Copying Other's Work

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

A lot of talking about copying, but I have to tell you , it is almost impossible to 'exactly' copy anything, I found that in painting and also in carving.....I am carving some cane segments right now...have done 3 of a certain subject and all three, although I started out to do the basic same carving, all are different! I did an oil painting one time, a seascape with a moon, reflection etc etc, someone wanted to buy the painting, I really liked the painting so I told them I would sell it to them and I tried to copy it for myself.....it turned out terrible! So unless you are casting, you cannot exactly copy a thing I don't believe!

[nadcarves]

bark guy,art olver,, my deepest apology,a case of me looking, and not reading... However,I would like to send a peace offering, would a block of walnut do? It may be you don't realize your power and are responsible for me bending over, slamming a log on a two wheel cart,and having same smack me in the head. I lost footing and another log from the wood pile smacked the other side..am glad it wasen't 20 degrees colder.. I can explain that situation, and some others with the following rule of thumb' Stupid is, as stupid does.'Back to my friends Willie and Joe, Cordially NAD

Nad, I did feel your blood boiling... and I'm sorry, about the walnut mishaps and all..... can I laugh yet?
art

Another two cents: Some of the literary quotes in this forum are starting to get a little off base as to what this site is all about. Many of the answers I think, should be sent directly to each persons e-mail address and not in this column. Re; copying others work: I just bought an old book on gnomes and lo and behold, there was a gnome that was copied exactly by one of most prolific book writers we all know. Go figure. Big Al

[mdallensr]

May I offer another perspective? A lot of carvers make exact reproductions of real things, such as birds. If you carve competitively, you know the judges will measure the key features of your carved bird to be sure you have the correct dimensions. The carving may be your unique black-capped chickadee, but after a few million folks have carved that bird, how original can every carving be? The point of that kind of carving is to render the best rendition of that bird using your skill as a carver. It helps to be creative with the pose and habitat, but you have to have the bird right to be considered.

I attended the Ohio Decoy Carvers show this weekend near Cleveland. Talk about more of the same! They also had suppliers of carving stuff and a couple of them sold Stiller carving patterns, hundreds of patterns. Others sold high-quality decoy 'blanks', carved, sanded and ready to paint as slicks or to burn in feathers (eyes already installed). Obviously, there is a large segment of wood carving that is more interested in the quality of the carving than the originality of the subject. How often have you watched somone admire a carving at a show then ask 'where can I get a pattern for that'?

What do carving instructors do for their students? They have them carve a project, starting them with a blank or a rough-out. Many weekend classes are taught that way. My point here is not to justify unethical copying of someone's original work, it's just to note that a lot of carvers (probably most) use patterns or copies for their carvings and think little of it. I've carved several of Adler's love spoons; I bought the book and she supplied the patterns. There's no deception but my friends and relatives who get them for Christmas think they're my carvings, my love spoons. On the other hand, they know me well enough to know I could never design anything like that.....

[Hugh]

Hello, good points made, I have had the same thoughts about copying items. I was asked one time at a sales event, how I got my ideas. I told the lady truthfully, that I use real life photos for my inspiration. Well she thought that I was cheating, and my inspiration should come from memory. Everyone has different ideas about this subject. I make my living carving, as I'm not able to work , and find that most of the time I carve the things that sell. (demamd). But having said that, there is a lot a carver can do to add originality, by study, and paying careful attention to each individual characteristic of his carving. For example the sand paper on Roger Schroders head, made Roger 10 yrs younger. Carving is fun, food for the soul, and we should carve to suit ourselves, to show our own personality, thereby producing original pieces.