Learning by Copying

My Copy of Annie O'Brien Gonzales' painting "Santa Fe Summer"
Acrylic on Canvas

This week the assignment in my art class was to find a work of art I liked and copy it.  I loved this assignment!  It meant I could scour the Internet for a painting that "sang" to me, and then go about recreating those same colors and shapes on my own canvas.

I found a beautiful still life entitled "Santa Fe Summer" by Santa Fe artist Annie O'Brien Gonzales and chose that for my project.  

I began by painting a very pale yellow acrylic and water wash over the entire canvas.  After that was dry, I drew the images of the olla and blankets in pencil.   Then, through trial and error, I mixed paint colors to replicate as closely as possible the colors Gonzales used in her painting.  Easier said than done!

Work in Progress:
My Copy of Annie O'Brien Gonzales' Original Painting "Santa Fe Summer"

I spent many hours on the painting and would hazard a guess that Annie spent far fewer hours composing and painting the original.  Yet because I loved the painting so much, I was willing to put in the time and effort.

I'm happy to say that I've been in touch with Annie.  She graciously gave permission for me to post my version of her painting on my blog.  I hope you'll visit her website where you can see an extensive collection of her bold, colorful artworks!  (www.annieobriengonzales.com)

As for my experience of the process of copying another artist's painting, I recommend it (as long as you credit the original artist).   It made me slow down and observe carefully, particularly when it came to reproducing paint colors.  There were times when I had to step away from the painting and give myself a break from concentrating.  In the end though, I was very happy with the result.