When working from a favorite Old Masters image I am taken out of my comfort zone and challenged to recreate the original painter’s techniques and intentions. It forces me to hold my brush in a different way or layer color in a way that I haven’t before. It also pushes me to create in a different palette or in a higher or lower key than I usually would paint.

Whether I copy any of my favorites…a Renoir, Degas, Sargent or Vermeer, they all have something to share and I may not understand the message until I am well underway in my experience!