There was one drawing I made during my dry period that was particularly special for me. Not only was I pleased with it (it turned out!), it was also emotionally special, in that it was a gift for a friend. I had never gifted anyone a drawing before, and I even went so far as to have it framed. This felt very bold to me; I was very shy about it. It was large and matted and gorgeous. Even as nervous as I was to gift it, I was thrilled with it.
Sadly, I was also sort of ashamed.
You see, I had used a reference photo for my drawing. The drawing was a portrait, the face of a young and wounded boy, a drawing done to honor a hard time in my friend’s life, and I had used a teeny, 3-inch magazine photo from a music album as a reference as I imagined what he might have been like as a boy. It was a beautiful drawing, but for some reason I felt like I had cheated. I didn’t want him to know I had used a model.
Why am I telling you this? So that I can also tell you this: I was wrong.
Drawing talent (and finished drawings) are not mystical unicorns that arrive whole and esoteric on the page. I mean, they can arrive that way I suppose, but it’s really, really rare. Usually they are made by real people with real strokes and real mistakes — and, yes, with real reference materials.
It’s okay to copy.
There’s been a lot said about copying the work of others, as we all release our art into this luscious, succulent, image-rich online world… and I completely agree with most of it: Don’t steal, credit works, acknowledge big ideas and big inspiration, link back. But that’s not the same as using a magazine photo as a jumping off place for drawing practice, or as a reference for how wide eyes should be and how to draw teeth. On the contrary, when it comes to learning, I’m telling you this: Copy. Like. Crazy.
This doesn’t mean replicating another artist’s journal page without a mention of the copy-art source (crappy); it doesn’t mean you see some awesome thing somebody is selling on Etsy and open your own shop with their designs (grossly crappy); but it does mean use the wisdom of others the way you would a mentor or a class. Try the techniques you see, whether with drawing or painting or art journaling or whatever. Experiment like crazy in your own space because that is the only way (or at least the best way) to learn. When you sit down to a blank page, don’t be shy about turning to your art journal collection on Pinterest to get you started. Just start. Take advantage of all the goodness out there and thank the generous souls who provide it.
Dive in, even if you use art you’ve seen as a springboard.
Every one of the masters began as an apprentice. Every great artist was influenced by the work of a master that came before him. Every creative genius had a creative mentor. And yes, every artist today is influenced by the art of others.
Baby, there is no shame in that.
{Drawing above done from a small magazine clipping pulled from my morgue, and no, I don’t know the source. It doesn’t look much like the original clipping anyway, but it does happen to remind me just a little bit of the that first gifted drawing.}
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