Painting from Reference: How to Make It Yours

Making Reference Photos Work For You (Not Against You)

We’ve all been there—scrolling through reference images, full of inspiration, only to end up with a painting that feels more like a copy machine than a creative spark. You followed the photo. Matched the shadows. Nailed the highlights. And yet… something’s missing. It looks like the photo, sure, but it doesn’t feel alive.

Here’s the thing: painting from reference isn’t about perfect replication—it’s about interpretation. When you treat a reference like a starting point instead of a destination, everything changes. It becomes a launchpad for your voice, your choices, and your magic.

Start with Something Worth Painting

Not every photo is worthy of becoming a painting. It might be a beautiful snapshot, but if it lacks strong lighting or a clear focal point, your brush might struggle to bring it to life. Look for images where the light tells a story—where shadows have shape and direction, and something about the composition pulls you in. Bonus points if it’s a photo you took yourself. There’s an intimacy in painting from your own experience that no stock image can replicate. Even a phone pic snapped in natural light can spark a feeling worth chasing.

Ask Before You Paint

Once you’ve chosen your reference, slow down. Before you dip a single bristle into paint, take a moment to study what’s in front of you. What’s grabbing your attention? Is it the soft shadow falling across a cheek? The pop of red in an otherwise muted still life? Maybe it’s the mood—the loneliness, the warmth, the tension.

Ask yourself what you’d like to keep, and just as importantly, what you’d like to change. That teacup? Maybe it’s perfect, but the background is cluttered. Move it. Simplify. Exaggerate the light. Play with it on paper before you ever pick up your brush. Even a quick value sketch or traced outline can help you understand the structure, so you’re not flying blind when it’s time to commit to color.

You’re the Boss of the Brush

One of the most powerful things you can do as an artist is edit. You don’t owe your reference photo a replica. Want to shift the lighting? Do it. Combine two images into one scene? Absolutely. Hate the yellow in the background? Replace it with a moody teal. These little decisions add up. Every choice you make pulls the painting closer to you.

Think of your reference like a conversation starter—not a rulebook. You're allowed to disagree with it. In fact, I encourage it.

Color Is Your Playground

Unless you're chasing photorealism (which is its own lovely beast), there's no reason to feel bound to the colors in your reference. Nature is full of muted browns and greys, but your painting doesn’t have to be.

What if you pushed the contrast just a little more? Or replaced every neutral with a rich complementary hue? Suddenly, the image shifts—it feels intentional, expressive, alive. Let your color choices reflect your mood or your style. You’re not just painting a picture; you’re painting a feeling.

Let Your Voice Shine Through

At the end of the day, the best part about using references is that they give you something solid to leap from. But the real art happens when you leap. The more you adapt, experiment, and trust your gut, the more your unique style starts to emerge.

You might not even notice it at first—but it’s there. In the brushstroke that didn’t match the photo, but felt right. In the color that made your heart beat faster. In the decision to shift the light, just so.

That’s not the reference. That’s you.

Final Thought

References are tools, not cages. They’re meant to help you see, not to limit what you can say. So pull them out proudly. Use them. Change them. Break them