Copying is Good for Learning

For the last week, I have been copying drawings by Kate Kollwitz. I really like the feeling and strength of her images. I was hoping if I copied her images, I would get a clue as to how she created so much feeling in her drawings.

Copying master drawings is a traditional art training activity and can lead to some powerful learning. Once I copied a Van gogh and felt really angry. It was the marks I was making that brought up the feelings. Another time I was copying a Holbein the Younger drawing, and realized the drawing just was not looking right. Then I put in a mark so faint I could not really see it, but once done, my copy looked right. (I was copying Holbein the Younger because of his mastery of the deft marks he made.) I copied a Tintoretto drawing of a figure, and I was amazed the next time I went to life drawing. I could only see the figure and its outline in the way that I discovered copying the Tintoretto.

I was surprised with what I have learned so far copying the Kollwitz drawings. As I did the copying, I was highly impressed with the free movement of the marks, and the limited use of lines. The drawing is quite elegant and minimal, but very strong. I got the feeling that the broad marks used to create mass were the main marks I was making. Light was left as white paper, and the darks created the shape. Less is more. The darks were just enough, and the lights said so much without additional marks. The few lines drawn were perfect, and again just enough to finish the drawing.

I think copying these drawings taught me a lot about how to see light and dark, to use mass as the main element of my drawings, and to limit my lines to only those necessary, and draw them so accurately that they say all they need to.

As for the feeling, I get the sense that the drawings were done pretty quickly and directly. I find in my own work that if I can work quickly and directly it is easier to get the feelings down then when I polish the work, and slowly lose the feeling in myself and the work as well. To work this quickly and accurately, the drawer needs very strong skills in making the marks he or she wants, and needs to draw very accurately.

There are very powerful lessons to be learned by copying master's work. Of course, the artist should never claim the work as their own. If I show my Kollwitz copies I will indicate "After Kollwitz" to give credit where credit is due. The value in copying for me is the learning, not the drawing.

Note that the Holbein copy I referenced in this blog is displayed with the blog entry "Going Back to Move Forward".