I haven't used a projector in many years. And it was a very old one from the 70's I bet. The old slide projector type. I used to paint large murals in a number of businesses. Restaurants, government buildings and such. I made small paintings or drawings. Then photographed them and took them to the stores to have them made into slides. Then I used the projector to enlarge them many times on the walls I was painting the murals. That in itself could be very time consuming. What a time saver this is. These new computer Projectors are awesome. Thank you for the Demo!
@@JamesCrandallPainting The entire process was a drag. Now I will be able to take photos of nature or my own smaller drawings or painting, and enlarge them.
Yes all comments valid, thank you, sufficiently instructive, and not a lot of wasted time on your point of view of life. I have used a project several times lately and have 3 portraits I would like to do. Again, you are a good teacher, presenter.
@@JamesCrandallPainting I think so. Bought a cheap projector and now working out how to focus it much closer than it is designed for with diopter filters.
Nice video! I'm sure you've been told in comments or figured it out... If you posterize to a 4 or 5 tone salmon or sepia, your pencil lines will be much more visible during the transfer process. Actual color doesn't matter, but grey tones tend to hide pencil without blocking the projector with your hand as you do. Anyway, thx for the good tutorial.
It’s nothing new really. Printing a photo in a darkroom with very high contrast accomplished the same thing, right? th-cam.com/video/ay1UC0_5ELk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VYt-XNNLGUAiD7_-
Dear James, Just watched you work on the street scene w/ the truck and this street scene/ city scape w/ window shopper and how you use the projection. It is what I needed to see. I have been trying to utilize projecting images and using a looser painterly brush work as you demonstrate so confidently, with grace, finesse and with great skill. To know it is possible is tremendous!!! I have been frustrated and disheartened by my own calligraphy of marks I have been masterfully overworking, choking out and beating to death on panels, canvases in acrylic, oil, epoxy as well as using similar methods used in the Prison System to extract pigment. When I have done one, two, three simultaneous versions, each of which sucks and is embarrassing up close. Same process... It is scraped, wiped, picked, sanded only to start over again and again, until every last pigment tube is squeezed out and the ink in the printer has been commandeered & tapped dry. All I can do is save every bit of scraping and remnant of the catastrophic artistic failures to keep as a conceptual trophy to justify the wasted time, wasted artist materials and loss of hard to come by cash. In absolute anguish, clutching both outstretched arms near my side, my eyes are tightly shut with tears streaming down, my hands, filled with dried pieces of scraped off paint & squeezing so tight that water and oil drip from my clinched fist, as I scream out with all the pain of every struggling artist from caves and beyond the canvas, my scream can be heard as above so below, all that which tears away at my art spirit... "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Just want to say Thanks!!! Your insight, knowledge and astonishingly beautiful art is breathtaking and inspiring. (I learned that I'm using my pigments too thick and getting an ugly buildup and milky creamy oil paint ) You have a new fan and truly have given back to the Universe. With much respect and admiration. Sincerely, Randy Chavez ~Now I'm ready to paint
please can you tell me how do i get thos notan conversion of photograph to see the lightest light and darkest darks etc.. with greys etc.. which projector do you think best, hear have with grids, keystone, strong bulb thanks Charles
You can check out the other videos on my site about posterizing. My knowledge about projectors is mainly limited to the one I have owned, which is no longer made.
I love to paint but don't enjoy the drawing part of the process. This explained a lot. I just bought a projector and tripod. I can't wait to try it, accelerate the drawing phase, and paint sooner...Thanks
I don’t know, it would probably be dictated by budget… I’d probably go for WXGA and favor EPSON for the sake of support. Here’s a video with my earlier thoughts on the subject My Digital Projector (for Artists) th-cam.com/video/4O1STC9Es9o/w-d-xo.html
Hi Jim, so appreciate your instructions on using photos as guides. I’ve been doing water color using a similar approach though very rudimentary. Cousin Colleen
Hi Colleen! So nice to hear from you. Glad if this vid helped. I’m reminded that I need to send you an email update. Nancy and I still hope to visit in the coming year, and finally deliver more of the Watson artifacts. My love to all your family. ❤️
I use Photoshop. There are videos on my Channel about doing this, and I think also about other options as well (“Gimp” is a free software, though more cumbersome to use)
Fabulous video! What is the smallest size you are able to project onto with your projector? I'm trying to find something that will allow me to use a minimum 8x10 or 9x12 if possible.
Look for the RIf 5 or simalar Pico projectors with DLP technology it can project down to 2" up to 120" only DLP can project small enough for small canvas in HD
I like to use projectors or even tracing paper to lay down key landmarks much like you did in this video. But it makes me feel like a fraud, even though I'm quite sparse with my initial pencil marks. Do you have advice for people like me who just struggle with proportions and need to use methods like this, but feel like they're "cheating"?
I wonder how many non artist types ignored water color painting or any art because they thought they had to be a regular Robert Bateman type artist for drawing first!? This guy for sure! Im starting with a kids projector, (Lame), but hey, whats a guy to do right? James, ever try projecting onto something more comfortable, such as a drafting type desk? Where can we see the FINAL Painting of the lady window shopping?
Well, A grid is “traditional,” it does work and it’s completely free. And some people will be adverse to technology. Using a grid DOES force one to simplify shapes, which is good. Projecting does require some judgment n the artist’s part; tracing too many shapes and being TOO careful about every odd fragment is a danger and can lead to a very stiff-looking end product.
Most times I am painting for fun, and for me just using the eye is more fun. More satisfying. But if you are trying to win contests or do work for pay, I can see using any tool, short of a printer
Of course one doesn’t need to be selling paintings or entering any contests to want a picture to turn out well. But if you are happy with the results you are getting, there’s no reason to change.
my pictures are coming out squat no matter how I move the projector. Like how an older tv show looks on the newer tvs. The picture is protrait but its coming out almost landscape but square.
The resolution and ratio of the computer screen and the projector must be the same. Check the maximum resolution and ratio of the projector, and set the computer’s display setting to the same numbers
It's been a part of art history for centuries, so countless famous artists have used tracing techniques. Painting shouldn't just be about nice pictures and being good at line work, the main focus for a lot of artists has always been the ideas and meaning behind the composition and using tools to get that composition perfect saves so much time when you're only human and can't waste years on some desire to say you're as talented as someone else, just to find out they were using projecting and tracing techniques before you were ever born lol.
In recent years, before COVID, I was joining some friends every couple of weeks to paint from a model, but this was mostly for fun (I like to do it, and I’m pretty good at it). But I worked for 30+ years as a professional illustrator, and rarely worked from life. Apart from the real-life limitations (time, costs, inconveniences) there just wasn’t any need for it.
What about the issues of copyright when it comes to using other people's photographs and copying everything from such imagery using exact same colours etc.? Some images are in the public domain such as Animals for example: since these are common place to society and therefore of itself may not be considered copying. However if one uses everything in a photograph rather than creating their own background etc then if for some reason, the painting or sketching is sold then that is clearly an infringement of copyright regulations, unless credit is given to the original author, whilst at the same time adding the artist connection to the painted image or sketch etc. How do you, as an artist using a projector, deal with this issue of plagiarism, which is rife today in the art world?
I take my own photos. Or rarely, use reference photos that I have permission to use or which are not copyrighted. It is not true, however, that photos of Animals or anything else are necessary “in the public domain.” The copyright of photographs, like other creative products, naturally belong to the person or entity that created the photograph. It’s not based upon subject matter.
It’s also the case that referencing images for incidental things like backgrounds might be considered “fair use.” I personally like to steer clear of such grey areas. I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t give legal advice, but I’ve heard it suggested that unless you as an artist are significantly profiting from your appropriation it’s unlikely that you will get sued (because bringing a lawsuit is expensive in itself). I know this because I’ve had work stolen and there wasn’t much I could do about it that wouldn’t cost ME money.
you can't use somebody else's photo unless it is royalty-free. The internet is full of royalty-free/public domain photos from now and the past. You can also take your own photo or you can draw and transfer your drawing. You cannot however use a copywrite-protected photo and just change colors. If you need to use somebody else's photo then just google search and plenty of websites that offer modern photos that you can use for free. You could also use a.i. to create art and copy that because you own the copywrite of a.i. art that you prompted for ai to create.
I haven't used a projector in many years. And it was a very old one from the 70's I bet. The old slide projector type. I used to paint large murals in a number of businesses. Restaurants, government buildings and such. I made small paintings or drawings. Then photographed them and took them to the stores to have them made into slides. Then I used the projector to enlarge them many times on the walls I was painting the murals. That in itself could be very time consuming. What a time saver this is. These new computer Projectors are awesome. Thank you for the Demo!
Yes, that worked! Waiting for slide processing was a drag though, huh?
@@JamesCrandallPainting The entire process was a drag. Now I will be able to take photos of nature or my own smaller drawings or painting, and enlarge them.
I think the painting already looks fine!! Thank you for sharing! ❤🙏
Yes all comments valid, thank you, sufficiently instructive, and not a lot of wasted time on your point of view of life.
I have used a project several times lately and have 3 portraits I would like to do. Again, you are a good teacher, presenter.
Been wanting to project on art surface for long. Posterizing the image is brilliant. Makes some easily traceable value delineations. Thanks!!
Maybe it will help I hope so
@@JamesCrandallPainting I think so. Bought a cheap projector and now working out how to focus it much closer than it is designed for with diopter filters.
Excellent thank you for sharing
My pleasure
Okay I got it. So that's how you guys do it. Thank you. Keep them coming.
You got it!
I used a data projector already for couple of years and it does make the job so much easier and fulling! I can really recommend using it!
Thanks for writing!
Great! I frequetly use a digital projector to tranfer a photo on a canvas, but I had no thought of posterising the photo. Thanks a lot!
You’re welcome!
Wow, very good technique 👍❤
Thanks very much
Some great tips. Thanks.
Glad if it helped 🙂
I really appreciate your generous sharing of information for representational artists...thank you very much!
You are very welcome Judy 🙂
Nice video! I'm sure you've been told in comments or figured it out... If you posterize to a 4 or 5 tone salmon or sepia, your pencil lines will be much more visible during the transfer process. Actual color doesn't matter, but grey tones tend to hide pencil without blocking the projector with your hand as you do. Anyway, thx for the good tutorial.
I did not think of that! Thanks for the tip
I love this so much. I wanted a basic projector ...
This was very helpful. Thank you for explaining your process so well!
So very helpful...thanks so much.have a digital projector but never ever used it shall try out this method.
Yes, give it a try and let me know how it went for you
Another example of sound, well considered, content from the, ever excellent, James Crandall.
Thanks James ........superb.
Thank you so much!
Posterizing is such a good idea, wish I thought of it.
It’s nothing new really. Printing a photo in a darkroom with very high contrast accomplished the same thing, right?
th-cam.com/video/ay1UC0_5ELk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VYt-XNNLGUAiD7_-
Very helpful, and you’re a wonderful painter.
Thanks!
That was extremely helpful,thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for sharing. A very helpful and encouraging video.
This is a good technique for getting the foundations of your painting right.
Awesome job
Thank you! Cheers!
Very helpful, thank you@!
You're welcome!
Very helpful thanks
Glad it helped
Thanks I learned a lot .
You’re welcome Melinda!
Very interesting 👌
Looks like a handy tool for me to try .
It works 😊
Great video, thank you!
My pleasure!
Thanks James
Beautiful ❤
Excellent video
Thank you very much!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching! Hope it helps
Dear James,
Just watched you work on the street scene w/ the truck and this street scene/ city scape w/ window shopper and how you use the projection.
It is what I needed to see.
I have been trying to utilize projecting images and using a looser painterly brush work as you demonstrate so confidently, with grace, finesse and with great skill.
To know it is possible is tremendous!!!
I have been frustrated and disheartened by my own calligraphy of marks I have been masterfully overworking, choking out and beating to death on panels, canvases in acrylic, oil, epoxy as well as using similar methods used in the Prison System to extract pigment.
When I have done one, two, three simultaneous versions, each of which sucks and is embarrassing up close.
Same process...
It is scraped, wiped, picked, sanded only to start over again and again, until every last pigment tube is squeezed out and the ink in the printer has been commandeered & tapped dry.
All I can do is save every bit of scraping and remnant of the catastrophic artistic failures to keep as a conceptual trophy to justify the wasted time, wasted artist materials and loss of hard to come by cash.
In absolute anguish, clutching both outstretched arms near my side, my eyes are tightly shut with tears streaming down, my hands, filled with dried pieces of scraped off paint & squeezing so tight that water and oil drip from my clinched fist, as I scream out with all the pain of every struggling artist from caves and beyond the canvas, my scream can be heard as above so below, all that which tears away at my art spirit...
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Just want to say Thanks!!! Your insight, knowledge and astonishingly beautiful art is breathtaking and inspiring.
(I learned that I'm using my pigments too thick and getting an ugly buildup and milky creamy oil paint )
You have a new fan and truly have given back to the Universe.
With much respect and admiration.
Sincerely,
Randy Chavez
~Now I'm ready to paint
Thank you for writing! I’m very glad if my videos has been of some help to you 🙂
please can you tell me how do i get thos notan conversion of photograph to see the lightest light and darkest darks etc.. with greys etc.. which projector do you think best, hear have with grids, keystone, strong bulb thanks Charles
You can check out the other videos on my site about posterizing. My knowledge about projectors is mainly limited to the one I have owned, which is no longer made.
I love to paint but don't enjoy the drawing part of the process. This explained a lot. I just bought a projector and tripod. I can't wait to try it, accelerate the drawing phase, and paint sooner...Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Very helpful, thank you. What projector would you buy now? There so many choices.
I don’t know, it would probably be dictated by budget… I’d probably go for WXGA and favor EPSON for the sake of support.
Here’s a video with my earlier thoughts on the subject My Digital Projector (for Artists)
th-cam.com/video/4O1STC9Es9o/w-d-xo.html
I use a Kodak Ultra Mini Portable Projector , small size, sharp image and projects up to a wall size if needed. $180.
@@glenngustafson8491 I bough the Vankyo Burger. A small dlp projector. Amazing how useful it is $90.00 on eBay. It is a game changer
Excellent
Thank you! Cheers!
Hi Jim, so appreciate your instructions on using photos as guides. I’ve been doing water color using a similar approach though very rudimentary. Cousin Colleen
Hi Colleen! So nice to hear from you. Glad if this vid helped.
I’m reminded that I need to send you an email update. Nancy and I still hope to visit in the coming year, and finally deliver more of the Watson artifacts. My love to all your family. ❤️
What software do you use to correct distortion and adjust color? And what posterizer filter did you use? Thank you for the demonstration!
I use Photoshop. There are videos on my Channel about doing this, and I think also about other options as well (“Gimp” is a free software, though more cumbersome to use)
I'm very interested in your process. I believe your system will help me. Thanks
I’m glad if the videos help. I’ve seen some good results from students.
Thank you very much ❤
You're welcome 😊
thank you!👏🙏🏻
You're so welcome!
Thank you what projector would you recommend
My Digital Projector (for Artists)
th-cam.com/video/4O1STC9Es9o/w-d-xo.html
Fabulous video! What is the smallest size you are able to project onto with your projector? I'm trying to find something that will allow me to use a minimum 8x10 or 9x12 if possible.
The total projection image doesn’t need get that small... you can just scale down the image on the screen. It’s not a problem. Cheers
@@JamesCrandallPaintingMany thanks Jim
Look for the RIf 5 or simalar Pico projectors with DLP technology it can project down to 2" up to 120" only DLP can project small enough for small canvas in HD
Did you apply a fixative for the pencil marks before painting over them?
Yes. Krylon crystal clear.
What kind of projector did you use? Thank you looking to find one on the cheap. Any suggestions?
th-cam.com/video/4O1STC9Es9o/w-d-xo.html
excellent
Thank you! Cheers!
I like to use projectors or even tracing paper to lay down key landmarks much like you did in this video. But it makes me feel like a fraud, even though I'm quite sparse with my initial pencil marks. Do you have advice for people like me who just struggle with proportions and need to use methods like this, but feel like they're "cheating"?
Here you go. DID YOUR FAVORITE ARTIST "CHEAT?"
th-cam.com/video/ay1UC0_5ELk/w-d-xo.html
How do you posterize a image?
th-cam.com/video/Bmr--OiRDkQ/w-d-xo.html
I wonder how many non artist types ignored water color painting or any art because they thought they had to be a regular Robert Bateman type artist for drawing first!? This guy for sure! Im starting with a kids projector, (Lame), but hey, whats a guy to do right? James, ever try projecting onto something more comfortable, such as a drafting type desk? Where can we see the FINAL Painting of the lady window shopping?
I used to have an ARtoGraph which projected stills onto my drawing table, but gave it away when digital projectors came along.
That study is on loose canvas and is in the flat files… not sure I ever considered it finished
Thank you. I did simular 50 years ago for an art class. Instructor told me that I should drop the class as thi isn't art>
You mentioned the grid method and that tracing the projection, as you are, is more accurate, why do some artist choose to use a grid vs a projection?
Well, A grid is “traditional,” it does work and it’s completely free. And some people will be adverse to technology.
Using a grid DOES force one to simplify shapes, which is good. Projecting does require some judgment n the artist’s part; tracing too many shapes and being TOO careful about every odd fragment is a danger and can lead to a very stiff-looking end product.
thank you
Most times I am painting for fun, and for me just using the eye is more fun. More satisfying. But if you are trying to win contests or do work for pay, I can see using any tool, short of a printer
Of course one doesn’t need to be selling paintings or entering any contests to want a picture to turn out well. But if you are happy with the results you are getting, there’s no reason to change.
my pictures are coming out squat no matter how I move the projector. Like how an older tv show looks on the newer tvs. The picture is protrait but its coming out almost landscape but square.
The resolution and ratio of the computer screen and the projector must be the same. Check the maximum resolution and ratio of the projector, and set the computer’s display setting to the same numbers
wow, I wonder now how many artists are just tracing images on to a canvas and painting? It's like coloring in a coloring book!!!
th-cam.com/video/ay1UC0_5ELk/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VYt-XNNLGUAiD7_-
It's been a part of art history for centuries, so countless famous artists have used tracing techniques. Painting shouldn't just be about nice pictures and being good at line work, the main focus for a lot of artists has always been the ideas and meaning behind the composition and using tools to get that composition perfect saves so much time when you're only human and can't waste years on some desire to say you're as talented as someone else, just to find out they were using projecting and tracing techniques before you were ever born lol.
Price please?
This projector is an old model, it is no longer sold.
Do you try to work from life regularly to find a balance?
In recent years, before COVID, I was joining some friends every couple of weeks to paint from a model, but this was mostly for fun (I like to do it, and I’m pretty good at it). But I worked for 30+ years as a professional illustrator, and rarely worked from life. Apart from the real-life limitations (time, costs, inconveniences) there just wasn’t any need for it.
What about the issues of copyright when it comes to using other people's photographs and copying everything from such imagery using exact same colours etc.?
Some images are in the public domain such as Animals for example: since these are common place to society and therefore of itself may not be considered copying. However if one uses everything in a photograph rather than creating their own background etc then if for some reason, the painting or sketching is sold then that is clearly an infringement of copyright regulations, unless credit is given to the original author, whilst at the same time adding the artist connection to the painted image or sketch etc.
How do you, as an artist using a projector, deal with this issue of plagiarism, which is rife today in the art world?
I take my own photos. Or rarely, use reference photos that I have permission to use or which are not copyrighted.
It is not true, however, that photos of Animals or anything else are necessary “in the public domain.” The copyright of photographs, like other creative products, naturally belong to the person or entity that created the photograph. It’s not based upon subject matter.
There are exceptions, of course. Actors and other performers may claim copyright to use of their likenesses, for instance.
It’s also the case that referencing images for incidental things like backgrounds might be considered “fair use.” I personally like to steer clear of such grey areas. I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t give legal advice, but I’ve heard it suggested that unless you as an artist are significantly profiting from your appropriation it’s unlikely that you will get sued (because bringing a lawsuit is expensive in itself).
I know this because I’ve had work stolen and there wasn’t much I could do about it that wouldn’t cost ME money.
I work on the assumption that every photo I use WILL be recognized by the person that took it.
you can't use somebody else's photo unless it is royalty-free. The internet is full of royalty-free/public domain photos from now and the past. You can also take your own photo or you can draw and transfer your drawing. You cannot however use a copywrite-protected photo and just change colors. If you need to use somebody else's photo then just google search and plenty of websites that offer modern photos that you can use for free. You could also use a.i. to create art and copy that because you own the copywrite of a.i. art that you prompted for ai to create.
Thank
Copying ain't the real thing.
Do as you like