As an aspiring artist, I have spent a fair amount of time admiring other artists and specific pieces of art. To develop my own style, I feel like I need to (1) improve my technical skills, (2) know what style of art I like, and (3) have an idea as to what type of art I want to create.

I have been working hard to improve my technical skills by drawing every day and specifically, drawing subjects that I want to improve on - such as portraits. I have also been taking Sketchbook Skool online courses (first, Expressing, then Stretching, and now, Polishing). I also have been going to a weekly figure drawing session at the Lafayette Art Studio and reading lots of art books by artists I admire such as Danny Gregory, France Belleville van Stone, and Felix Scheinberger.

In trying to identify the type of art that I like, I've participated in the online communities of Instagram and Sktchy and noted my favorite artists there and at Sketchbook Skiol. I love Lapin's dreamy style and his palette of Prussian blue, yellow ochre, and alizarin crimson - which I have adopted. I love Lapin's sure lines and his big head portraits. Working with his limited palette has made my painting more harmonious and has weaned me off my heavy use of browns - instead, allowing my combinations of those 3 colors to make up browns on their own by putting them next each other in my paintings, letting the viewers' eyes mix the colors. To understand Lapin's drawings, I've tried to recreate several of them. Such as these:

I have also admired Felix's unmistakeable style and his spare use of watercolors in his drawings and paintings. I've tried to recreate some of Felix's pieces.

And some of my favorite artists on Instagram such as Ko Byung Jun and Vin Ganapathy (who is also one of my Sketchbook Skool teachers for Polishing). Here is my absolute favorite piece of art by Ko Byung Jun that I tried to recreate. I love the looseness of this piece, her lines, and her spare, but thoughtful use of watercolors. I love how her lines seem so carefree and expressive.

I haven't tried recreating any of Vin Ganapathy's pieces yet - but I did try to draw Vin twice.

I guess I should try recreating some of my favorite pieces by Vin next!

This week, I've gone back to my favorite art instruction book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards and worked on finishing the accompanying workbook (that my daughter, Jade, gave me for Christmas). There is so much good information in that book! She has really helped me refine my perceptions and improve my drawing skills.

Using lights and shadows in drawing this self-portrait

Working with lights and shadows recreating this Picasso self-portrait

Using ink and brush to recreate this Picasso self-portrait

Using hatching to recreate this Legros nude study.

The search for my style continues. Stay tuned! 😄