Be Your Original Self

“You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.”
–Zig Ziglar

Red Tulips

4″ x 6″ Watercolor & Gouache

My new adventure into Art Licensing has been a real eye opener.  I am learning that much of the art we put out there is being stolen and others are claiming it as their own.  My bubble has officially been burst.  I was always taught that art created by another is not to be copied or stolen.

I am a part of a LinkedIn group called CopyRights – Artist’s Rights.  Together, we are blogging today about examples of how you can be inspired by someone’s work without copying it.   I do have to admit that I am a self taught artist and I have learned so much from watching all of the talented people around me.  The example I am showing you today is part of my learning process.  It has not and never will be for sale, but I want to show you the way I interpreted it in my own way.

I love the original pastel art by Susan Dunker that I found while looking into fauvism.    I had a lovely tulip photo from Marionh from WetCanvas’ Reference Image Library.   The photo is royalty free for use by artists to paint from.  Keep in mind – You cannot sell the photo, but you may sell a painting that uses the photo as reference material.   Also, no copyrighted photos may be uploaded to the Reference Image Library.

Here is my little example.

I mainly played with the color.  I would not feel comfortable selling it as my own.  I am going to show you what I am more likely to do in the next examples.

Both of these were painted from photos by my friend Dewi.  I would have no problem selling either of these paintings as my own.

I hope this clears up some common misconceptions about what is not okay.  I will be updating this post with links to other artists who are participating in our “Be Inspired” blog hop today.   Here are the links so far:

http://joannezsharpe.blogspot.com/2011/03/find-your-beautiful-voice.htmlhttp://sharynsowellartblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/be-inspired.htmlhttp://embellishmentskids.blogspot.com/2011/03/be-inspired-blog-hop-aaron-christensens.htmlhttp://chrischunart.blogspot.com/2011/03/be-inspired-blog-hop.htmlhttp://www.vickieleastudios.com/art-licensing/so-what-inspires-you-a-discussion-about-originals/http://monicaleestudios.com/blog/http://www.brendapinnick.com/2011/03/02/be-inspired/http://itsmollysmith.blogspot.com/2011/03/be-inspired-designer-blog-hop.htmlhttp://www.droozdoodles.com/2011/03/be-inspired-blog-hop.htmlhttp://phyllisdobbs.info/2011/03/02/creative-inspiration/http://www.jgoode.com/its-about-inspiration-not-duplication/

http://suezipkin.typepad.com/blogging_with_dyslexia/2011/03/be-inspired-create-from-your-heart.html

http://suezipkin.typepad.com/blogging_with_dyslexia/2011/03/be-inspired-create-from-your-heart.html

http://robinpickens.blogspot.com/2011/03/inspiration-origins-blog-hop.html

http://janemadayblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/sweet-inspirations.html

http://www.terriconraddesigns.typepad.com

Hilary Hinton “Zig” Ziglar (born 6 November 1926) is an American author, salesperson, and motivational speaker. He has published over 48 works, including the 2007 book titled God’s Way Is Still the Best Way.^[1]

More about Zig here.

Begonia Greens

“Think it more satisfactory to live richly than die rich.”
– Sir Thomas Browne

Begonia Greens

Watercolor

This one was an exercise in greens.   I mixed a pallet full of different greens and just played away.  I still have that pallet and dig it out from time to time to play with the greens.   I admit that I often use greens straight from the tube, but it’s way more fun to mix them myself. 

I have to share… I flew for an hour by myself last night in McAlester.  I did really good and my landings are really improving!  My next trip is to pick the plane up in McAlester and fly it to Muskogee and practice there, then fly it back to McAlester.   Maybe this Sunday.  Wheeeeeee!

About Sir Thomas Browne

The erudite English doctor Sir Thomas Browne, who wrote a number of books on science and religion, was known for his baroque prose style and his controversial opinions. He was born in 1605 in London and settled in Norwich to practice medicine. He wrote his most famous book, Religio Medici (The Religion of a Physician), an intellectual autobiography, in 1635. A friend published it in 1642 without his permission, embarrassing him, but the book’s popularity encouraged him to write more. He died in 1682.

Green Orchids Diptych

“Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.”
– William C. Durant

Green Orchid Diptych

Two 4″ x 12″ x 1″ Acrylic on Canvas

Here is another painting, from my past works in floral.  I never could get a good photo of it, but I remember it was a really fun one to do.

On Thursday, there is a “Be Inspired – Blog Hop” taking place with a group of artists from the Copyrights – Artist’s Rights group over at LinkedIn.  It is being hosted by Brenda Pinnik.

The only criteria is to show the proper way to be inspired by other’s creative work but not cross the line into infringement, either by way of lawful infringement or by ethics. I am going to participate, because as a self taught artist, I have been influenced by a lot of art.  I am going to use an example by the artist, Susan Dunker.  I found her when doing some exploration into Fauvism.   I think this is going to be one of many  steps we take into educating people about many of the issues surrounding copyright infringement.   Join us, if you have something you’d like to share.  Or just stop by on Thursday and I will have a link to some of the other artist’s blogs.

By the way, Ms. Dunker works in pastel, so if you want to see some beautiful pastel work, check her out here.

About William C. Durant

William C. Durant, founder of General Motors, consolidated much of the fledgling American auto industry under one roof. He was born in 1861 in Boston and grew up in Flint, Michigan. His innovative business model was to buy out vendors and acquire competitors. Forced to resign from GM due to this management style, he founded a new company with his race-car driver, Louis Chevrolet. He later regained control of GM but lost everything in the Great Depression. He died in 1947.