Do you copy other artists?

[TristanJensen]

@SethJH That looks awesome!

[joannekwan]

I always do it. If I see something I like from an artist then I copy it into my own style and then repeat. I'm an amalgamation of shit that I liked other people put in their style.

Absolutely, this is me basically.

[gateofselidor]

I love analysing other artists' work to see if I can find any interesting techniques to incorporate into my own work.

[Menbung]

Ah yes, all the time, I'm a little copymeow. One of the best ways of learning is through imitation, think about how you learned to speak, mama said ma ma ma, and you were like ma ma ma, mama! (mom).

You can apply the same thing to drawing, just like winglesscomic say =]

[punkarsenic]

i did pages and pages of transcriptions (fancy art student word for copies) of adrian alphona's drawings in ms marvel and it greatly influenced my style! my copies of his drawings are still some of my favourite things i have in my sketchbook tbh

[Mohchi]

I use references mostly for difficult poses or expressions

[Kamikaze]

Well heck yeah, everyone on our team takes time to learn from other artists around us. One of the best ways you can improve is by figuring out how other artists do their work! This is one of the reasons why I, personally, tell budding artists that it's okay to trace over people work when you're starting out. By no means is that saying "OMG trace it and call it yours!" but more so "trace it and figure out how they're doing it!"

One of the coolest exercises I ever did was take a coloring book page and digitally paint using a master painters work as your inspiration for color, lighting, and style. It was a really neat project! I can't find the files from mine, but here's one from Loish on deviantart!

Coloring book page

Painting referenced

Result

[Mohchi]

Oooh, kind of similar to this, my latest chapter cover I used this reference drawing

I'm thinking about doing this with my future chapter covers too, basing them off of pictures from all kinds of cultures and time periods

[Vikiro_Hop]

Oh totally, I know more than a couple of artists who admit that making your own style is a lot like stealing all the bits you like best about other peoples work. At the moment I'm still trying to solidify my style but I definitely have been taking bits and pieces from everywhere.

[apocryphagraphics]

I was very heavily influenced by a few artists when I first started--guys like Art Adams, Jim Lee, Adam Hughes, etc... After a while I felt like my stuff was starting to look like I was trying too hard to mimic their styles. I stopped looking at specific comic artists work altogether and focused on developing my own natural style. Now instead of referencing favorite artists I use real life models and references almost exclusively. Not only has that helped me to develop my own style but it's led me away from the mountain of comic book clichés that make up so much of mainstream comic art: the same angles the same dramatic poses etc... I'm basically trying as hard as I can to NOT draw comics "the Marvel Way" or "DC Way" or the "Manga Way" or anyone else's way. Hopefully they will still be visually interesting! Sometimes things become clichés for a reason...

[monotone_ink]

I copy artists, but I always make sure to copy multiple of them.
Sure, there are a few artists that I'm quite fond of (Ishida Sui and Atsuya Uki; based gods.) but I always try to look at the interesting elements and what makes the styles of other artists seem unique. It's really fun and you learn a lot of things in the process.
In the end, there's no such thing as original; everything we learn and create in life is through copying in one way or another. Behaviour, mannerisms, accents, and of course, art styles. They're all influenced by what surrounds us.

[tzuhan]

I think what you should say is be inspired by other artists because if you plainly just copy you'll have no growth.
You can use parts of your favourite artists' styles and develop your own. Welp, I just read some other people's comments and they've already said that. Yes, I do 'copy' other artists.

[MeepandMushrat]

Short answer is yes, I do copy. But its done with purpose, like why do I keep drawing this arm wrong, well let me trace how she did a few times and see what I can learn.

Ill take a drawing and draw on top of it. Then after a few times ill reduce the original drawings opacity until I cant see it anymore. Not only did I get all that practice but now I have to force myself to add my own flair to the peice. And then after trying a bit more ill consider it my own work after adding enough of my own style to what I was learning when I traced or referenced.

[kazukitakamura126]

I do in fact reference to a lot of other things, I use an anatomy body to recreate a realistic human body. I do this if I am questioning my ability to create good looking anatomy. I also recently started to create the anime style of my art style (where it's full blooded anime) I used the art style of the Tales series as a base because they have such an interesting art style. I drew my character exactly in their style as a test then the second time I drew in the anime style I made the characters ears from my default style because the ears of the Tales style looked weird to me.

[yartzanaserenade]

I think that on an unconscious level we all do it, when we see something that we like we tend to assimilate its features in a sort of personal ''beauty standard "and we eventually find ourselves repeating it in our own way, so that our personal style creates itself in base of what it comes easier and naturally from all the things we've seen/tried to reproduce involuntarily/voluntarily.
I Think that could be a way how artistic movements were often born.

[Kayke]

I think copying techniques is fine. It's a great way to learn.

I know personally a lot of my artistic habits come from the cartoonist I interned/apprenticed with when I was in college. I learned how to ink from her as well as how to set up panels and do word bubbles and color and well... everything hahah I really owe her a lot when it comes to art and organization.

Our styles of drawing look really different, but I think if you watched us both work our techniques, workflow, and habits would still be notably similar.

[jordanthelass]

I take inspiration from other artists, but hardly ever copy them outright. There's nothing wrong with trying to emulate someone elses style to find your own. When I first started drawing way back when, all I did was try to draw anime and the like--because I loved how exaggerated the expressions were.

After I got over my obsession with anime, I started looking up some webcomics and tried to emulate their styles. Like Penny-Arcade, Goats, etc. Webcomics that strayed away from anime-esque drawings.

I think it's all about finding what you're comfortable with. Even now, I'm still trying to improve my style by taking elements from other peoples art and putting my own spin on it. ^_^

[Caelestie]

well yeah it is about being comfortable with whatever you are inspired by! but if you want to be a good artist you need to get out of your comfort zone so you can learn new things! otherwise you are always stuck with what you already know how to draw!

[jordanthelass]

Of course! I mean, once I get to take point where you're comfortable with your own style--then you can start branching out into other things. That's how I got to the point I'm at.

[Caelestie]

Well then I think we agree mutually! For the love of drawing!