We have already experienced how useful it is to copy styles and techniques from artists, this time with the Year 7Th students we studied the portraiture. In particular we looked for NON-REALISTIC portraits, paintings of faces INTERPRETED by artists in a unique and personal way. Especially from the artistic Avant-gardes onwards, the portrait is no longer just a copy from life, but becomes a way to investigate the psychology of the subject, and becomes a pretext for freer interpretations.
After choosing a series of portraits ranging from Impressionism to the Avant-garde artists, until the portraits of 1940s, we tried to copy these small artworks (the color print is about 12x18cm) with colored pencils.
Once the main lines of the drawing were traced, each student tried to copy the colors and style of the painting, trying to be as faithful as possible to the shades and strokes of the painting.
Making the most faithful copy of an artwork is certainly an useful tool for gaining a deep understanding of that work, as in the case of larger works that we copied with tempera (see the article HERE).
In fact, in art, copying has always been used to learn how to draw and paint; the practice of standing in front of a work of art and copying it has been used habitually since artists have existed. We know for sure that drawing from life is an excellent tool for understanding reality (see the studies of anatomy and botany from Leonardo da Vinci onwards…). Even today, despite all the tools for immediate reproduction of images at our disposal, we still find someone sitting in museums in front of a work of art, copying it and learning from the great artists through the reproduction.
The boys and girls who created these little masterpieces were truly amazing!
