>>3112399And how do you know which masters are strong in composition or colors, or even values or edges if you're still learning those things?
For example: When I study values, I think of the value relationships. What makes something pop, what value would give appropriate depth or indication of the facing direction of a plane? Which values should pop more and which values should recede into the background for the overall best impact?
For composition, aim for balance. Visual weight balance, spatial balance, tonal balance, etc. This is easy to study if you do thumbnails and 3-tone value sketches. Or the fact that composition is less about subliminal lines that lead the eye and more about areas of interest that "magnetically" attract the eye in an order of visual interest.
For perspective, draw boxes in accurate perspective. Then move on to more complicated block shapes as you get better.
For color, I try to adhere to color temperature, and a basic color harmony. Blue and orange is a basic one that works. I also try to pick colors that evoke a certain mood or feeling. I also try to add little dashes of subtle, radical ranges of color that can't individually be noticed when zoomed out, but add some color depth and mood to a piece.
So yeah. "Study the masters" is a pretty boring answer if we're going to have a dedicated "ask a pro" thread. But hey, I guess that's just me.