What's a good way to "study" the artists you like?

[akitsukino]

A few days ago a put a post asking people how they feel they've "stolen" in their art ( because bad artists copy, but good artists "steal") however, now I'm asking this on a more technical level. Like I'd said before, there's an artist I love and I'd been trying to study her art to see what it is that made it so appealing. I tried recreating some of her work to learn a little more about it ( no tracing, I actively recreate from the ground up using my own techniques and tools; kind of like reverse engineering), and learned A LOT doing this and even discovered somethings I could use in my own independent work. However, I still feel like there's something in there I'm missing like there's something in the way she draws faces that I just can't pin down. I guess I feel like if I can find out what I specifically like in some of my favorite artists and describe it in more technical terms I can apply what I like so much in my own works. Have any of you tried this on your favorite artists? What did you learn? How did you apply it later? I'd love to here from you, so let me know below.

(P.S. I've now brought up the artist a few times but I still haven't mentioned her name. If any of you would like to see what I'm talking about and see if you can describe what she's doing I could post/link one of her pieces in thread if that's appropriate.)

[KoreanTacos]

stalking is a perfect way of studying your favorite artist... jk for the love of god don't do that...

I think just reflecting your work and contrasting similarities and accepting differences might be a good way of studying someone elses style without it seeming like you're "stealing".

[mintycanoodles]

i straight up trace sometimes. not with anything i plan to finish and post, but for sketches i don't even usually save. if i like the way a certain artist's proportions look, i'll trace or draw over to see exactly how they proportion. body proportions or facial features is what i generally look at when i see a style i like, so that's what i focus on when i study their art.

[Devika]

Yup tracing is fine for studies! Or try to copy it side-by-side and then pop your drawing over it and reduce the saturation, and see where you're off. I've done that a couple times.

It also helps to know what categories of fundamentals there are, and which part of it it is that artist is good at. Say, you think the colors look great in a piece... But that's maybe because of the values that make the right colors pop. Or the pose looks cool, so of course it's their anatomy! But really it's the composition as a whole.

It's tricky, but just go through all these categorically for a piece you really like. Take an image and make it greyscale in photoshop, zoom out, and you'll see the value work. Smack a filter on it that reduces it to color blobs so you can see the color scheme. (Don't blur though, that destroys the colors). Do both so you only have the rough value blobs, and you'll see the underlying composition. Find the line of action. Look at the silhouettes. Draw perspective boxes over it. (Heck you might find mistakes even, nobody's perfect.) I'm sure there's even more you could do!

That's my general method. But to help you with this specific one, I think it'd help if you posted something of hers you like and then your rendition of it! A second set of eyes can help a lot!

Oh and remember; this is a fine thing to do as long as you do it to improve yourself, but not to become "just like artist X"! Remember to value yourself (;

[Kayke]

When I was younger, I would try to mimic people's style as exercise, which is a perfectly good way to learn techniques. Like when I was really young I would find a thing I liked and try to see how close I could get to making something in that style exactly. Then when I was older and started taking art classes I'd focus on studying techniques rather than style. When I was learning how to use brush and ink, my teacher just had us copy old comic panels to see if we could mimic the line width and techniques. When I learned how to color digitally it was by copying the techniques I saw my teacher doing.

It sounds like you might be interested in developing a style and the advice I have on that is to just draw a lot. Don't consciously take bits and pieces from the artist(s) you like. Instead, just draw faces and bodies and characters as much as you can. Eventually you're going to find what comes naturally to you and your style will emerge from that. You'll probably be able to look at it and see the influences of the people you admire, but it won't be as straight forward as "this is like so-and-so's style but with other-style's eyes" or something. Don't over think it. Style is something that will develop organically with practice and you don't need to consciously put puzzle pieces together to make it happen. Focus on studying techniques and proportions!

[kyupol]

Copy one of their artworks... But don't post it online.

[Shanny8]

That's pretty much how I got to where I'm at now. I study the artists, analyze their works, and incorporate some of the aspects of their art that I like.

[aestheticderelict]

I think what you are doing is definitely the way to go with studying artists. Mimicry and tracing are good ways to start breaking down a style so that you can apply it to your own work later.

When tracing, however, I recommend breaking down the figure into its basic shapes (The boxes, cylinders, etc. that every how to draw book starts with). I find that doing this helps provide a clearer, technical breakdown of what the artist did, and allows for a more consistent, all-around deconstruction of their style.

It's also helpful in learning to draw characters consistently, like for animation.

[J.Z.Castillo]

I think tracing is good for some things, like learning the technical aspects of drawing when you first start, but once you become a decent draftsman I think tracing doesn't serve anymore purpose. I am a VERY visual person, the way I study styles and techniques is by SEEING the person do them, so whenever they post a video on Instagram I scream a little on the inside and I will replay those videos 50 times. If that isn't the case I just stare at their work for a while until I have retained the information and can see it clearly in my head and then try to implement those techniques in my own work. I very rarely copy another artist's work, I instead use their techniques in my own work. I know it's weird since not many people work the way I do, I think it's very technical and logical instead of artistic and practical, but that's how I get down.

I would say the fastest way to learn is to actually replicate another artist's work as closely as you can so you can compare the original and the copy and see what you need to improve and what you got. I would do that over and over until you get comfortable with a new technique, however, I would be really careful of stealing someone's style, that's why I say use their techniques and infuse them in your own style. I hope that makes sense!

[punkarsenic]

i have a sketchbook full of copies i made of drawings by adrian alphona, and hes one of my go-tos when im unsure how i want to stylize something. from him i learnt about depicting large noses and mouths without it looking weird, a lot about how i wanted to colour (that took Ages to crack he works with this one specific colourist sometimes who has like? a texture over the whole thing i can never really pin down) and how to have a sketchy, nice-awkward style in print comics.
ive studied and analysed artists (although, lazily) a lot, especially in GCSE art, and its a common and really helpful tactic. it took me ages to crack limited palette (still aint, tbh) and used shepard fairey and the recent hawkeye comics as my reference.

i always feel like copying and copying and copying an artist until you can make copies from memory - technique and all - is a good way to study an artist, because you get a feel for their strokes and gestures, so you can incorporate them into your style. even tracings good. and finding rough sketches and wips is really helpful for figuring out what it is they do

[thomasfallaeriksen]

One of my favorite things to do is to just sit and look. I can do this for LONG periods. This especially helps if it is a certain thing I'm struggling with. And after a while some of the things I like find its way into my own work (with VERY varying results).
And it can be okay to steal. As long as you are open about it and remain yourself.