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Hey everyone this is a question that has been on my mind for some time:
What do you think is the ideal amount of time one should dedicate to a color study (painting) ?
I ask this because I know in the industry there are time constraints, and I find myself focusing too much in a study, unable to let go of errors, and without knowledge if whether or not I have spent too much, too little, or the right amount of time on a study piece.
I appreciate any answers :)
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You mean study for practice (from photo, old masters etc.) or color study for personal illustration?
All questions about the time have different answers depending on the artist you ask. And will also depend on how detailed colors you wan to study.
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Thank you for the specification. I mean a study in which I would copy from a photo or master. I want to improve my speed without shooting myself in the foot, as I do when I speed paint. What is a good amount of time, again I know it's subjective, so I am hoping for numerous opinions.
I value everyone's. :) So how much time do you allocate?
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Don't bother trying to improve speed. It's a completely wasted effort. Place your effort in understanding what you are studying. Spend as long as you need. If it takes 30 minutes or 8 hours, doesn't matter but I guess depends on your focus. What do you want to learn? Is it implied detail, texture, instant read, pose, likeness, painting techniques?. It actually doesn't matter. Take the time you need to get what you want out of the study. The moment you stop learning from it, stop the study.
Speed comes with lots of practice, not a focus on speed. Every pro artist I know says this one thing, so it must be true. I talked to Ben Mauro once and he was telling me how when he came out of the Art Center in Cali, he was quite capable of busting out tons of designs a day.When he started at Weta he kept wondering why he was spitting out double the amount of designs, but people like Aaron Beck and the great Broadmore would get the greenlight on their designs and his would be dismissed even though he produced twice the volume. He then began to realise what made a good designer. It wasn't speed and volume that was the key...it was efficiency, good design and a solid approach. So ask yourself what do you want first? Do you want to be fast, or do you want to be good?
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I agree totally with monkeybread. Especially "The moment you stop learning from it, stop the study."
Just have specified goal from the beginning what you want to learn and this will force time boundaries. You might want to learn yourself how to be fast but this will only learn you "to be fast" not to make great art.
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Hey I really appreciate that great insight monkeybread. Really gave me any answer I was hoping for, as well as a real life example from some of my favorite artists. I'm new here and plan to use the forums to post studies etc. so I can best prepare myself and portfolio for trying to enter a school like art center, which is where I want to go.
And just to get better in general for client work
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before night, cuz u remember better
