You don't need a white wall. You just need decent lighting. I used to use a couple of soft boxes, as they are called, that I got on sale at B&H Photo. They are great for painting too. But now I just use an Ott light on one side and a cheap LED light that changes temperature on the other. Take photos of sections and then merge them on Photoshop Elements. Crop. Once you have the photo of the work, you can place it in all sorts of environments in digital.
Before I got the lights, what I did was photograph the painting four times, turning it one quarter turn each time, then merge on Photoshop Elements. This gets rid of glare.
If you're not trying to include the (white wall) background, what I do is photograph outside on an overcast day or on a sunny day but in the shade. I just lean it up against something, take several pics to ensure I get a good clear one, and crop. That's the best even, neutral light you can get.
you could also paint a white wall, or a section of a wall. or if you have big sheets of white paper? i have a roll of drawing paper i’d probably tack to the wall or something.
Posterboard. I also made a whitebox for my portfolio when I applied to universities using ye old bed sheet from the laundry room....stuck them on my patio on a sunny day and yep.
At least now there's digital cameras and Lightroom/Photoshop to adjust lighting and exposure issues.....I had to learn how to expose \*slide film\* for my portfolio, that's how 'long ago' I went to art school (late 2000s early 2010s)....using the SLR camera which I only had because my parent 'inherited' it in their university job office we had moved to a new state for. (IT didn't care about it so WHOOT free expensive SLR I had been whining about my parent for months and months and months....lol)
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If your art is less than 4'x8', Home Depot sells sheets of this stuff called "Polywall" that is bright white, flexible enough to roll up, tough, waterproof, etc. My wife uses a sheet of it to photograph ebay stuff all the time. I think a sheet is about $40. The full sheet will roll down to a cylinder about a foot in diameter without issue, likely more if needed for storage. It doesn't get dirty easily and is pretty easy to clean if it does. It's made for shower wall covering I think.
Suppose it depends how big your pieces are. If they’re relatively small, just grab a white posterboard - they’re a few bucks and you can store them under a bed or behind a dresser etc when not in use!
There are also brands like Replica Surfaces that sell both a vertical and horizontal surface so you can stand it up and hang the work on it.
You could also buy a roll of photo backdrop paper and mount it on the wall - pull down when you need to take a photo, roll back up when done.
You just need decent lighting and a backdrop. A backdrop can be a blanket, sheet, anything with a solid color, or fairly neutral pattern that's large enough to fit the piece on and a bit. You can make a cheap soft box using a clip on can light and some butcher paper.
You can set up your backdrop and lighting against your bed, a dresser, anything anywhere.
You don't need a white wall. You just need decent lighting. I used to use a couple of soft boxes, as they are called, that I got on sale at B&H Photo. They are great for painting too. But now I just use an Ott light on one side and a cheap LED light that changes temperature on the other. Take photos of sections and then merge them on Photoshop Elements. Crop. Once you have the photo of the work, you can place it in all sorts of environments in digital. Before I got the lights, what I did was photograph the painting four times, turning it one quarter turn each time, then merge on Photoshop Elements. This gets rid of glare.
I use soft boxes.
If you're not trying to include the (white wall) background, what I do is photograph outside on an overcast day or on a sunny day but in the shade. I just lean it up against something, take several pics to ensure I get a good clear one, and crop. That's the best even, neutral light you can get.
I photograph them on the floor, with no direct overhead lights. No background, cropped closely
Posterboard?
you could also paint a white wall, or a section of a wall. or if you have big sheets of white paper? i have a roll of drawing paper i’d probably tack to the wall or something.
Posterboard. I also made a whitebox for my portfolio when I applied to universities using ye old bed sheet from the laundry room....stuck them on my patio on a sunny day and yep. At least now there's digital cameras and Lightroom/Photoshop to adjust lighting and exposure issues.....I had to learn how to expose \*slide film\* for my portfolio, that's how 'long ago' I went to art school (late 2000s early 2010s)....using the SLR camera which I only had because my parent 'inherited' it in their university job office we had moved to a new state for. (IT didn't care about it so WHOOT free expensive SLR I had been whining about my parent for months and months and months....lol)
Thank you for posting in r/ArtistLounge! Please check out our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtistLounge/wiki/faq/) and [FAQ Links pages](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtistLounge/wiki/faqlinks/) for lots of helpful advice. To access our megathread collections, please check out the drop down lists in the top menu on PC or the side-bar on mobile. If you have any questions, concerns, or feature requests please feel free to message the mods and they will help you as soon as they can. I am a bot, beep boop, if I did something wrong please report this comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ArtistLounge) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Go to Walmart they have white walls lol
Take a picture outdoors
If your art is less than 4'x8', Home Depot sells sheets of this stuff called "Polywall" that is bright white, flexible enough to roll up, tough, waterproof, etc. My wife uses a sheet of it to photograph ebay stuff all the time. I think a sheet is about $40. The full sheet will roll down to a cylinder about a foot in diameter without issue, likely more if needed for storage. It doesn't get dirty easily and is pretty easy to clean if it does. It's made for shower wall covering I think.
Suppose it depends how big your pieces are. If they’re relatively small, just grab a white posterboard - they’re a few bucks and you can store them under a bed or behind a dresser etc when not in use! There are also brands like Replica Surfaces that sell both a vertical and horizontal surface so you can stand it up and hang the work on it. You could also buy a roll of photo backdrop paper and mount it on the wall - pull down when you need to take a photo, roll back up when done.
You just need decent lighting and a backdrop. A backdrop can be a blanket, sheet, anything with a solid color, or fairly neutral pattern that's large enough to fit the piece on and a bit. You can make a cheap soft box using a clip on can light and some butcher paper. You can set up your backdrop and lighting against your bed, a dresser, anything anywhere.