Using photos in artistic work is somewhat of a controversial topic. More often than not one can hear (or read) about it as “cheating”, but in the same time successful illustrators are happily copying photographs in their work.

There are, basically, three ways of using photos in artistic creation (aside from when the photo itself is a work of art or a part of collage): copying, tracing, and reference — at declining “magnitude”. Technically, only the first two might be viewed as “cheating”, since using photos for reference usually does not result in any part of the photograph showing up in the completed artwork unaltered.

Copying photos is much more widespread than it might seem. Many commercial illustrators do it, to achieve “photorealism” — naturally, since the finished illustration not merely shows photographic level of detail, it essentially is photographic. But many artists who deal with “fine art” do it too: there are plenty offers should you want your portrait painted, and you don't even need to sit posing; a photograph will do. Many art textbooks for amateurs actually include sections on making portraits from photos, so the practice must have become quite widespread.

Tracing produces less photo-like results, using the photograph only to borrow composition and structure of the scene and objects in it, not the actual colors and lighting. (Tracing in animation is known as rotoscoping.) This practice is actually more controversial than copying, since it, so to say, “pretends” to be painted while in fact it still is photographed. Still, it is essentially another type of “poor man's model”, a way to capture the scene quickly and then paint at leisure. It is no match for working from life, but can be better than working fom memory.

Finally, reference is reference. Using photographs to capture essential details for later use is widespread, and can be a big saver when the object is unavailable for any considerable amount of time, or too complex to memorize.

So where do these practices fit in fantasy art?

My firm opinion is that only photographic reference is acceptable and useful. Copying and tracing, though, are neither. My main objection against copying and tracing is that they are lethal for artistic expression. [ Do not confuse that with “artistic statement” which is a buzz word used in “modern art” circles as an excuse. ]

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