Tashari.Org - Illustrations by Sarah Morrison

Master Copies
Producing master copies is a long-standing tradition of copying the work of a great master as a means of learning how to improve. I have been chosing paintings to copy based on certain skills I wish to develop. These include things like skin tones, background and foreground foliage, and painterly representations of fabric. These are not original works - they are copies of images painted by old masters like Bouguereau and Waterhouse. I am also not trying to reproduce the original works brushstroke for brushstroke, but to use my own techniques and refine them. I was not introduced to this means of study in school... it hadn't occured to me until after university than while I had taught myself to draw when I was younger by copying comics and other things I was interested in at the time, that I also ought to learn to paint by copying what I appreciated.

"Girl" by Bouguereau

"Little Marauders" by Bouguereau

"A Naiad" by Waterhouse

"Study for Flower Picker" by Waterhouse

"Childhood Idyll" by Bouguereau

"The Bather" by Etty

"Meditation" by Bouguereau

Portraits
In addition to working on Master Copies, I have been painting portraits of my friends to practice with lighting, skin tones, and fabric folds. The following are unfinished works in progress:

Life Drawing / Painting

Life drawing is another aspect of practice integral for many artists. I find I do better work on any other art I am producing when I am also doing regular life drawing. I sometimes attend the local "Dr Sketchy's", a group that draws costumed models such as burlesque performers, a few various local live model sessions with other local artists, and am trying to get to the MFA more often as well (either to draw live models or sculptures). More recently I've been studying oil paints with an experienced realist painter at Joy St Studios. Here is a selection of pieces I have done over the years.

Other Studies

While I'm not sure everything that will end up in this section is necessarily considered a "study" (except in the sense that I am always studying and learning when I produce), this is where they'll go until I have a section of my website dedicated to paintings I produce, even if they don't fall strictly under the fantasy illustration theme of my portfolio.