A Rant on Studies

"And in the middle of the night... when I least suspect it... when I’m fast asleep, I wake up and make some more art because I haven't made any in how many hours?" -Yours Truly

Sometimes I like to think of paintings as research papers, because, after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. When writing a research paper, one must use references and do research. In school one studies a subject to learn something for a quiz or test. In art, studies help collect information for the finished piece. For a painting, I lookup what certain things look like, from either photos or, if I have a subject available, I make sketches from real life.

On the Spot Studies:

When I have an idea I usually use whatever paper I have closest to me. From doing this so much, I call it more of an itch to draw. I try carrying around a notebook and pen everywhere, but sometimes forget it and end up drawing on the back of receipts, or envelopes, or cardboard, or even napkins.

Coffee Shop Couple on receipt paper

One night I had a dream and wanted to remember it. It wasn't something I could study from life. I drew the idea over and over until I could remember every detail and those themselves became studies from memory. Although the last one was finished, I still would like to do it again to see if it can get any better.

Drawings from Memory for I Dreamed of Rampage

Studies for I Oughta Know:

In “I Oughta Know,” from Perogative at The Empty Space, I had to study apples, butterflies, and my own face and hands. The butterflies started as an image in my head. I drew the idea of a stomach with butterflies on the back of a business card of mine. Then I finger-painted my idea onto a smaller canvass one night to get an idea of the colors.

Butterfly Belly Drawing on business card

Regarding the apples, at the time I was eating lots of apples; at least once daily. I did some sketch studies of apples as I was eating them. When I plan on doing a study, I usually draw on paper that is actually made for drawing, but that doesn’t always happen.

One of my many Apple Studies

I had a couple apples as I was finishing up the painting too. Having a live subject to paint from helped make a better finished piece. I was able to see how the apple browned over time.

Apple painting next to live apple

Studies for Gir Hat Girl:

For the painting “Gir Hat Girl,” I made myself study the figure several time from a single photo. I drew her face once to think about the shadows of her face. Then I painted her several times on the big canvass I was making a composition on. After I didn’t get the effect I wanted, I sanded down the then thick canvass and painted it white to start over. After that I did five painting studies on separate surfaces. I used whatever I had that would hold the paint. One was on a piece of paste-board. The next four were on old canvasses I had. These studies were for a quiz I made for myself: the final painting. I didn’t get it quite right on my quiz that I timed myself on, so I took a short break and painted it some more the next day. The studies sure helped.

Painting Studies before finished painting

General Studies and Improvising:

General studies can help an artist make a visual vocabulary and help technical skill. The way I drew apples over and over again to get a few good ones, drawing other things, “studying” other things, can build up a visual vocabulary to make more complex compositions. When exercising, you don't just do one pushup and say you're done doing pushups for the rest of your life (not if you want to stay fit anyway). In the same way an artist needs to make lots of "studies," ie drawings, sketches, and practice paintings before making the actual thing.

I find it best to get out the idea when it is first thought of, so its best to always keep art supplies around, even its cheap paper and crayons. When I want to make large drawings I put together lots of regular pieces of paper with tape on a wall and just draw things out.

Drawing on collage paper on door

When exercising, you don't just do one pushup and say you're done doing pushups for the rest of your life (not if you want to stay fit anyway). In the same way an artist needs to make lots of "studies," ie drawings, sketches, and practice paintings before making the actual thing. General studies can help an artist make a visual vocabulary and help technical skill. The way I drew apples over and over again to get a few good ones, drawing other things, “studying” other things, can build up a visual vocabulary to make more complex compositions. 

One might say general studies, say on anatomy or architecture, are what drawing classes are for, but that’s not always necessary. All you need is a subject. Subjects can be found sitting in a bar, or at family functions, or in your own home. Or if that doesn’t work there are books with pictures to draw from. The great thing about owning books is that you can write, or in my case, draw in them.

(left) sketch, (right) photo

Let’s not forget magazines and the internet are also usable sources for art studies. There is plenty in the big world to make studies from. Studies can be beautiful, ugly, playful, frustrating, informative, therapeutic, or stressful. Studies can end up being a complete work in itself. Studies can be thrown away once the project they are for is completed. No pressure, OR  YES PRESSURE. Anyone can do it. The materials used in studies don’t matter, the act of studying and LEARNING from those studies is what matters. It’s the people who do studies over and over and over and over and make a great finished piece based on that who are the ones that create something worth all the effort.