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.
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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.
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It's incredible how much you can achieve with a limited color palette, which I believe 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, a basic set of brushes, and an oil pad is advisable. I personally enjoy using Arches cold-pressed oil pads and often apply a coat of acrylic gesso before painting, taping the pad to a hardboard for added support. If you love your work on the paper, I've found it easy to mount the painting using archival adhesive sheets and attach it to a sealed board, making framing a breeze.
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About Copyrights:
It is unlawful to claim your work as 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 I replicate; 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
