Is It OK to Copy a Painting Teacher? Steve Griggs Says Yes
We all want our own unique style. So why would an artist and teacher like Steve Griggs, Ep. 59, suggest copying as a way to get there?
Griggs is a watercolorist with an incredibly distinct style. And it’s one he very purposely teaches his students. He learned to paint by taking classes and replicating his teachers, and he believes it’s one of the fastest ways to improve your skills as an artist.
Let’s look at three reasons why copying your teachers will help you learn to paint.
Reason #1: Copying Gets You Started Painting
One of the biggest challenges for new artists is that they don’t know where to begin.
Some artists lose months or even years trying to choose the perfect direction before they even start.
But the best way to learn to paint is to paint. The direction you choose isn’t nearly as important as choosing a direction… and then GETTING STARTING.
It’s OK to start painting not knowing the direction you want to head. Choosing a teacher and then working to copy their work is a great way to pick a direction you’re excited about. You already know you love the work this teacher creates, and so you trust that by learning how to paint like them, you’re headed in the right direction. And most importantly, it gets you painting.
Reason #2: Copying Limits Your Variables
There are an overwhelming number of decisions to make when you’re learning to paint. You have to make choices around everything from tools, materials and techniques. That level of overwhelm can stop an artist from painting (see Reason #1).
Plus, it can be super frustrating.
Copying a teacher means you go in knowing everything you need to have in order to try and do what they do. You can trust that these pigments, brushes and paper will be exactly what you need to work towards the teacher’s techniques.
You don’t have to experiment with 100 different tubes of paint. You already trust that these materials will get you on the right road of a particular outcome.
Then, armed with that knowledge, you can expand into your own territory.
Reason #3: Helps You Find Solutions
Similar to reason #2, copying your teachers also helps you narrow down where and how to fix things.
So often when you’re learning to paint, it can feel like swimming blind. You try something, it doesn’t work… but you don’t know why.
If you try to create a wash like Steve Griggs and it doesn’t work, you’ll know it pretty quickly. Because you’ll be able to compare your work to a master.
Plus, if and when you try and it doesn’t work, you don’t have to wonder if it’s because you have the wrong paints or papers or brush. You know you have the right tools because these are what Steve Griggs uses. So you then know to focus your attention on HOW you apply that paint.
By copying your teachers, you have fewer variables to have to filter through anytime something doesn’t go as you’d hoped. This makes finding the solution easier and more straight forward.
Where Copying Gets Tricky
While there are many great reasons to start by copying your teachers, there is a cost.
At some point, you will feel really good about the work you’re creating. And part of that is because you’ve developed all these amazing tools to use. (And seriously, congratulations on your hard work!)
But you’ll also find real comfort in creating work that has already been accepted. If you paint like Steve Griggs, you can trust that it’s “real” artwork because a real artist does it. If someone doesn’t like one of your pieces you care less because a ton of people love Grigg’s work. It gives you security in your work because it is a style that someone else has already vetted.
But it’s not yours. And this is the tricky part. It can *feel* like yours because you worked hard to learn the skills to make it possible. It was your eyes that simplified the shapes in the scene and your hand holding the brush that made the mark to build the painting.
But if you learned how to paint from Steve Griggs and your work looks like Steve Griggs…it’s still a copy of Steve Griggs.
And it can feel both scary and strange to move away from this place of wonderful comfort , confidence, and competence towards the unknown style that will be truly yours.
It may even feel like a step backwards as you learn how to use this set of tools from Steve Griggs and combine them with tools from other artists and your own experiments and create a unique way of responding to the beauty you see in the world.
But you’ll feel better in the long run when you find your own style. And the world will be a richer place for having not two Steve Griggs… but a Steve Griggs AND a you.
Get articles like this and new podcast episodes sent straight to your inbox by signing up for the newsletter below.