Master Copies: Learning From the Past:
Why do artists replicate the works of others?
It's an excellent method for learning, drawing inspiration, and refining technical skills with various materials. This practice can help artists build confidence, enabling them to apply that knowledge to create their own original pieces. Additionally, copying can enhance drawing abilities and foster a deeper understanding of color hues, values, and intensities when painting existing artworks.
Why I Began Learning from Past Masters?
I've always been confident my artistic skills, but I've struggled with oil painting techniques. Questions about the right surfaces, suitable mediums, and achieving the perfect skin tone often left me feeling uncertain. There have been times when I spent more time mixing colors than actually painting. To enhance my understanding, I've developed various color charts, especially when I indulge in a new tube of paint and want to explore its interactions with other colors.
It's incredible how much you can achieve with a limited color palette. I believe it is a great starting point for anyone interested in oil painting. Since oil painting can be quite costly, it's wise to begin with supplies that help you get a feel for the medium before making a significant investment. If you decide to give it a try, starting with a trial set of oil paints and a good basic set of brushes. Selecting a surface to paint on can matter on how you want your final painting to look. There are various surface textures and types of materials you can select. From cotton canvas, linen canvas, wood panels, and even heavy paper. Also to take into account is how the surface is primed and with type of primer is used. Try experimenting and find out what you feel most comfortable with. I enjoy using Arches cold-pressed oil pads which I prime, or primed wood panels.
I've included some examples here.
About Copyrights:
It is unlawful to claim your work as an original. Always credit your art derived from someone else's creation. Under no circumstances should you replicate the original artist's signature, as that constitutes fraud. Copyright protection lasts for 70 years after the creator's death, after which the work enters the public domain. While copying has long been a valuable learning method, artists typically seek the appropriate permissions to paint from originals in museums.
I do not sign the front of the paintings; instead, I provide details on the back, including the original artist's name, the title of the piece, and my signature along with the date I created it.
Examples of my Oil Painting Copies
