Copying and creativity

What's the difference?

In the art education world, copying is a thing— Roman sculptors copied the Greeks, da Vinci’s apprentice produced his own Mona Lisa, and master studies are a common part of art school curriculum.

Copying is a way of learning what works, an educational tool that helps you to understand how a work of art was made, and why the artist made the decisions that they made.

But there’s another kind of copying that isn’t just for learning—reproductions. Remaking a work so it looks just like the original. I recently learned about a master reproduction artist, Zhao Xiaoyong, the subject of “China’s Van Goghs”

Zhao and his students have painted more than 100,000 copies of Van Gogh paintings, cranking out hundreds of starry nights, sunflowers and cafes at night every month from his art studio in Dafen Village, Shenzhen.

When Zhao started painting, he had no idea who Van Gogh was. It was just a job, copying artworks to fulfil orders from clients in Europe and North America.

Little drawing of dafen from a scene in the documentary

He was determined to make the best possible copies, and studied books and prints carefully to better understand the paintings. But over time, he became obsessed with Vincent Van Gogh.

He had to see the originals. Copying is a thing, but originality is a thing too.

One of his clients invited him to Amsterdam, and he visited the Van Gogh Museum. He was amazed by how “the difference between a photograph and the real painting is really big”.

He was also despondent. He visited the “gallery” where his reproductions were sold. Zhao had expected something high class, but it was a shipping container converted to a souvenir shop. Sucking back on a cigarette and questioning his life choices, some quick mental arithmetic revealed that Zhao was getting a raw a deal.

“I felt very lost when I came back to China. I have to do originals.”

“We are only painter workers - I want to become an artist”

The copying forced any self-ness out of the art. He was making the “right” decisions with brushstrokes and colours, but they weren’t his.

And that’s the struggle. The copying is good for learning, but it’s not always satisfying.

I’m not knocking copying. I think it’s a good thing. You can create a copy of an artwork that is true to yourself. Just look at Tom Sachs’ Mondrian copy with gaffer tape on plywood.

Mondrian on the left, Sachs’ homage on the right

And anyway I do a lot of copying; my drawings are mostly “copies” of real-life things.

I’ve put in enough effort over time that I can copy a scene or building in front of me. I put my own spin on things and make a few adjustments along the way, but pretty much, I look at a thing and make marks that are about the same as it.

I’m copying life into a little book. Is that creative? Does it matter whether it is?

Zhao was still making things even if they were the same as what someone else made. It just turned out that he wanted to do more than that (and he did).

Copying is good. Try it, but don’t stop at copying.

Happy drawing,
Andrew

Sketchbook assignment

Go to an art gallery. Look at all the paintings carefully. Draw your favourite one in your sketchbook. I was lucky enough to accidentally run into a Van Gogh at the Kunstmuseum in Zürich last September.

PS. Drawing plan wrapped up last week. I found it so good to have a little daily drawing exercise, and so did those who drew along.

“I’ve been enjoying the exercises every day. I especially REALLY like the idea of drawing the outline of something, then gradually filling in the details. Every time, I’m suddenly surprised when it looks like what I’m drawing!” - J

I’m cooking up another training plan that will kick off in May. Upgrade your subscription to join us, and you’ll also get to join monthly Sketchbook Club sessions and the full archives.