Okay I understand the importance of Master Copies now...

[Jason Crowley]

I thought I'd try a couple of Master Copies of illustrators whose work I feel most aligned with to see if I can improve my own process, as I feel like I've almost got my technique and brushes set. And well, I'm really happy with what I learned and how it turned out.

Here's a piece by Christopher Denise:
I was curious to see how he builds up his texture, how it's quite loose but held together with the ink line over top.

Here's a piece by the Fan Brothers:
I was curious to try their cross hatched style and see if I could pull off the textured areas.

And taking those learnings I applied a hybrid approach with my own style blended in:

[J. Morgan Looney]

@Jason-Crowley Yes! I did a master copy this week that directly inspired a work in progress that I am really excited about.

[Jason Crowley]

@J-Morgan-Looney It's a definite shortcut to making progress that's for sure.

[Jason Crowley]

Took a while to figure this one out! This is the closest I've come to making digital look traditional. Really happy with this process, it will give me another approach to creating my own images. This is a crop of a Maja Kastelic piece:

[Jason Crowley]

And one more! This is Jeremie Almanza, his work is amazing. Now to figure out how to come up with my own pieces

[davidhohn]

I'm a giant fan of master copies!
Recently made a master copy of a watercolor by Andy Evansen

I'm currently having a go at learning the digital painting program Rebelle. I find it easier to master any new medium (regardless of being a physical or digital medium) if I limit the number of variables.

In this case I was able to focus just on mark-making and how to get reliable results.

[Jason Crowley]

@davidhohn Nice! I have a licence for Rebelle but it was too much for my computer to handle at the time. Looks great for water colour!

Totally agree on limiting the number of variables, and master copies are a great way to find which variables work.

[Adam Thornton 0]

@Jason-Crowley Really beautiful work, Jason. You have been busy! This is very inspiring for me, and a great reminder to get copying.
I was so pleased to read that you feel you've "almost got my technique and brushes set." That's a wonderful place to be!

[evka8D]

I completely agree master studies are so helpful not only for improving your art but they're also help you to find and shape your own style.

It's nowhere near the beauty of the original but I wonder if you can guess the og artist

[A Former User]

@evka8D Your copy was close enough for Google image search to provide a link to: "Primrose at the entrance to the tunnels metal print by Brambly Hedge. "

[evka8D]

@thomas-young Oh yeah you're right Google sure has gotten better than it used to be but it kinda ruins fun of these games heh

[Yiming Wu]

@davidhohn Well done! I like the original's geometry look and your interpretation of the gradient and texture

[Yiming Wu]

@evka8D Beautiful sketchbook

[evka8D]

Finally it's finished it legit took me 2+ months to finish this study since I first started Time to move on to another artist.

[Jeremy Ross]

Looking good @Jason-Crowley !!

I think master copies leveled up my art significantly.

Here’s a thread I created and probably need to add more to.

https://forum.svslearn.com/topic/8403/copy-covers-for-practice/41?lang=en-GB

[Sara_C]

@evka8D Such a favourite of mine, you did a beautiful job!

[Jason Crowley]

@Jeremy-Ross Oh wow you've really put in the work! Well done. I'm glad that I learned about master copies from 3PP, I think it nets people almost immediate substantial improvements, depending on their initial foundations.

I've only been doing parts of the original artwork as values only rather than the full artwork, just to try and understand the general technique. Once I feel satisfied that I've figured out that I can replicate the general technique, I then document the process of brushes, layers, adjustments, so I can refer back to it later, as I'm constantly reshuffling my core brushes around.

I think I'll eventually create a user manual for myself to follow, as I sometimes forget important shortcuts and steps.

[Jeremy Ross]

Good plan @Jason-Crowley !