How I Turn a Photo into a Painting Without Copying It | Mixed Media Sketchbook Process

I'm still sticking with the botanical garden theme. And once again, I'm showing a very colorful painting and how it was made. This one is also based on a photo. In the previous video, I mentioned that if I had used acrylic, I would have zoomed in on the image and painted based on a blurry photo. This time, that’s exactly what I did. I chose a photo and tried not to copy exactly what I saw, but rather to convey its atmosphere — the colors, the shapes, and the feeling.

Although I wish I could show you the texture in person so you could see how many layers build up and how they create harmony. I started the painting on a pre-primed page. Those who follow my videos already know that I sometimes use my sketchbook as a palette, and I tend to paint on those pages.

I made the sketch with pastel, combining two colors so that the drawing would remain visible during painting. I didn’t aim to copy what I saw; I also didn’t overthink the composition — I worked based on intuition. That’s why I decided not to make the background green like in the photo; instead, I applied a thin layer of parchment-colored acrylic paint.

The details were created using a combination of Neocolor I and colored pencils. The main colors were dark indigo, chocolate, light cobalt blue, salmon, nectar, and ginger root. There are still two blank pages left in this sketchbook, and I hope I’ll manage to fill one in the next video.

After that, it might be time for a sketchbook tour — it’s been a while since the last one. I didn’t cut the video this time either, so you can paint the picture along with me. I hope that one day it will be possible to insert images in the comments, so I can see what you’ve created.

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#sketchbookart #mixedmediaart #botanicalart #paintingprocess #ArtFromPhoto #intuitivepainting #acrylicpainting #neocolor
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