Painting in someone else’s shoes

I like to step back from time to time from creating my own paintings and learn something new from the exercise of copying another artist’s style.  My paintings these days are very labor intensive with all the paper cutting and piecing I am doing.  I’m looking for a method to help me speed things up by using larger, bold marks in my work.   I recently came across the colorful paintings of Erin Fitzhugh Gregory and thought I would see what could be learned from painting in her loose, juicy style.  Though I usually paint with acrylics, I switched to oil paints for these still lifes .  It was fun trying to emulate her bold brushwork using thick, colorful paint.  I struggled to capture Erin’s free, lively style where she represents a flower with just a handful of brushstrokes.  Still, I did learn to focus on each brush stroke, getting it right the first time and then leaving it alone in its simplicity.

Of course these exercises aren’t for sale seeing as they are copies of another artist’s work.  If you like them, you can buy your own  Erin Fitzhugh Gregory original or canvas print at www.efgart.com.

A special thank you to Erin Fitzhugh Gregory for permission to post this blog topic.