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Copying Work?

Have other painters copied your work? At the risk of sounding stupid, how do you feel about that?

    Sidney Oliver

Why?

I have never understood why a painter would want to copy someone else's work. Yes, I've heard the reasons why, but I still don't buy it.

Possessing the skill to paint like someone else is simply a skill sans creativity.

I've stated earlier in this blog that we all know creative people who aren't artistic. Inventors come to mind. Most people assume one is naturally creative if one is artistic and, I might be going against the grain here, but I disagree. A copyist would be artistic, but I cannot, I really cannot fathom that a truly creative person would want to copy another person. Inspired by, of course, but certainly not copying.

If one copies someone else, the best one can hope to achieve is a distant second.

By copying the work of others, one is striving for mediocrity.

If one strives for mediocrity, one usually falls far short.

We have heard the overused expression that being copied is the sincerest form of flattery. I firmly believe that it is outright stealing.

Bonfire Night in Little Washington

36X48" Oil on Canvas

As for copying my paintings, yes, I have had a few, but not many. For example, I have painted a few small bonfires and one huge bonfire. I've been told that someone in the next county saw my larger painting and did one of her own. I've heard about other artists trying to copy my nests and, frankly, I would rather not see them. 

Also, it has been brought to my attention that another artist, with a lot more followers, has copied some of the ideas I have expressed in this blog and has put them on his Facebook page as if they originated with him. He then goes off on his own interpretation and expounds on it without crediting the original source of the idea. Attributing and then expounding is the decent thing to do.  Otherwise, it's pathetic.

A painter has developed the skill to paint a certain way, but to get there, the painter has gone through a thought process that is possessed only by that original painter. A copiest simply grabs the top layer without having gone through those steps and it becomes obvious in the finished work. While the original painter feels violated, the copiest appears to be a fraud.

One who copies is missing the point and shortchanging the process. The fun in all of this is to relax and let the creative genes do their own thing. By copying others, you are thwarting any chance of ever retrieving those, perhaps, long-buried genes. Trust your own gut and then....

Enjoy the process!

  Ruthie Windsor-Mann

This post is part of a series of Q & As between Ruthie Windsor-Mann and Sidney Oliver. 

We invite the reader to join in with other questions in the comments section. This needs to be interactive in order to work.

All photographs are by Ruthie Windsor-Mann unless otherwise credited.

Copyright 2019 Ruthie Windsor-Mann All Rights Reserved