Question for you artists who love to draw!

[InkyMilk]

Okie dokie, so I hit one of those moments tonight...you know, one of THOSE moment where you realize just how much you suck at something you totally love to do. I'm desperately trying to use it as motivation to keep practicing even more and not to just call it quits for a month out of sheer frustration.

Basically, over the past couple months I've been really getting into drawing fanart a ton, only to find my subject matter (mutant turtles for anyone who may care) is vastly different from anything I am used to drawing. I'm constantly disappointed with my outcome, but I just can't place my finger on what exactly it is that looks so off to me. I have a ton of favorite artists and pics saved of this type of fanart, and I'm thinking I should try to mimic some of their styles, just try out a few different looks to see if I can pinpoint how their interpretations differ from my own and to see if maybe it can lead me onto a path and a look that I like.

But, I'm afraid, is this considered copying? Is this a wrong thing to do? Mostly I'm having issues when it comes to drawing their faces, and as much as I would love to study from life, I don't really have any awesome humanoid reptilian friends ready and willing to play model for me. I don't want to steal these artists style completely, but I do want to find perhaps elements in their various styles that may work for me and what it is I'm trying to do. But is this just a terrible idea? I really don't know...I'm so excited because now that I've started drawing fanart I've honestly been ten thousand times more inspired than I've been in, sad to say, YEARS, but the fact that I'm flailing and I don't even know why is really starting to get me down.

[fingerpaints]

I would say, as long as you are using them for your own use and not distributing the work, trying to sell the work, or showing it off, it should be fine to try to copy as such. But, once you find what you are more comfortable with, start working on your own unique style, that doesn't mean you can't use elements of someone elses work, for example, you may like the way someone does eyes, I would not flat out "copy" the way they do them, but maybe take a few bits from it, maybe the way they do the lashes or the pupil or something and work on something that you are happy with.

I think to a degree, as artists do take ideas from each other here & there, its just a matter of finding your own style and working on it. I have seen artists from time to time mimic certain parts of my own drawing styles, which I find quiet flattering lol, but, they don't just outright "steal" my style either. They may use something as basic as using some of my technique for shading, or maybe the way you draw a certain part of the body (animal or human) I consider this fine, I don't know how other artists feel about it though.

I however, would be completely p***** if someone just copied my style all together and I saw it somewhere. I have done this at times to practice proportions or something, but never distributed the images.

[Marlin]

I don't think it's copying    I think one of the best ways to learn to is draw influence from things that inspire you!

Obviously you don't want to do blatant copying. The worst thing you could do is try to profit from someone else's style, but this doesn't sound your intention at all. It sounds like you are having fun and learning. That's how some of the old masters did it - hell, weren't they having a hard time recently trying to work out if a previously 'undiscovered' Da Vinci work was his or one of his students?    Correct me if I'm wrong, but those masters had students doing direct copies of their works as a method of teaching 

This just sounds like your pathway to developing your own style, and for comparative purposes, it sounds a good way to fine-tune things and discover the elements that make things work. Over in the art forum there might be some more informed opinions on your query, of course!

Have fun, and draw, draw, draw! Lots of practise will only do you good. I've only been actively drawing again for about a year. It's amazing how you can learn and develop by actively involving and challenging yourself 

[Sonata]

^ What they said xD

And draw a lot. Again, this is important (I should listen to myself now, too lol). Draw all you can and all you see. Draw constantly. Carry a small sketchbook with you and draw at any time.

[Malancaiwen]

Everyone gave you good ideas so far

All I can add is that if you want to share your starting art on DA or other similar website, you could note that you are learning and trying to find your style and took "artist's name" as your example.
Crediting usually makes things go ok, not mentionning them will definitely get you some trouble, maybe not from the artists themselves but maybe from their fans accusing you of stealing which it's not.

[kaoskat]

I agree with what was stated above. Copying is a useful learning tool, but don't take credit for it.

[Elisto]

Whenever I wanted to learn a new style (generally talking about fanart here), I would totally copy and sometimes even trace images to better understand how everything comes together, what little details define the artist's style, and from there, it becomes easier to define your own style. Of course, I wasn't posting my art online at the time, so I don't know how I would have dealt with showing it off, but even now, I do copy other artist's styles, and make a point of trying to imitate it without directly copying their work. I usually title my pictures with the style I'm mimicking, and of course credit the original artist, but I don't really see anything wrong with that as long as I'm not trying to sell it. I think it can help very much help you improve as well as grow in your own style, but it does take time to get to that point. (I'm also really impressed by pony or Sonic fanart that looks like the original styles, so I think there is merit to imitating another style as the end goal, although that doesn't seem to be your goal)

For example, here's a MLP pic and a MoonDreamers pic where I tried to copy the style of the Sailor Moon manga: http://elisto.deviantart.com/#/d5ggsx0
http://elisto.deviantart.com/art/Sailor-MoonDreamers-328671907

[MonstarNomNom]

I don't think it's copying at all as long as you aren't distributing the work When I first started drawing ponies a while back I used other artists to help improve myself. Such as seeing different angles and how they tackled them and so on. Your own style will slowly start to develop as you continue to practice Just keep at it!

[InkyMilk]

Thanks guys I guess I'm just sort of embarrassed and frustrated because I'm not exactly a new artist. I've been drawing all my life, literally since I could hold a pencil, but my lack of skill would honestly tell you otherwise (I blame it on a depressive episode just out of high school where I couldn't bring myself to draw anything, but I digress). I feel like I'm starting to get a pretty good handle when it comes to defining my 'style' in other areas of my work, mostly humans, it's just that this is a whole different ballgame.

But I'm feeling a bit better about the whole situation now that it's morning, and I'm still just as excited to draw my favorite characters as ever, so that's definitely a good thing! It's hard not to get depressed when something you literally work days on still looks crappier than someone else's "doodle", but I'm still going to use that just to motivate me even further!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Copying is perfectly fine to hone your skills...just don't share it with people, as it might be misconstrued that you are plagiarizing.  As my animation teacher said, "It's great for your personal sketchbook - don't turn it in as work."

[popyduggan]

     I read a bunch of Jack Hamm drawing books, they explain anatomy, animals, clothing and other stuff for a reference to exaggerate from. I found them helpful, also how to draw comics the Marvel way (Lee/Buscema) has some theories about why a superhero matters.

     I ate all sorts of crap sandwiches in high school; I basically had to keep telling my power tripping teachers,"dude, I just wanna draw, I don't want disrupt your class, but I can't BE anywhere else", peers peering over your shoulder, "What is that? What does it mean?", and then in my Japanese class there was this one turtle girl(because her backpack was more than 1/2 her body size) shouted at me, "I WISH I COULD JUST DRAW ALL DAY!".

     I think it doesn't matter if you copy a style or trace, unless you're profiting from claiming credit for the artist's actual works. Nobody should care, nerds might, but they don't matter.

     Also, my favorite turtles are Richard Corben's take from issue #23 I think? They travel in time and become pirates with peg legs and wooden teeth, all sorts of goofy.

[Elisto]

Thanks guys I guess I'm just sort of embarrassed and frustrated because I'm not exactly a new artist. I've been drawing all my life, literally since I could hold a pencil, but my lack of skill would honestly tell you otherwise (I blame it on a depressive episode just out of high school where I couldn't bring myself to draw anything, but I digress)

Nothing to be embarrassed about! I've been drawing my whole life too, even taking "serious" art classes starting when I was 8, and in middle school also went through a period where I didn't draw much. But even classes can't teach *everything* and there are styles and techniques I'm terrible at and pretty much have to start from the very beginning if I want to learn them. Being able to draw cartoons is very different from being able to draw realistic humans, or "cute" imagery, or anything else.

[ashes]

If it's done for your own study and growth, then it's not considered copying.    We had to draw and paint from the masters all the time when I was in art school.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

If it's done for your own study and growth, then it's not considered copying.

EXACTLY! 

Have you broken through your artist's block yet, Inky Milk?

[InkyMilk]

Have you broken through your artist's block yet, Inky Milk?

I thiiink so...I've been doing some really quick sketches of various artists' styles, and last night I sat down without any references and tried once again to draw my own sketch using just what I had from memory of the various styles that I found I had liked. And I actually really like the way it turned out! I was so pleased!

I'm going to keep going, I just have his nagging fear that subconsciously I'm still copying another artists style and that bothers me. I'm not trying to go out of my way to remember a specific artist and replicate their work, but I do know there were certain parts that I definitely liked better than others that I'm trying to incorporate now to my version.