Did you ever sit at the table, pencil in hand, paper ready, and felt lost? Maybe you wanted to learn how to draw but didn’t know where to begin. Or you saw a beautiful drawing from an artist you admire you wished to emulate. 

What’s the right thing to do? Can you simply copy their work? Is it helpful in improving your skillset?

Copying someone else’s work is largely seen as shameful and unethical. But there’s nothing wrong with copying, as long as you follow some solid advice and keep some good practices in mind. 

It’s a great way to learn things and improve your drawing. After all, most artists’ journey starts by imitating others. Let’s learn how copying helps you explore and grow into your style. 

Etiquette of copying art

Learning how to draw can be difficult, especially at the beginning when there’s so much new information to understand at once. It’s a given that plagiarism is bad. That means you shouldn’t copy someone else’s work and call it your own. Also, if you want to draw animals, first you need to learn how to draw a dog easy way instead of striving for instant photo-realism.

Sadly, technological advancements made plagiarism much easier. With just a few clicks, someone can copy and save an image and use it on posters, mugs, or t-shirts under their brand. But it’s never appropriate to do so. 

There’s no reason to worry if you copy a drawing to learn. When you don’t intend to sell the resulting work, happily do so. It’s one of the most popular ways to learn who to draw at first. 

Also, it’s worth saying that copying is not the same as line tracing. When tracing, you’re not learning anything, but copying by looking at an art piece or a drawing and replicating it can teach you a great deal. 

Copying can prove helpful when learning basic skills. When learning and improving your drawing, you’re fine with copying other pieces. Use it as a helpful technique to advance your talents. 

Building muscle memory

Muscle memory is important when learning how to draw. Copying can help your hands “know how to move” easier with time. Muscle memory refers to becoming adept at certain physical activities. 

For example, when learning to paint, your hands are more comfortable holding the brush and stroking. In reality, the skill develops in your brain. We can better describe it as procedural memory, which is a type of memory specific to skills operating independently of other memory types. 

Some areas of our brains are wired to house procedural memory. You can learn to ride a bike or draw by doing said activity. That’s how this type of memory works. 

You create procedural memories by doing a new thing. And to learn how to draw you must watch and copy. Repeating the action leads to physical changes happening in the brain. 

Myelin is a substance formed around pathways used when repeating a task, making them stronger. As they keep boosting, you’ll realize you can draw faster and more efficiently. You notice improvements in your drawing as you keep practicing and copying. 

Stage one of building up muscle memory is cognitive learning. When trying to learn something new, you’re controlling everything consciously. You need a lot of attention and effort, which is why you can feel tired. Your results can be inconsistent, and your movements sluggish. 

The associative stage is when you notice you’re getting better. You need less cognitive input because the action seems easier and more automatic. It’s all part of the learning process. You must persevere and keep practicing to see even better results. 

The autonomous stage is what you’re aspiring toward when you start. It’s when the activity is completely automatic and doesn’t use much cognitive input from your brain. 

Understanding perspective through copying art

Use copying to understand various aspects of drawing, for example, perspective. When you’re sitting down with a piece that you’re copying stroke by stroke, ask yourself why, when, and how it happened as you repeat it yourself. If you don’t realize the specifics of what you’re looking at, you won’t copy it successfully. 

Take a look at a drawing of a three-legged lamp, for example. Ask yourself these questions:

• What angle is the object at?
• How does foreshortening work that some legs look closer, and one leg looks farther away?
• How do you draw the lamp head to achieve the effect?
• Why is the top part of the lamp head more shaded than the back? What does that mean in terms of lighting?

Look at the piece you’re copying as an exercise. Think through what the artist who drew it wanted to achieve. Understanding more about the artistic process can help you learn more about new techniques. When copying, it’s healthy to turn it into an art lesson. 

Copying can also help you feel more connected to your favorite artist or drawing subject. Appreciate the art itself and the artist as you’re learning something. 

Figuring out which skills you need to work on

Let’s say you’re copying the drawing of a lamp. You’re trying to understand how to shape the head circle to make it look like a lamp, not a plate. As you struggle to make it happen, you realize you need to work more on your drawing in perspective skills. 

Take a break from your current drawing and work on your skills before going back in with polished techniques. You often prefer to create things within your comfort zone when doing what you want. It’s always easier and more fun to make art you’re good at. 

When you’re copying something, however, you’re doing new movements and using techniques you’re not as familiar with. The main idea of copying is learning something. As you’re doing that, take your time to understand what’s causing you distress and what you need to work on. Brush up on your drawing skills with a new piece of art.

Copying as a means of gaining confidence

As much as copying art points out your weak spots, it can bring light to skills you didn’t know you had. As you’re drawing movements, you realize it’s more natural for you to do the shading or the line art, for example. 

And it’s fun to find art to copy that plays to your strengths, too. Use it as a means to find out what your strong points are. Once you figure out what you’re good at, challenge yourself and bring your native talents to the next level. 

Best practice of copying 

Use art as a reference for your work

When copying someone else’s work, have the piece used as a reference on your desktop, tablet, or smartphone. As a result, you can always inspect it by zooming in to see the details. You can also rotate it to make sure you’re getting the perspective. 

And it’s easy to explore an artist’s work online, to get an idea of their preferred techniques. If you’re stuck figuring out how someone achieved an effect or a perspective, investigate some of their other pieces to get an idea. 

Be honest with your work

When copying a piece of art for learning purposes and sharing your result online, don’t forget to credit your source. You’re happy with your result and want to show your improvements online. 

Make sure you’re honest with yourself and your online audience. Let them know it’s an exercise and that you’re copying someone else’s work. 

Combine ideas, don’t steal

When copying a piece of art with a clear intention to share it online, make sure to alter the original idea enough to make it your own. Add original content or perspectives or combine ideas from enough sources to alter the original and transform it into something new. 

When you manage that, claim it as your own and share it away as the original. Otherwise, make sure to credit the sources. You wouldn’t want someone else to take credit for the art you worked on, would you?

Avoid profiting off of another artist’s work through plagiarism

Copying is part of every artist’s progress. Still, avoid copying another artist’s work and claim it as your own. Don’t take credit for someone else’s work by copying it. That’s a bit no-no in the artistry world. Especially nowadays when technology has become a contender, too.

Conclusions

Copying art can be a great way to learn and get inspiration for original pieces. Any artist can inspire and influence others through their work, especially when their creations and sharing come from a place of transparency. 

Use copying art as an exercise to improve and increase your drawing skills. Although it can get a bad rep, it’s an essential and at-hand way to build your portfolio and bring your skillset to the next level.