How do you copy another person’s drawing style?
I love this guy’s style : www.jelmerboskma.com
Any advices how to copy his style are more then welcomed.I know i should develop my own style,and i will.But first i want to get myself into this style.
So any tips and advices are welcomed,please.
Hello
very nice art.
main point would be to study human an animal anatomy. a number of his creations appear to be hybrids of humans and animals, or various animals.
for example the sea creature that has an iguana head , a sea lion’s body, and again the lizard’s tail. anyone can throw pieces together, but here you see the person understands the physiology that would be needed if this creature actually had this type of head on this body ( or in other words the how bones and muscle would have to truely exist in such a creation).
even more fanciful models have basis in actual living animals, modified and restructured to fit the artist’s needs. But again they understand how anatomically those modifcations would have to be structured to be functional.
so try getting books on a wide variety of animals, repitles, birds and fishes and start understnding how you could combine parts in such a way that your creation could really exist.
Mr. D
Hello
Thanks for answering.I guess i should have explained better.I know human and animal anatomy very good.
My question was what to look at other person’s drawing so you can copy that style?Like the direction of lines,intensity?That kind of advices i need.
Thank you
Why the hell would you want to do that anyway? An artist’s style develops over time on its own, it’s the result and expression of one’s personality and the main and often only thing distinguishing you from other artists. So what’s the point? To really learn to paint in someone else’s style you had to see the world through that person’s eyes, and the only way to do that is to become that person, and that’s impossible. Most you could achieve is to learn some tricks to emulate his style, maybe even to a superficially convincing level, but that would make you just a lesser version of him. Developing your own characteristic style is one of the best things that can happen to you as an artist, it gives your work individuality and recognizability. That’s what you should be striving for.
I’ll take it your not just trying to imitate here, there are a lot of artists who imitate Frank Frazetta’s style but there is still only one Frazetta.
Best thing to do next is just take some of the artist’s work and see if you can reproduce it. Just like being in art school when they have you try and copy the works of well known artists. The trick here is now to just imitate the other artist, but try to understand 1st techniques being use, but more importantly try to understand why they used those techniques. What where they trying to convey, what was of interest to the artist. Also ask yourself why do I like this artist work, is it subject matter, technique, or their color palette or the mood their work sets.
Once you got a handle on that, go ahead and make a piece of your own art, and try to think of how you can use what you learned not to just copy the other artist’s work; but to try to add those elements you found in their’s that caused you to like that other art.
So first just sit there and take a long look at their artwork and think why do I like this art, what is in here that I want in my own art. Even make a list if need be.
Mr. D
like Mr. D said you would just have to make many mastercopies.
Do many thorough copies of the works you like. Use the same material (if you can get information about it). Judging from another field of art (music) that I am more proficient in, you will have to do this a lot and for a longer period of time to make this second nature.
After a time you will find that the traits and features of the style you studied have become second nature (and that you have become aware of them in the first place) and then you could try and wear your newly acquired mask while drawing/painting a design of your own.
But, again judging from what I learned in music and from observation with fellow musicians, after that initial success there’s a very hard period of shaking the mask off. I know people who spent months studying a guitar player’s style and then it took them years trying not to sound like the guy they studied. If they (and you) succeed, all of the blessings of this kind of study are yours to reap: a deeper understanding of the artist you love and a wider range of possible choices for artistic expression.
But if they failed (and I have seen it happen), they end up being a cheap mimicry of someone else struggling to get back to their own way of doing things.
I don’t want to sound like a mysterious porter at the mirror gates… heck, strike that… I actually do… so here goes…
beware, adventurer! The path can lead to both deep understanding and to the center of a maze in which you will spend a lifetime trying to get out. You are warned!
cue manical laughter
fog
gate opens
I agree with Mu and Mr.D on this subject.
If you really want this… you gotta be really sure about it.
It isn’t wrong to ‘copy’ someone’s else style, but someday you’ll have to fly with your own wings and I mean that in professional terms, of course, if you wanna be a pro… it’s very sad, in my opinion, to have the same style as someone else when you are a pro. So, my advice is… just do that for evolutional needs, to have a solid base, and don’t care if people think it’s wrong… you do your own destiny and you have to follow your own wishes.
As far as emulating Jelmers drawing style, I would have a few pencils handy, a 3H, HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B. I would block in light to mid tones with a 2B pencil. Then using a small piece of tissue paper and paper stump, I would smudge the areas to smooth out the tone blends. Then use a soft pencil eraser to cut out highlights. Last, do all the line work and final shading with a 2B to 4B sharp pencil. No smudge smoothing at this point. I use a sandpaper block and or sharpening stone to keep my pencil points. Also, your paper shouldnt be too coarse.
Finally,the right answer 
This would be nice to see in action.You have some dvds on mind that use this technuiqe?or books or whatever?
Thank you all guys
I dont have any resources off hand to point you toward, but you might want to check out the Personal Anatomy & Sketchbook Thread sub-forum of this forum. You may find someone there who works in that style.
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