Is Copying Other Artists Help You Draw Better

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You sit downwards with your sketchbook and yous're lost. Maybe you want to draw an elephant merely aren't certain where to starting time. Maybe you've been admiring a new artist and want to emulate their techniques. What do you lot do? Tin you copy their piece of work? Will copying aid you ameliorate your drawing skills?

You can larn to draw through copying since it tin can aid y'all amend your drawing skills. When yous re-create, you have the chance to experiment with new techniques, think critically about the choices the artist made, and do your primal drawing skills without the stress of needing to create a new and novel piece of art.

Encouraging artists to copy the work of others isn't a popular stance. Of class, copied work shouldn't be sold or displayed as i's own. That said, copying can exist a valuable office of the drawing learning process. Let's swoop into why you lot should comprehend copying when you sit to practice your drawing skills.

The Etiquette of Copying Art

Plagiarism is bad. By no ways should you ever copy someone'due south work and call it your own. Unfortunately, technology today has fabricated plagiarism easier than ever. With one simple click, someone can save an image of your art that you Posted on Instagram and sell it on a mug or mail service it on their own Instagram with their own signature. This kind of copying is never appropriate.

The trouble is that plagiarism has become such a big effect that nosotros're all scared of being accused of it, even if we've done cypher incorrect. "Oh, no! I traced that drawing, I better go burn it in the lawn before the plagiarism constabulary raid my house!" Yep, plagiarism is bad, simply that doesn't mean you tin't use copying as a learning tool to abound your own skills.

If y'all re-create a drawing and never have any intention to sell it, show it, or call it your ain, stop worrying. Recollect that copying is how most of united states of america learned to depict as kids.

It was a fun way to empathise how shapes worked and how we could put them together to create characters, buildings, and fantastical scenes. I don't know about you, but no one in my elementary art class was carted off to plagiarism jail.

Copying tin be a cracking way to learn the 5 bones skills of cartoon and actually cement them into your musculus retention.

Shed your conventionalities that copying is bad. If solely used to learn how to draw and improve your skills, you're fine. In fact, you should embrace copying as a valuable technique to add to your educational artist'southward toolbox. Here's why.

Copying Helps You See From the Artist'south Perspective

When yous sit downwardly with the goal of copying a piece of art pencil line by pencil line, you lot have to become to know it very well. You have to look at every single stroke and ask when, why, and how it was done. If you lot can't figure out the nuances of what you're looking at, yous won't exist successful in copying information technology.

Take a look at this drawing of an umbrella. To re-create information technology, nosotros need to enquire ourselves some questions:

what angle is the umbrella laying at?
how does the foreshortening work so that the front of the umbrella looks closer to the states and the back looks farther away? How do y'all describe the circle of the umbrella to achieve that?
how do the angles of the inner spokes of the umbrella differ from the outer spokes?
why is there more shading on the front of the umbrella than on the back? What does that tell united states about the lighting?

When y'all copy a piece of art, you need to think through all of the steps the artist took to achieve the shapes, shadows, and angles they achieved. How did they go that shadow just right and what do you need to do to get in look the same way?

This deep dive into the artistic process tin can teach y'all a lot about new techniques and means of understanding art. Past copying, you lot're basically giving yourself an art lesson.

Copying is likewise a corking way to feel more connected to your favorite artists and get a deeper understanding of their work. It's an intimate process to take a piece of art and intermission information technology downwards to its bare bone components of pencil strokes and shading gradients. Use this time as a style to appreciate the art and celebrate the artists you lot love.

Copying Shows You Skills Yous Need to Work On

Permit'due south say y'all're copying the picture of the umbrella and you just can't figure out how to shape the circle so that it looks like an umbrella and not a misshapen pancake. As y'all struggle and struggle, you realize that you haven't spent much fourth dimension working on your skills with drawing in perspective.

You take a intermission from your umbrella and brush upwardly on your perspective cartoon earlier diving back in again.

When left to our own devices, nosotros often create art that's in our condolement zones. Heck, it's more fun to create art that we're skillful at! When you copy something, you're forced to expand your skills and practice whatever is necessary to replicate the techniques that are displayed in that piece of art.

The whole purpose of copying is to learn. Learning what you need to learn is a primal aspect of that. As you piece of work on your project, have your time to analyze the steps that are causing you problems and what skills those are associated with. Make a listing of some of the skills yous need to brush up on and seek out future copying projects that force you to refine those skills.

Copying Can Requite You lot Confidence

In the same fashion that copying can point out deficits in your artistic skills, it can also point out skills you didn't know you lot had. I call up the first fourth dimension I ever tried to draw a realistic portrait. No, it wasn't neat, merely I was surprised by how natural the shading felt. As I fell into an artistic menses, I was able to mindlessly shade the portrait without stressing out about the event.

Equally information technology turns out, shading is 1 of my strengths.

It was fun to find art to copy that would claiming my skills with shading. How did they get that shadow? Where is the light coming from to get in look like that? What kind of pencil did I demand to accomplish a shadow that was so rich and saturated?

Utilise copying as a mode to discover your artistic talents. In one case you lot observe them, detect art references that claiming your skills and take them to the next level.

Copying Is Fun

I don't know about you, but I tin can get serious artist'southward block. I don't know if it's my perfectionism or my lack of creativity after a long day, but there are times when I just tin't come up with a skillful idea for a piece of art to save my life. During times like these, I similar to take hold of a bang-up piece of reference art and just whorl with it. I mean, art is meant to be enjoyed, correct?

There are times when we want to take the time and attention to create a novel, unique, and beautiful piece of art that we tin can display or sell. Other times, we just want to enjoy art. Copying is a great manner to put the creative strain aside and simply draw.

If you draw every day, you lot can improve your drawing skills. Copying tin just be i of the many techniques you lot try in your regular drawing routine.

How to Re-create Art When Drawing

When I work on a copying project, I like to have the slice of reference art on my iPad. That way, I can zoom in to see equally much particular as possible. I too like that I can rotate the paradigm and get a new view if I'g feeling mentally stuck about how a piece of work should come together.

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The other benefit of using an iPad for your reference work is that yous tin can easily pop over to Instagram or Google to explore the creative person'southward other work. A lot of artists prefer consequent themes and techniques. If you're stuck trying to figure out how an creative person accomplished a certain effect, wait at some of their other pieces and see if you tin can get whatsoever clues.

When things really become desperate, I pull out my low-cal box. When I'thousand really trying to larn from my copying projects, I don't like to pull out my light box because it lessens the challenge. There's a lot of benefit from struggling through an creative problem that gets washed away past a light box that simply gives you the answers and doesn't make yous think through the mechanics.

Merely, sometimes you're REALLY stuck and but need some clues. A light box can be a great tool for getting over the hurdle of a challenge you're having with copying a piece of art and move on to other aspects. I use the TikTeck lite box and admittedly love information technology. Information technology'due south inexpensive,, lightweight, and gets the chore done.

Even though copying gets a bad rap, it tin can be an important style to amend your cartoon skills and take your art to the adjacent level. Copying can also be a great way to relax and only accept fun with your art, which is something we're all looking for!

Diana has been an artist for over 25 years and has grooming in cartoon, painting, digital drawing and graphic design. Diana'southward latest obsession is digitally drawing with Procreate and creating t-shirt designs with Canva. Diana has experience selling her fine art across a number of platforms and loves helping other artists learn how to make money from their art too.