Painting from photographs for bow (1 Viewer)

[uunicorn]

Can someone please tell me what are the rules/guidelines for painting from someone elses images? I'm not sure whether to call it a copyright issue? But say, I want to paint a person within my artwork - I'm not magically gifted enough to make this up in my head, can I paint a person from a photograph I have seen? Or is this copying? help!

 

[obliviousninja]

Ask your teacher?

 

[strawberrye]

Well, first of all you need to make sure you get that person's permission for you to draw their photograph if you know the person in real life. For people you don't know, you need to ask your teacher for more specific directions. In general, it is ok to 'copy' from a photograph as long as you do it in a meaningful way and in a way which enhances your conceptual concerns and subject matter, for example, you might be having postmodernist artworks through using techniques of re-appropriation, re-contextualisation and pastiche. It would be even better if you manage to find an artist of influence that has a similar practice and link that artist to your own conceptual and material practice. Basically, you need to make sure that 'copying' the photograph and interpreting it in a creative and original manner such that it will allow the audience to see conventional subject matters in a new light. Best wishes for succeeding in your body of work

 

[rumbleroar]

Check for Creative Commons licenses. Often, you can reappropriate the photos you use. I used a lot of different paintings and referential images in my work, and it's distinctively different from the original photos. If you use photos, make sure they're tweaked at least. However, if it's pure copying, check for a Creative Commons license or contact the owner of the photographs requesting use of them.