Master studies - how do you deconstruct artists’ techniques/methods?
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Yeah, @NessIllustration pretty much said it all. You build that knowledge over time. You do learn some of it if you go to art school, but the majority will be learned through research, tutorials, online classes. Even when you get to a certain level of confidence in being able to identify a variety of materials and techniques, things can still pop up and surprise you! Some artists use their materials in a way where it looks like another medium- some will employ a less than typical technique to get the same results as another technique.
When I do masterstudies- sometimes following the same technique as the masterwork is important to me, and sometimes it's not. I've painted digitally long enough, that many times I can replicate the look digitally, even if I don't know exactly what medium or technique was used. If I'm copying a traditional watercolor piece for example, but I'm doing it digitally, I won't paint it the same way a traditional water-colorist would. Sometimes that's good enough for me. If I'm doing something traditionally- I'll usually need more research to figure out how to achieve the same results, depending on the style and medium used.
Website: www.tessawrathall.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/tessawrathall_art/
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@TessaW that’s good to know. Something to aspire to one day
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@MissMushy You are asking some very good questions!
I think one of the keys to master studies is having a very clear purpose. Ask yourself what it is that you are trying to learn or take away from the art you are looking at: the line work, composition, color, light quality, maybe how they paint eyes? Otherwise you may just end up trying to make a copy, without learning much. It happens to the best-intentioned of us. So, if what you are trying to learn is the medium that the original artist used, then yes, do everything in your power to know the medium that was used, do the research, and use the master study as a way to explore and learn that medium. If not, then the medium doesn't matter. I appreciate the skill that goes into a master study where the student is just trying to make an exact copy, but I've found over the years (and I am a master study junky), that the best way to get the most out of your master study is to be really clear about what you want to take away from the original artist and incorporate into your own work, then focus on that.
One of the best ways I have found benefits of master studies, is to do many from the same artist. For example, I did a very lengthy series of Edgar Payne master studies with the purpose of understanding his use of color and decisions around composition. He's an oil painter, but I could kind of care less about learning how to paint in oil, but I did want to figure out how to get some of his brushing technique replicated digitally--so, I did the studies digitally. I also didn't waste time getting the paintings to look exactly like the originals, because my purpose was to understand his color choices and compositions, so that's where I spent most of my time. I would do a one hour study of his original, and do a 3-4 hour original painting using what I learned. This is how I do all my master studies now, and highly recommend it to anyone else who wants to be a fellow master study junky. When done with purpose, master studies can be the best teacher.
So long rant short, ask yourself first, "what do I want to learn SPECIFICALLY from this master?" and just focus on that takeaway.
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@MissMushy yeah agreed, trial and error.
What helps me is also understanding how I learn best. I cant learn from reading.. i get sooo bored and I just wanna quit. Trial and error is more fun and even if i dont learn how the artist did it, I learn something new I can apply to something else.
instagram and twitter: @artofaleksey
alekseyillustration.com -
@Elinore-Eaton great advice! I sometimes lose track of what exactly I am trying to do as everything falls into the bucket of ‘improving my skills’ . Good reminder.
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@Aleksey true - trail and error can be fun when I don’t get too frustrated with my lack of progress.
sometimes I need to give the perfectionist within a good smack 
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@MissMushy haha yes, i learned a long time ago that I learn more from failing than succeeding.
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One of my fave illustrators for look feel and humourous approach is Peter de Seve. Found this YouTube lecture breaking down his approach that I found really helpful.
https://youtu.be/RQm28YnT2wQ -
@MissMushy eeek thank you for posting this! I love his work too (me, you and a million others....ok more than that lol). thanks!
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@MissMushy ANytime! GL on your masters adventures!
