what constitutes an original carving?

[arnie]

As a fairly new carver I want to carve everything I see and most of my ideas come from other carvers,either thru books or pictures of their work. Obviously carvings of that type are not original however would a carving of an eagle from a photo of a real eagle be considered original? Would the photo in that instance be considered a reference or would I have to change the posture of the eagle to fit some vision in my mind for the piece to be considered original. I guess what I'm asking is, I have an idea for an eagle and just happened to find some photos of the attitude i want,using those photos as a guide can I call the piece an original piece. Any comments? Arnie

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Everything is original as long as you don't set out to try and duplicate someone else's work. Doing a carving from a photo clearly doesn't fall into this category. I keep all kinds of reference material, even photos of others carvings, that I refer to when doing various pieces. What I'm usually looking for is a pose. If something in particular appeals to me whether its a piece of sculpture, a photo, or even a carving, I'll rework it to be my own. I also keep a sketchbook handy while watching TV in case something shows up on a program I'm watching. A DVR is great for this as you can hit pause, make a quick sketch and then resume watching.

[Kenny_S]

Arnie, I won't go in to a long posts so if you have an idea and execute it, then it is considered original. Kind of like carving a guy flying a model plane. How else can that be but an original. No one else has carved that that I know of.

[arnie]

Thanks for the input, I wouldn't want to post some pics of a carving claiming it as mine if it wasn't. arnie

[Claude]

Originally Posted by arnie

Thanks for the input, I wouldn't want to post some pics of a carving claiming it as mine if it wasn't. arnie

If you do all the carving yourself, then it's an original carving. It may be based on a design by someone else, or from someone's pattern, but that's ok as long as you give credit. For example, you could do a relief carving from a Susan Irish pattern, and claim it as an original carving, based on Susan Irish's pattern.

This, of course, is only my opinion - but I differentiate between an original carving and an original design.

Claude

[BobD]

Nicely put, Claude!!!

I agree that it only makes sense to give credit to the original designer; that will usually encourage the designer to work harder and produce more designs! For most designers, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing someone else's intrepretation of their design!

Now if you take several reference photos of a subject from different sources (say you are carving a songbird, or a celebrity, or something like that) and carve your own intrepretation using parts from all of the references (the angle of the nose from one image, the position of the hair on another, and the shape of a jaw or eye from another) it is safe to say that you have created your own design and carving.

Bob

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Then you can also do a carving of an animal from a picture, because the original designer is always happy for you to notice and appreciate his design

[Ron Davidson]

I put on the back of each of my relief carvings the name of the pattern designer ( Lora S. Irish) and the date completed and my name. I also put Ashby's (Garry) on the ones he has been doing with his laser. Heck give credit where credit due is I say. If it wasn't for them I would have allot harder time.
Ron