Project 4 was something that while historically is a common training technique for artists is actually something I had never done before. That is doing a master artist copy. The idea is to take a peice from a master artist and copy it. When copying it the goal is not to copy it stroke for stoke but to use the brush to evoke the same feeling. After doing it I have to say that it did help me look at the piece differently. To a certain extent I had to try and deconstruct it. I had a lot of fun with this piece and it was an interesting challenge and not only a good way to study technique and art history, but also training the eye.
I spent about half an hour looking through books in the library trying to find a painting I wanted to do. I ended up paging through a book from the Picasso Museum in Paris and found what was to be my eventual choice. Picasso's "La femme avec les bras levées" or "Nude with raised arms." this was done during the African period which is the same time period as "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon." The Demoiselles paintings have been among my favorites for quite a while so it is always good to start with what you know. I used a 16x20 canvas which is fairly close to the original size. The original was done in oils, I used acrylics as this is what I had on hand. I started by drawing out the basic shapes on the canvas. I then went in and started to create shapes with black. I then went through a continual process of layering on color and texture. I think that one part of the process that often gets overlooked is what I call the Staring period, the time in which we sit back and get away from the piece and stare at it. This time is spent looking for flaws and minor changes that can be made to improve the piece. I think that pretty much any creative process goes through a phase like this. Where you go back and review what you've done and make changes and corrections. I believe writers have a convenient term for this, editing.
I do not have an image of the original as a comparison, I only had a color copy made from the book and the book itself and I have not been able to locate an image online. I have included below a few examples of images from a similar time and style. If you get the inkling go to Google Images and search for Picasso 1908 and then search for Picaso 1909 and see how drastically the styles change. Picasso is interesting in the way that his style continued to evolve but in general he always enjoyed the same subject matter.
As a reference here is the Demoiselles d'Avignon
and here is Dryad (1908).
And here is my rendition of Femme avec les bras levees.
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