Value design and composition has been a real focus of mine recently, so I decided to create a black and white to scale print out of my reference to work from.

Using my iPad to look at the reference for colour and details is great, but it can be hard to colour match from due to the light from the screen vs light in the room/glare. So I tend to use the colour as a loose guide but prefer to check the value print while placing colour instead. In an ideal world, I would print a colour correct print to scale but most you will tend to find that colour print are not as true to colour or vibrant and the image becomes flat and looses a lot. It’s then very easy to end up matching your painting to this poor quality image, putting yourself at a disadvantage from the start.

The other thing I love about having a black and white printout to work from over a screen is that it’s easier on my eyes and I don’t have to worry about the battery running out while leaving iPad free to use for something else.

My Setup 

To the left of my painting easel I have a second easel holding my black and white print with the image at the same level as I’ll have the sketch on my canvas. I didn’t want to waste my expensive A3 photo paper on a black and reference image, so I cropped the image to A4 pieces on my iPad and stuck the printouts together.

My main easel is positioned so the figure on my canvas is at a comfortable height in front of me as I am sat down.

I have a trolly with a board on top where I place my brushes, clamp my camera and other bits and bobs. If my pochade box isn’t in use somewhere else, I use it as another table/work surface to hold my iPad. Then to my right I have table for my palette and brushes, though I usually place my palette on my lap as I am mixing and painting so I can see the colours better.

My chair is a swivel chair on casters, so I can easily move around and turn to whatever I need and also back away now and then to change my view and focus.

*Update: I’ve created a page with links to the main items I can’t be without in my studio which you can see here

I will continue to add more useful links and suggested items as I have time but for now the majority of what I mentioned above can be found on this page.

As always, if you have any questions or just want to say hi, feel free to get in touch.

Until next time!