Blog: Master Studies (Patreon)

(Edit: Reposted because I messed up the early access)

So I admit... this isn't a tutorial as much of a blog post, but whatever. Let's talk master studies.

I recommend doing studies to every representational artist of any skill level. (Representational art = represents real objects in the real world. AKA, not abstract.) The basic questions:

1. becca wtf is a master study

A master study is a drawing/painting/sculpt/etc in which the artist (you) is mimicking a preexisting piece of art that was originally created by a master artist in order to learn about their process and techniques. This is not a perfect definition, but master studies come in MANY different forms and are made for a HUGE variety of reasons. You can be trying to learn more about color or light or shapes or composition or value or lineart or any fundamental aspect (or several aspects!)

Master studies can be in any medium. They do not have to be in the same medium as the original. They do not have to be mimicking the entire original piece- maybe just a specific part of it. They do not have to be intended as pixel perfect or clean or finished. It does not have to take you 20 minutes or 20 hours. 

2. becca...why do master studiez

Completing master studies strengthens your observational drawing/painting skills, which are absolutely essential for representational artists. Being able to look at a reference and pull from it very naturally and quickly is important! They also teach you (sometimes very clearly, other times very subconsciously) about how masterful artists create. You start to notice beautiful subtleties in color, saturation, value... and if you keep doing studies of the same artist, you'll find patterns in their methods. Those patterns provide insight into how they created- some of which may have been subconscious to them. It's pretty amazing.

3. okay, but what do study??

For the first couple of times you do studies, I recommend doing studies of famous artists that are 100+ years old because they have gone through the filter of time. If someone's art is still being spoken about centuries after their time, that is nothing to snort at. As you become more experienced, you'll build a stronger intuition of which modern pieces are good for studies as long as you keep exposing your mind to awesome art.Pick what is INTERESTING to you. Check out  Gustave Dore, NC Wyeth, Frank Craig and John William Waterhouse. Absolutely gorgeous stuff.

Choose the image based on what you want to learn, too. If you want to learn how to paint vibrant colors, put some time into finding a vivid, bright piece that speaks to you. Make sure to only use an image in a high resolution that was scanned very clearly.If you need a starting point, you can check out my Pinterest board of some of my favorite artists. I really recommend building up your own organized visual library of references and inspiration. Make sure that your reference is the original, not a study that someone else made.

4. uhh, i'm four minutes in and i'm already frustrated

That's normal. Studies are intended to challenge how you work and think, so there will be growing pains. Remember that you are making this to LEARN, not to make a portfolio piece or your next popular tweet. This is just for you, and it will make your original work better with time! Take breaks and don't pressure yourself into taking hours and hours for your studies, especially at first. Start small and build up over time if you're getting confused or tired.

A few other quick thoughts:

• Use simple tools you're familiar with. Having to adapt to new brushes/tools while studying is distracting and can be frustrating.
• Focus on big picture instead of tiny details. You don't have to try to emulate the texture that the brushes/oils/canvas had if that's not what you're trying to learn.
• I'm not going to tell you not to use the eyedropper. If you're going to use it, I recommend using it VERY sparingly or just to observe values in the original painting.

I'll be using NC Wyeth's painting which was originally painted in 1916. I chose this because 1. the color variation in the stones is lovely 2. the shapes in the hands and book are great and 3. wizards.

I made 2 Photoshop files and put them next to each other in the window. I ALWAYS stay zoomed out unless I am only planning on studying a small section.  For the sake of accessibility and demonstration, I'll only be using the default hard round brush in Photoshop and this free brush on dA (which I use constantly.) This is as far as I will zoom in for 95% of the exercise: 

If you really want to focus on color or value, its okay to trace the major shapes with thin lineart so you don't have to multitask during your first couple of studies. Yes, the more you work from scratch and less you use crutches the better, but don't listen to people that tell you there are set rules that you ABSOLUTELY MUST abide by. You get out of it what you put into it, just get started!

Color study, 20 minutes. I stayed VERY zoomed out and just focused on the bigger colors in the scene. I didn't trace and did very little color picking: 

Value study, 30 minutes: 

I could have spent much more time on these, but as you can see, studies don't have to be a full-day commitment. They can also just be observational sketches... 

Or a quick exercise to focus on a specific concept you're struggling with, like skintone: 

(Both above originally by JC Leyendecker.)

Studies can of course get as grainy and pixel-perfect as you want them to be, but focus on what you want to get out of the exercise. Don't be afraid to spend just a few minutes or literal DAYS on an individual piece.

I hope this helps!! Cheers.