This month I’m starting a series on a subject I really love and that is learning from the masters. Since I don’t have formal art training, I have spent a lot of time viewing and thinking about the beautiful work that has been created before us.

I am always struck by how the masters were able to create such beauty with limited supplies and conveniences that we as artists enjoy today. I think they had a small advantage in not being distracted by so much imagery as we are with social media and the interwebs, but they would have had to deal with just as many diversions such as procrastination, fear, lack of confidence and the like -- such as is common to man. But they pressed on. And we should, too.

In this series I will write about....

finding the master paintings you admire and saving them so you can refer back to them and paint;
how to practice mixing colors using the paint palette of the masters;
studying composition and learning from pieces that really sing;
examining lost and found edges and focal points.

I would love to hear your about experience with master studies and what has worked for you. More to come in the next post, thanks for coming along!

--Beth Cole
Soli Deo Gloria

Art + Such Blog by Beth Cole

Learning From The Masters