Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Photo Morgue

During the development of a new design, I rely upon my drawing skills and art experiences to establish the integrity of an idea, a new design. Accuracy of details is important to me. I maintain a variety of reference materials to assist the effort: anatomy books, historical photos as well as a wealth of digital images I have taken, plus postcards, and clippings from magazines and newspapers.

Many artists keep a photo morgue, which is a collection of ephemera. My collection is carefully filed in four file boxes. My computer organizes my digital images and I do make CD copies of my photos. And lastly, books, I buy lots of reference books.

I can’t possibly have instant recall about body movement of people or animals, nor remember what period clothing looks like. I rely upon my photo morgue and other references to assist me with details. However, I do not copy directly from any source. That would be an infringement upon another person’s copyrighted creative effort. I am emphatically diligent about respecting Copyrights.