as possible

[@ValDokic]

Since this is specifically for taking photos of your paintings for funsies, can you make that video explaining best way to take photos of your paintings to sell prints of? Thanks 😊

[@40bdg]

Looking at your Patreon and wondering if Student Tier is the only option now? I was thinking there were 3 different tiers before. Thanks

[@lifeismusicparnadonkers]

Hello i am New to oil painting. Can i use the retouch varnish for acrylic paint?

[@jaxluczar3262]

Could vegetable glycerin work as a replacement for Linseed oil and still not have to use any solvents?

[@TurtleTreehouse]

Great tips! Very helpful. Also you look just like Will Poulter. You should cosplay as Adam Warlock sometime ;) Like srsly, that would be really cool.

[@yotasuki]

Can you teach us how to oil paint those classic blue Mexican vases?

[@Jenxdavis]

Thank you for this! Question: Why do some artists use oil on top of acrylic? I follow someone that does that a lot, but I’ve never heard her explain why. She does use a lot of different mediums, but I was thinking there was a better reason, like it makes the color more vibrant or something….?

[@omnesilere]

Its faster. Acrylic dries quick so you can draw and block in and the oil layer wont interfere, mix, or blend with the first one; its like doing your block in with oil and waiting a week (but in only like 30 minutes.) Acrylics do not provide extra luminosity, or brightness - or wouldn't she just stick to them instead? :p

[@judylanum2551]

For me. I block in big areas quickly. Then look at placement can easily do this with acrylics dries fast and can begin the oils. If placement wrong can fix quick and easy before beginning oils. Hope this is help.

[@wendyc1276]

How about a video on pigments and why choose one over another. How do you choose which colors to put on your palette? Why all the different whites and blacks?

[@klabonk]

I agree with everything except for using the retouch varnish and painting on top of that. Your paint will bind with the varnish and down the road it will lead to problems when cleaning the painting, as the mineral spirits will remove the varnish and oil paint that is bonded together. Oiling out is a much better option to bring color back to your darks.

[@NicolasConnault]

How about taking a long exposure on tripod with very low ambient light? It should take care of all the glare. I might try that now :)

[@user-ll7qu9cc8r]

Is it better to varnish the painting before taking a picture??

[@johnny9048]

45 degree lighting = no glare unless you have raised paint (another topic) even painting in studio you want light on canvas at 45 degrees up and left and/or in a right

[@omnesilere]

Also retouch varnish is varnish, it has rectified turpentine to keep the damar crystals liquid. So 'dry to the touch' is important. They try to minimize the turp to damar ratio in the retouch (damar is basically a medium) but chemically, there is no difference between retouch and regular damar varnish. There is a difference compared to other varnishes though chemically (krylon, gamvar etc.) and these should not be used in between layers of paint because if they were cleaned the intermediate layers would dissolve and it would revert back to the first layer of paint without varnish.

[@arachosia]

Can you put a varnish on top of retouch varnish?

[@_VANI_-ph2rj]

What do you do for a living?

[@Fair-to-Middling]

7:03 When you mentioned AI, I just kept imagining a MIT robot holding his painting in a picture that he took by his Smart device. All joking aside, this is a serious threat to the art community. Fakes will abound. Or are they real? That is the question we all will need answer someday, sooner probably rather than later.

[@gfa240]

iPhones distort colors and resolution… no replacement for a DSLR.

[@lamontcranston3177]

Do we have to paint pictures of American neo Nazi TV characters like in the thumbnail for this video?

[@user-to2gh7sg3l]

There's gotta some artist out there who only paints pics of Kevin Costner. Like when you walk into his place it's just hundreds of Paintings of Kevin Costner. That would be funny....

[@omnesilere]

GAH that was terrible spraying technique! you want to go fully left to fully right (and then vice versa or do it again left->right) of the piece in nice controlled single sprays 'per line.' DO NOT wave your spray varnish ("retouch" or otherwise) around in spot areas like shown here (1:04 ; 1:13), you will end up with an uneven coat.

[@rachelsremedies2602]

This actor thought he was so good looking he insisted on many close-up of his face only!

[@anttiranki3690]

Or...you could just have someone who knows what they are doing photograph your paintings... Honestly, as a photographer this hurts...

[@YKATHLEEN1]

Thank you