Master Illustrator Copy part 2

My version of N.C. Wyeth's Treasure Island endpaper (detail).

In my last post, I showed my version of a J.C. Leyendecker painting. Here's my copy of a classic Wyeth image. As I painted, I determined that Wyeth must have given a slight warm tint to the canvas or possibly he was using a warmer version of black since his darks have a warmer cast than my version. 

Here again, the scale and medium used in the Wyeth piece are vastly different since my exercise was painted roughly 7" x 10" and Wyeth's is likely somewhere between 30" to 48" in width. Mine is Acryla brand gouache and Wyeth painted in oil. That said, it was very fun challenge to try to capture Wyeth's brush strokes and value arrangement.  

Master Illustrator Copy

My version of a J.C. Leyendecker

Making copies of  master paintings is a tradition that goes back centuries. Many museums even today allow students and artists to set up in the gallery and study the techniques of master painters by copying their works. This process allows an artist to break down color, stroke and layers to understand why a painting is successful without all the decision making that went into the creation of the original, thus speeding up the learning process (hopefully). For my Illustration 1 classes this semester, I decided to do a couple of master illustrator copies as demonstrations. Most of my students do not yet have extensive painting experience and this demo served to help them understand basic principles of painting as well as to talk about some basics of design. It was interesting to dissect another artist's technique and understand why a particular painting really works.

Detail of the Leyendecker original that I copied

I chose a nice painting by one of my all time favorite illustrators J.C. Leyendecker. I have long been a fan of his stylized depictions of the human figure as well as of his economy of stroke. I spent about a half an hour each on the two faces (one in each class) and then another hour and a half to two hours in the studio finishing things up. The main differences between mine and the great J.C.'s pieces are that he painted in oil and much larger. My version is in acrylic gouache (Holbein's Acryla brand) and only about 7" x 10". My under painting was also a bit more ochre giving the colors a slightly warmer cast overall. I began the exercise thinking I had a pretty good idea of what makes Leyendecker's work so effective and appealing but after careful study, I came away with a whole new appreciation for his brilliant picture construction. This is an interesting and useful exercise I would recommend every artist do once in a while. I totally enjoyed the process.