I was copying a picture by Claude Parsons from his book How to Draw and Paint Flowers. I'm not sure who Claude Parsons is. I was given this book years ago when I quit my job to paint full time. My employer was concerned that I know how to paint. Actually, I was already pretty well acquainted with the brushes and the easel!
But on a lark, I decided to copy Claude's very conventional still life, one that is supposedly designed to teach one how to paint. I was doing this in the spirit of seeing how much of my knowledge and personality would creep into my "copy."
Van Gogh made copies after Bargue, as well as after more important artists like Delacroix and Millet. He transformed his copies into "Van Goghs." Can I copy this conventional painting and make it into something that's "mine"?
Will post a photo of it when it's done.
Why did I start copying this Claude Parsons? A walk back down memory lane. When I was a kid, I had done things like this, and I think young artists often get their first idea about painting from these humble and unsophisticated sources. I knew a wonderful, self-taught artist who got his start watching Bob Ross!
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