Pastiche-a-plenty!
A useful playtime
Hello Septembery chums! And a pinch and a punch for the first of the month, no backsies!
In my first year of my Illustration BA at Kingston in 1997, we had a project which aimed to introduce us to using acrylic paints, and improve our painting skills in general. The assignment was to pick an existing painting, and copy it while also adding ourselves into it somewhere. I loved this project, and it proved to be one that I’ve worked with more or less ever since.
I chose this Norman Rockwell painting - sadly I haven’t any photos of my resulting painting. But I remember it: I was sitting on the sailor’s lap, he was smiling and holding me, and the tattooist was crossing out “Betty” (slag!!) and adding “Tor” underneath.
My first post-university replica used the same painting, this time with cats!
I’d guess this was from about 2011, when I was first finding my way into using Photoshop, but was still using pencil line (the same way I work now). It was instantly enjoyable, the big thinking work taken out - the artist having done the composition, the idea, everything for you. And I could use photos too.
Over the lockdowns in 2020, I got really into copying paintings of women. I went through a (short) James Tissot phase, and called them all Lockdown Ladies. Probably in contrast to my own, much less glamorous languishing.
SOME paintings just have to be revisited a few times!
So there’s a lot of copies/pastiches/homages in one post!
I find it a really useful exercise - for when I’m feeling stuck, and like I haven’t any ideas. Through this ongoing project I’ve made improvements to my colouring techniques, drawing skills, and I’m more or less guaranteed to end up with a picture I like, given a much better artist than me went first!
How about you guys, are there any tried-and-trusted methods you turn to when you’re feeling stuck?
Thanks for reading! Until soon!
I’m not sure if this comparison works, but as a sculptor, when I’m stuck in the studio I seem to build boxes or cubes - somehow this simple shape and the action of making it always leads yo something... nothing worse than a blank canvas!
Such a good exercise! This isn’t something I’ve thought to do since school (where I remember making painstaking copies of Joan Eardley paintings in oil pastels, not at all the same as these amazing pastiches) but I love what you said about learning colour from it. Got to try again. Also digital colouring which I really have a hard time with for some reason.
My go-to for stuck moments used to be collage but now more often drawing games, especially if I can rope someone else in to play. Using other people’s pictures as starting points for some kind of story seems to work well.