reference Archives - Liron Yanconsky

How to Make Every Photo Reference Easier to Paint | Photo Editing Tips for Watercolor Painting

Hi there! Today I want to talk to you about making your photo reference easier to paint.

Painting as an art form poses innumerable challenges. as we improve, these challenges never really go away. We, however, get better at dealing with them and solving them.

Your Photo Reference Matters

As a beginner, you want to have everything work in your favor. A large part of that is painting from a good reference.

Anything can be painted, but the reality is that not everything is ideal as reference.

In today’s video I want to show you several ways of turning your photos into something that’s easier to paint.

Watch the complete video here, and scroll on for a written version (:

Make Every Photo EASIER TO PAINT

Finding Good Reference

I have several sources for great reference photos, that I also present in the video. Here they are:

These are all great. Generally speaking – Pixabay and WetCanvas photos can be used for anything (commercial or non-commercial).

Access to WetCanvas Reference Photo Library does require registration, which is free.

With Flickr you need to be a little careful, and filter according to the license. You can also always contact the owner of the photo and ask for their permission.

Choosing Good Photos

I’d like to say a few words about choosing good reference photos, and specifically for the purpose of painting and watercolor painting.

Clear and Focused

A good reference photo should be clear and well focused. You should be able to see all of the details.

Large Shapes

Also, it’s best if there are a few larger shapes that are very visible. What I mean by that is that the image isn’t a collection of tiny bits and pieces that don’t really connect to a cohesive subject.

This is why still-life arrangements, as well as portraits can be GREAT subjects. They are very clear and contain major shapes.

A cityscape, on the other hand (and this can very from one photo to another), has the potential of being a little “messier”.

Strong Contrasts

This is especially important if you are a beginner to watercolor painting. Photos that have sharper contrasts are simply easier to paint.

If you’ll try and paint a perfectly lit portrait, that barely has any shadows in it, and is full of gradual light changes – you may loose your mind =P

(check out the full video to see what I’m talking about).

Improving Brightness, Contrast and Levels

This first step is always important. Watch to full video to see how I play with the histogram, but here’s what the effect looks like.

(left – before, right – after)

Editing Your Photo Reference – Black and White

The first advice I’d give you is to turn your reference from color mode to black and white.

This can be done easily with the simplest of photo editing softwares. And it will give you a much better look at the values (how dark or light everything is).

Here’s a comparison.

(left – before, right – after)

Editing Your Photo Reference – Posterize

Posterize is a handy function that’s available in most advanced photo editing softwares such as Photoshop and (god forbid) Gimp.

It allows you to control the NUMBER of levels (=values). So you can choose 2 values – which will give you an image with two values only. Or you can increase it to 6, 12 or whichever number you’d like.

Here’s another comparison showing this effect.

(left – before, right – after)

I find this one to be particularly useful in simplifying a photo, and making it much easier for us to paint it.

You can just SEE very easily where it gets darker, lighter and so on.

Conclusion

You can paint based on anything. But some references are better than others.

When working from real-life observation, we don’t really have control over what we see. But, when working from a photo reference, we can change things around to our advantage.

I hope this helps you in better understanding how to do that.

I’ve used these methods for creating many of my works. Be sure to follow me on Instagram to see the results. I used this especially for my portraits, such as this one of Santa Clause (;

And this is it, I will talk to you again real soon!

– Liron

How to Draw an Open Hand / Palm!

Hey friends!

Today we have another fun anatomical drawing lesson.

In this drawing lesson, we’re going to learn how to draw an open hand!

Drawing the human hand is an awesome challenge, that calls upon your ability to actually KNOW some anatomy, and UNDERSTAND how the human body works.

Check out the video, and I’ll share some of the key points afterwards.

I hope you enjoyed the video.

If you need some reference for drawing hands, check out these two images on drawing hands in different poses, and holding objects.

Key tips on how to draw an open hand:

1. Pay special attention to the fanning of the fingers.

Remember, the fingers aren’t straight, parallel lines that stick out of the hand.

The are fanning out of it. I show this really well in the video.

A good method of getting this right, is by drawing those circular guidelines. Draw one for each knuckle in the hand.

2. The overall shape of the hand.

Notice how the wrist is thin, and expands as soon as it “turns” into the hand itself.

Use curved lines to represent the sides of the hand, which have more fat in them.

3. Careful with the thumb.

The thumb can be quite a challenge, so be sure to get its direction properly.

Also remember that the base of the thumb, which is the part that’s connecting it to the hand, is also quite fat.

4. Knuckles!

It’s important to hint the presence of the knuckles. This is especially true when talking about the knuckles at the very base of each finger.

A good way to indicate the knuckles is using shading. I find this works better than just drawing them boldly.

And there you have it! A relaxed open hand.

I hope this drawing lesson helped you.

If you haven’t already, get a gift from me by subscribing here. You’ll get my awesome tips and advice. You won’t regret it (;

And I’ll talk to you soon.

– Liron

How to Draw a Female Figure: Laying on Floor Pose

Hey Friends!

In this drawing lesson we’ll briefly talk about how to draw a female figure, in a laying down pose.

#1 – Skeleton Guidelines

The first step I took in order to draw the female figure, was using simple “stick figure” guidelines.

This step is fairly simple technically, BUT a lot of anatomy knowledge needs to support it in order for it to be correct.

Try and understand the proportions of length of each part.

Notice how I have yet to indicate the hands and feet.

#2 – Giving the Skeleton Volume

In this step we will turn the skeleton into basic three-dimensional shapes.

Note how she is leaning on a mini sofa. This is something we’ll have to take into account in later steps.

Our main shapes here are balls / circles, and cylinders. These represent the basic structure of the limbs and the core of the body.

Notice how they still DON’T convey the accurate shape of anything.

Also, I just wanted to note how the left hand (that’s leaning on the sofa) is foreshortened, as it is pointing towards us. This will become even more obvious in the next steps.

#3 – Drawing the Human Figure

In this step we’ll actually begin turning this simple three-dimensional representation into an actual female figure.

This step requires actual knowledge of the shape of each limb or body part. This is the real challenge.

This step takes into account the structure in terms of muscles and fat too.

Notice how the left are sort of “sinks” into the sofa. This is a useful way to express the softness of the sofa, and her weight being applied on it.

Now we can move onto the final step.

#4 – Shading

In this step we’ll shade the figure, giving it some more volume.

I worked too fast, and the shading is a bit grainy and uneven. Be sure to work slowly, and perhaps use gentle circular motions with the pencil.

Check out the full video tutorial:

And that’s it!

As always, Be sure to SUBSCRIBE HERE to get my eBook for free + great tips and advice on drawing, delivered straight to you! (=

And I’ll talk to you soon,

– Liron