Dawn

Drawing from a photo allows you more time to see and render what you might have missed in a quicker sketch or gesture drawing; however, it can also slow down the drawing process causing one to get hung up on little details or how to represent those details more (photo)realistically, if that makes sense.  It provides one with a static image that you can continuously refer back to.  Drawing from life forces you to move quickly and keep going with the process...of observing and creating what you see in front of you, at that moment, instead of what you think something should look like. Studying the photo gave me the opportunity to look more closely at the shapes, sizes and colors of lichens and mosses pictured on the branch.  But it also afforded me more time to see how the bird was framed by the leaves on both sides of the shot and how the color of the warbler is also picked up in the mosses.  Although I didn't capture those details in this drawing, I could go back and add them at a later date, which makes it very convenient.  One doesn't really have that opportunity in nature.  But with practice, these key details could be included or "suggested" through skillful use of line and color.  Now, I can see how using watecolor allows you to capture the "essence" of nature or a scene without stressing about absolute precision.