you are probably aware of the fact that with a projection, there is a double distortion involved because the original image was distorted and then there is a separate distortion involved with the projection itself. So there will be distortion involved even if you just project your sketch though there are undoubtedly things you could do to minimize it.

of course, “projection painting’ (camera obscura) was essentially the forerunner to photography and it’s actually somewhat amusing that some artists are going back to that.

Personally, I kind of feel what’s the point? the drawing is my favorite part of the painting process and tracing over a projected image just would not excite me.

But i also take the attitude that if someone wants to do this, who am i to criticize?

In one regard it makes absolutely no difference: if you paint a masterpiece and use projection to do it, 100 years from now, no one is going to care (or even know for that matter).

Maybe projecting my compositional sketch wouldn’t be such a bad idea…but what I was referring to was projection of my reference photo(s), which I had no idea artists did until some of you in one of my workshops explained it all to me.

I recall a Bob Kuhn anecdote in which he tried one time to project his reference material onto his canvas, thinking “what the hell, maybe it’ll save time”…and he gave up after he realized that the reference (like many photos) had distortions in it that he couldn’t get out unless he redrew the composition freehand.

Not even your mind?

I browsed through a wildlife art book a while back by Edward Aldrich and he apparently first does a small sketch and then uses projection to transfer/enlarge his images to the canvas. After looking at his sketches (also in the same book) i have little doubt that he could do it without projection so my guess is he does it mainly to save time.

I say “to each his own”, but i would comment that “scaling an image up” from a small photo is one of the most challenging parts of the entire painting process (at least for me) — and also probably the most enjoyable. I find it a lot easier to do a small drawing and keep the proportions right than it is to do a big one. but i find the bigger ones more fun.

The artists who really blow me away are the ones who do the huge murals “free hand” (like Michelangelo!) because up close, it’s nearly impossible (for mere mortals like myself) to get a sense of proportion.