Reference in Other Artist’s Artwork

Tip of the week time!

Got a favorite artist/artists? Then you should find some of their artwork and start analyzing it!

Let’s say you like how someone draws people. Then pick out a few simple images made by this artist and try breaking it down to simple rules you can remember. These rules (like proportions, forms, colors etc.) don’t need to be conventional. Try really finding your own helping anchors, patterns and definitions, this way you’ll memorize them much better than anything you are taught from the outside. Make the image’s construction your own invention! Perhaps there is more than one way to draw the human depicted. Don’t be afraid to create some crazy formulas! The more unique the better 🙂

Nevertheless you should avoid applying too many different patterns. This is going to get you confused later on when you try to remember how you constructed the image. Use what you already know and combine it with a unique theory you came up with. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not about inventing a whole new way on drawing no one has ever thought of. This whole exercise is about the process not the outcome. Your brain learns and remembers your own inventions over external ones.

I actually started using this approach not so long ago but I have to say it really works better for me! I learned a lot of things by only drawing them once but concentrating on finding my own patterns. By the way, this really trains creativity 😉