Portrait Reference Photos For Drawing

A lot of artists, even experienced professionals, will use photos they find on the Internet to use for their next drawing or painting.

If you do this, very often you'll be breaking copyright law and infringing on someone else's intellectual property.

It doesn't matter if you're not going to sell your piece, or if you fully credit the source - as soon as you display it publicly (i.e. on Facebook) then you need permission from the copyright owner.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could go to a website, find a stunning photograph of somewhere or something you're never likely to see in the flesh... and then make a piece of art from it without fear of breaking the law?

Well, you can!

Thanks to the Internet, you have millions of free, high-quality photos at your fingertips that come with permission already granted. This blog post will show you where to find them.

Why You Don't Always Have To Get Permission

For many images, the copyright owners have already given permission for their use through something called a Creative Commons License. There are a few different types of licences, with some of them having more restrictions than others.

I've listed a number websites in part 2 of this blog post that contains millions of permission-granted photos between them.

Before you jump to part 2 though, I want to quickly explain the different Creative Commons Licences in plain English, so you can use an image with confidence!

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How Creative Commons Works

There are a number of different Creative Commons Licenses that a photographer can choose to assign to their work. Here are the main ones you should be aware of:

1. Attribution

If a photograph has an Attribution License it means you can rework it (i.e. you can make a piece of art from it), you can share it (both the photo and your artwork) and you can sell your artwork made from the photo. The only criteria is that you credit the photographer when displaying your work.

Here's what an example Attribution Licence looks like >>

2. Attribution-NonCommercial

This is the same as the Attribution Licence but would prevent you from using your resulting artwork for any commercial purposes. That means you couldn't sell your artwork in any form.

3. Attribution-NoDerivs

This is one to avoid because NoDervis means you must not make any changes to the original photograph, which includes making a piece of art clearly based on it.

4. ShareAlike

Whenever you see a license with SharaAlike at the end it means you are agreeing to allow others to use your artwork in the same way you were able to use the photograph (i.e. you grant others the same license). Under an Attribution License, that means anyone else can share and copy your artwork as long as they give you credit.

5. Creative Commons Zero (CC0) or Public Domain

Certain creative works have become what is called 'Public Domain'. This means they either no longer have copyright attached to them or they fall outside what can be copyrighted.

The most common reason a work of art is in the public domain is that its creator has been dead a long time (typically over 70 years). The works of Shakespeare and Beethoven, for example, are in the public domain.

On the Internet, there are a number of very forward-thinking photographers who share their work and declare it as public domain. What they are saying is "...here, use my images any way you like and you don't have to credit me".

That's great, except technically they can't really do that. It's actually very difficult to give away your own intellectual property! They could potentially change their minds later on and claim you broke their copyright.

That's where the Creative Commons Zero or CC0 license comes in. By adding this license to their work they formally give up all rights to it. Crucially, they can't change their mind later on and remove this license.

If you want to see all the types of licenses you can do that here but in a nutshell, look for either the CC0 License or the Attribution License.

Here's what the symbols for those licenses look like:

Attribution License

CC0 or Public Domain License

What Are Model Releases?

When a photographer takes a picture of an identifiable person, they should get a signed model release form before publicising it. This is how the model officially grants permission for the image to be used in one form or another.

According to Wikimedia, if that person is in a public place, a model release isn't required unless the resulting photograph is going to be used for direct commercial purposes. What does this mean for you as an artist?

Firstly, it's only a potential issue if you plan to draw or paint a picture from a reference photo that contains an identifiable person, AND your resulting artwork captures an identifiable likeness!

In other words, if you're drawing or painting a portrait from a reference photograph you didn't take, and you're good enough to achieve an identifiable likeness, you need to be sure that the model signed a release waiver.

I would expect professional photographers to get signed model releases as standard, but it's not guaranteed. Some of the sites listed in part 2 openly tell you that they don't have any model release forms signed so it's best to avoid photos of people on those sites.

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Can't You Just Use Any Photo And Change It Significantly?

Before I move on to the list of free reference photo sites, I want to reiterate that it's NOT ok to simply take a photograph from Google or Pinterest (or wherever) and assume you're changing it enough simply by using a drawing or painting medium.

There was a famous case, where an artist called Shepherd Fairey was sued by the Associated Press because his Barack Obama 'Hope' poster was deemed too similar to the original photograph and therefore broke its copyright.

Take a look and see if you think it's too similar or not:

Fairey argued he'd made enough of a change for it to be classed as fair use. Ultimately, the courts disagreed with him.

Finding Reference Photos With A Creative Commons License

In part 2, I've listed 10 websites that collectively contain millions of reference photos for you to use.

Many of those photos have the CC0 license, meaning you can do with them what you want and you don't even have to provide credit.

Let's go...

ONWARD TO PART 2 >>

Take Better Photos Of Your Own

While it's not always possible to take your own photograph of a subject you want to draw/paint), your best art will often come from a reference that you captured.

You don't have to be a David Bailey or Annie Leibovitz to take a great reference photo of your own. And with the quality of today's smartphones, you don't even need a separate camera either.

But there are a few tips and tricks that will help you take more inspiring and helpful pictures.

I've put those tips into a downloadable guide for non-photographers. You'll learn:

The 2 best times of day to take landscape photos.
How to apply the rules of thirds to your photos (and artwork) and why you should break it.
How to create 'Rembrandt lighting' when photographing portraits without any special equipment.
6 techniques for taking more interesting and 'arty' photos of your friends and family.
Simple composition and lighting tips for photographing a still life

DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE HERE

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