I want to share my approach to studying master painters because I've found a specific method that produces learning faster than general study.

I pick one artist and study them for a month. Not casually — I print reference images, do master copies, analyze their color palettes by sampling colors into a swatch document, and read whatever biographical or critical writing exists about their work.

The depth of focus changes what you absorb. After a week with Sargent I was noticing his specific approach to shadow edges. After a month I understood his selection principle: what he chose to render precisely and what he left as suggestion.

After each artist I add their influence to a personal reference document — not copies or swatches, but written observations about what I learned. The document is now several pages and is more useful to me than any book I've read.