On learning through "copying"

[John]

But that's the thing, they are old masters for a reason. Not quite sure art school will encourage putting comic book art on the same level as the old masters.

I don't know if that's a good way to cultivate style. Style is essentially a person's interpretation of reality. Copying a style to achieve a style is a copy from reality twice removed. If you're trying to create a believable world, wouldn't it be more reasonable to copy as close to reality?

BUT, I will say this. Jack Kirby once said he learned how to draw by copying others. When he didn't know how to draw a hand, he took some other comic artist's hand, studied it, and made it his.