Talking About Copying Art...

"I got kind of disheartened by doing my own original work ... none of it ever sold and eventually I felt like I was just spinning my wheels and spending money on work I didn't enjoy doing...

I just simply enjoy doing other artist's existing work (in reproduction a.k.a. copying their work) for myself. I don't ever sell the copied work; I just love to do them. Does this make me a bad artist or even, yikes, a bad person?"-- Michael, on the Painting Forum

If you're producing reasonable copies, then you can't be a bad artist because otherwise the copies wouldn't look anything like the originals. And if copying made you a bad person, then the list of bad people would have to include many prominent names across the centuries because copying has long been a tradition in art, both to learn and to earn money. In his youth Renoir, for example, knocked off copies of paintings in the Louvre to earn some money.

My question to Michael is "How far are you taking the copying?" Are you working with traditional materials or modern equivalents? Are you creating canvases in a traditional style or buying ready-made ones? If you're enjoying recreating works, perhaps you'll also enjoy learning to use the materials the artist would've used. Add your thoughts...

See Also:
• Review: The Art Forger's Handbook