A Best Art School!

If you are reading this, you most likely have one of the very best art schools in the world - right on your desk and it's practically free!!!  

Awesome!!!  ....and sooo exciting!!!  Ready???...  Here it is....  Copy - yup.... Copy!!!!  While this will certainly never replace real life experience with awesome teachers, models and peers it is also a seriously underestimated type of learning that you should seriously consider exploring.

There are only about 50 million gazillion images of paintings on the web - super easy to copy and paste into files.  I have a general file of images I love from the web.  A few different artists that I have a real passion for get their own files.  And if you have a library of wonderful books that opens up a whole different stash of wonderful images to work from. Always available to fit your schedule.... unlimited learning potential - its just absolutely fantastic!   - so spend some time a couple days a week copying - it will greatly enrich your life and your work!!  

Oh - and don't worry about picking up someone's style - you couldn't recreate their work convincingly and consistently if you tried - your own "voice" will always come through.... and what a glorious thing that is!!!  Also - copy a variety of artists - that just makes everything better!!!

So I will post my own copies here with the references periodically - so please come back and look.  I very much want to see your copies too so please put links to your copy pics in the comments or email them to me.  Just be sure that whatever you do with the pics of your copies give loud and appropriate credit to the original artist and be sure that it is understood that yours is a copy for learning purposes only and Never Ever attempt to sell a copy - that's a serious no no...



"Eucalypti" by Edgar Payne, circa 1909?


So besides copying paintings straight, color for color and line for line - break it up a little at times by:
  • turning the original upside down
  • flip it backwards in Photoshop before copying it
  • use a limited palette other than the original one
  • do a drawing of a painting
  • do a painting of a drawing
  • copy in black and white
  • use watercolor to copy oil
  • use oils to copy a watercolor
  • after copying write a couple of paragraphs in a journal about what you learned
  • copying is a great way to work back into working after a dry spell

Most importantly - Learn and Enjoy!!  
Happy Painting!!  : 0 )

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