"Emily's Tree, Doncaster Park, Ste.- Adèle", inspired by Emily Carr |
Thank you for
reading my blog. If you have followed my blogs over the last couple
of weeks you know that we are preparing our house for sale. Despite
all the decluttering and packing, I was still able to be creative
almost every day. This week, however, with the painter painting most
of the rooms in our house, the house was in chaos; furniture was
standing everywhere. To avoid having to pack twice, I tried to stay
on top of putting it all in boxes until late in the evening. Some
nights, I went straight to bed, while on other nights I just managed
to add a couple of rows to my temperature shawl.
Saturday afternoon,
I actually went into my studio for an hour because the tulips that I
had bought were luring me in with their beauty. I hope that I will
manage to finish the painting by next week.
I also sat down to
finish some teddy bear figurines that will be part of a game, similar
to “Don’t Worry”. They have not been touched for far too long
because other things were more exciting. Right now, sewing the heads
to the bodies seems like the perfect relaxing project. At this point,
it is not very creative but exactly what my restless hands need while
watching TV.
So where do I go
from here? The next couple of weeks will probably still be very
exhausting. I could just give up under the pretense that I am just
too busy before we move. Then I could add that I will probably also
be too busy once we have moved. There are always reasons to stop, but
like with physical activity or healthy eating, the important thing is
that you start again where you left off.
As for this week, I
wanted to take the opportunity to talk about a subject that always
comes up when I am teaching: painting from photos found on the
Internet, a calendar, or even copying a painting from another artist.
my version of Emily Carr's "Odds and Ends" |
painting to learn from their techniques, it is important that you see it as a study. It is someone else’s intellectual property. They figured out the composition, the use of colour and texture, and they should be credited for it. When I took several painting courses studying the masters, I took my own photos and created paintings in the style of the studied artist. Later, when I taught the “Painting like Famous Artists” courses, we worked from photos of an original work. These paintings will never be for sale, and I clearly identified the fact that I copied an original on the front of the painting, stating both the original artist and the name of the painting. Even in this case, you can legally only copy a painting that is in the public domain, which means that they are no longer copyrighted
When you take a
photographer’s images for reference photos for your own paintings,
you will be fine as long as you just keep them in you house. However,
the correct approach would be to contact the photographer and ask for
permission to use the photo. This is absolutely necessary, if you
want to display the artwork in an exhibition. Otherwise, you could
get in a lot of trouble for copyright infringement, except if you are
using photos that are free to use like material that is in the Public
Domain.
I always encourage
students to use their own photos as references. It makes a big
difference in the energy you bring to your painting, if you have
experienced the surroundings. You remember how you felt when you were
at the spot, smelled the flowers, or watched a person or pet dear to
you.
When I take one of
my photos for the first class of my “Acrylic Landscape Painting”
course, I do it for two reasons:
1) I do not know if
every student would bring a photo.
2) I like to show to
them that even when we work from one photo that every one’s
finished painting will be different. We are all unique individuals,
and this should show in our art. This does not mean that we are not
influenced by other artists, but rather that we can incorporate some
of their techniques into our own work. However, f ten artists (or
students) are painting a subject, you should get ten different works.
Your temperament, your mood on any given day, and certainly you skill
level will influence your work. That’s why you can even paint the
same subject repeatedly, and your painting will not look 100% the
same.
To prove the point,
here are a couple of set of my paintings from painting parties I
lead:
Speaking of painting
parties, there are still spaces for the painting party I host on
April 15, from 1:30pm to 3:30pm at 1270 Kinsella Drive
in Cumberland, ON, K4C 1A9. We will be painting the peonies. The price is $35 per person. The
registration deadline is April 8, 2018. The maximum number of
participants is 12. For this event, I need at least 8 people and a
pre-payment by e-transfer to kpeters@domingoinformatics.ca
or cheque payable to Kerstin Peters to reserve a spot.
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