christopherhildreth

Earlier today, I read an article about the great Masters. It stated that during the time in which their great works were painted, much of what we see in museums was actually painted by their students. The students copied the Master in order to learn the fundamentals about dimension and perspective. Once the student became proficient in their ability to copy the Master, the Master allowed them to hone their own skill set.

Once the fundamentals were in place the student was given the opportunity to explore other ways of creating art.

I can’t help thinking that this applies to us as well. When we follow our Master and study so that our brushstrokes mimic the Master’s, he then steps back and lets us become creative with the story and tell it in new ways. We must always keep the perspective correct, but whether we embrace Realism, Impressionism, Cubism or Modernism the Master looks with favor on the things we create.

Without first being taught by the Master we can never hope to achieve anything, but with the tutelage of the Master we can “do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.”

This entry was posted on December 1, 2007 at 2:54 am and is filed under Context, Cultural Ideas, Influence. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.