Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Accordion Guy #6

Just more pen-and-ink drawings, with the idea that if I do enough of them, I'll get better at them. Plus they're a lot of fun.

What are the "rules" about references? What sorts of images are copyrighted? I mean, if you use an image from the internet as a reference, how different does your drawing have to be from the original photography to not be violating copyright law? Like this one. I actually don't know where I got it from. I printed off a whole bunch of accordion pictures a couple months ago, but I don't think any of them would be recognizable as "that picture". Sure, maybe something about the pose, but not the compositions, and I've taken a lot of liberties with a lot of things....

As with a whole bunch of other drawings I've done, I am still fascinated by the wrinkles on people's faces....

5 comments:

  1. I like this guy's smirk. He seems so pleased with himself.

    I'm no expert but I don't think copyright law applies to drawings of things. I use all sorts of images from the internet for reference in my work. I move things around, add stuff, take other stuff out and change the composition. I think that makes it mine. To me, using other people's compositions would seem like cheating, but I still don't think it would be copyright infringement. I'll be interested to read what others think.

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  2. Thanks as always for your wonderful comments on my work!
    i really like this one you've done, the line quality is fantastic!
    It also reminds me of my husband as hes just been taken over by the desire to learn the accordion.....
    As far as copyright...I think the image has to be changed something like 30%. If you think about someone like Andy Warhol, he changed things very little...I am not sure that he had any copyright issues. The same goes for Roy Lichtenstein. However, I believe that Jeff Koons had some problems because a lot of his things were reproduced verbatim....

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  3. This is a great portrait. You managed to give him an expression, and this guy is so alive! And the viewer starts a dialogue with him, and wonders why he's got this happy, mysterious smile...

    I quite agree with the fact that you can draw inspiration from whatever you see on the internet, or around you.
    Anyone can reproduce a Picasso for fun.
    But if you want to sell it or claim that it is yours, then you should get in touch with the original artist (if it's a living artist) and inform yourself about copyright issues in your country.

    Keep up with these portraits!
    Thank you for sharing

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  4. I love his wrinkles :)

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