A Story In Three Parts.
Part 1
So I had a few free moments last week and went to check out Katherine Tyrrells blog Making A Mark. She is one of the few blogs that I keep tabs on for business purposes. One of her recent posts regarding the latest winner of the Gold Medal Award for the American Watercolor Society. Or rather the furor surrounding the winning painting which was a hyper realistic painting derived from two royalty free online photos.
It is a stunning painting, and it is easy to see how it won. But once you have the knowledge that the painting was created using two photos from someone else. And though it is painted exquisitely, from what I understand all she really did was put them together relatively unchanged. The question then becomes should it have won?
I had one of those “Damn, I wish I had done that!” moments.
Part 2
When I first started working on my lambs painting I was uncertain what color palette I should work in. My reference photo was a cold blue gray and had no life. Finding contrast in black faced sheep is easy, but for two all white lambs . . . urm, not so much. So I went online to see how some other artists handled a similar situation. Turns out I got no help. It is apparently a rare thing to paint a close up of all white sheep.
But I did run across a sheep portrait done by a daily painter. It was stunning. The color and brush strokes, the cropping and sheep’s expression were all really well done. I had one of those “Damn, I wish I had done that!” moments.
Later on in my rummaging I came across the stock photo she had used for her painting. Her painting was exactly like the photo image. Yes, it was her color sense and brushwork but everything else, the composition and cropping were the same. She didn’t so much a flick an ear in a different direction. I suddenly lost a whole lot of respect for the artist.
Now I am not saying that she did anything wrong. She may well have gotten all the copyrights and stuff. What lost me was all she really did was copy something someone else had done. Yes, she infused her painting style but that was the extent of it. Even if it had been a photo of a full sheep and she then cropped creatively it would have then spoken more of who she is as an artist.
Part 3
One last story to drive the point home. Recently I signed a contract that said I was the legal copyright holder of all my artwork being submitted. And that any lawsuits raised in regards to copyright infringement were my responsibility. I signed it without a single qualm because every painting from long before I turned art into my profession, (with the exception of two) are derived from my own reference photographs.
I have spent decades building my photo library and fortunes on film and developing. But I rest easy knowing that if someone tries makes a claim against me, I have my own reference material to back me up. It does mean I am limited to what I paint, because I have to collect it. But I also get a sense of pride knowing that I participated in the process all the way through.
The moral of the story:
If you have not already done so, start to build your own reference library by taking your own photos. Old National Geographics or any other mag, (no matter how obscure) don’t count, except as illegal.
Also, if you feel you must use someone else’s photos, know the difference between royalty free and copyright free.
Note: Of the two paintings I created using someone elses photos. One was a fellow artist and friend who kept saying I should paint from a couple of shots she took. So I did.
And the other was a portrait of a horse that had passed away. I had used a professionally taken photograph for my primary reference. But before I agreed to use it, I got a letter from the photographer (which I still have on file) stating that it was okay to use his photo and any derivative works were mine to copyright.
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