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How To Steal Like An Artist

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Copying isn’t bad; it depends on how and why you do it. I recommend you try copying – and be clear about why you’re doing it. Though I rarely share these kinds of studies with anyone, I make them frequently – and I learn a lot.

I’m not fond of phrases like, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” (That phrase itself has a history that borders on theft. Read it here.) They can be interpreted as a legitimization of plagiarism, as long as your sources are unknown or you hide them well. A lot is lost when this happens; the original author goes unfairly unappreciated; the plagiarist tragically passes up the opportunity to find something of their own; readers are deceived; we all lose. The biggest trouble with phrases like this is that so many fail to go further after pronouncing them.

The best thing about phrases like this is that they memorably raise an important set of questions about the wide variety of purposes for copying: forgeries rob money (except the ones museums and collectors commission as insurance policies for exhibition); plagiarism robs intellectual property and content; studies educate the development of artists; appropriation references culturally important touchstones (best done with attribution like a quote); working in the manner of someone can be both a sign of respect (homage) and a way of fanning those flames of inspiration; and making new authentic work after being inspired by another strikes new sparks carrying the torch further.

Follow phrases like these with a rich conversation about the possibilities and you will be richly rewarded every time.

Here are a few resources that will help enliven your future discussions.

30 Quotes On Stealing

Copying Is How We Learn

Study Finds Copying Other People’s Art Can Boost Creativity

Why Artists Are Allowed To Copy Masterpieces From The World’s Most Prestigious Museums

From Craft to Art – Leaving Dafen

Kleon – How To Steal Like An Artist

Things get really gray with appropriation.

When Does An Artist’s Appropriation Become Copyright Infringement?

Appropriation In The Digital Age – Richard Prince Instagram & The $100,000 Selfies

Who Actually Shot Richard Prince’s Iconic Cowboys?

Forgery has a fascinating history.

A Brief History of Art Forgery From Michelangelo To Knoedler & Co

How Museums Handle Forgeries In Their Collections

Orson Welles Movie F Is For Fake

 
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30 Great Quotes On Stealing

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Quotes Steal

Enjoy this collection of quotes on stealing.

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.” – Pablo Picasso

“Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.” – Igor Stravinsky

“Immature artists imitate. Mature artists steal.” – Lionel Trilling

“Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.” – T. S. Eliot

“Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright.” – Aaron Sorkin

“If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.” – Woody Allen

“To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.” – Anonymous

“If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition.” – Charles Caleb Colton

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Why You Need To Understand Color To Get The Best B&W Images

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IMG_3522_BWColor

Why do you need to understand color to get the best black-and-white images?
Let me count the reasons.

1          Understand How Flexible The Luminosity Of Saturated Colors During Exposure And Conversion
Understanding how light and/or dark you can make saturated colors will help you pre-visualize the tonal possibilities within an image before exposure. When post-processing, while you’re converting color images to black-and-white, I recommend you make all of these ideas visible realities, making many different black and white versions and comparing them side-by-side. At the same time, you need to understand how neutral and near neutral colors do not offer the same flexibility, which will improve both your vision and your efficiency.


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The Problems With Calling Them B&W Photographs

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Suffusion VIII
You may not think there’s a problem. You may think you know the difference. It’s obvious right? But is it? Do you? After a lifetime spent in the arts, I find photographers’ ability to describe color woefully limited, and this is never truer than when describing “black-and-white” images.

Most antique processes are black and white, right? Certainly, silver gelatin is black and white. But what if you tone it? Is a platinum print black and white or brown and white? Is a cyanotype black and white or blue and white? What about hand-tinted photographs? They were black and white but then they became colorful again, but it’s a different kind of color, isn’t it? And if only a little color is added is it still black and white? At what point does an image become black and white?

The problem is that having only two terms – color and black and white – for a wide array of color palettes limits not only our communication but more importantly our perception and thinking.


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Why Black & White And Color Images Don’t Mix

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Revelation XXVI

 

Can you effectively present a project or body of work that contains both black-and-white and color images? It rarely works, but in rare cases it can.

The problem is that color and black-and-white images appear to be from different times or even different worlds and sometimes both. They’re so different from one another that presenting them together breaks the continuity of the larger story being told (Even a collection of separate poems creates a larger story, albeit with a much looser narrative and context than an essay.) and it undermines the suspension of disbelief required to imagine that a small two-dimensional image accurately represents our much larger three-dimensional world. Viewers end up paying more attention to the way the images are presented and our attention is deflected away from their content. We spend time and effort trying to figure out a pattern between images that are color and images that are black-and-white and the reasons why they’re different from one another, which is wasted if there aren’t any. “It looks better.” isn’t a strong enough reason to break continuity and suspension of disbelief. If there is no reason that contributes to the content of the series, then it’s a few small wins for individuals but a big loss for the team, and we leave the work feeling confused and frustrated. (“I don’t get. Is it me?”) For these reasons it’s best not to mix color and black-and-white images. Instead, present them separately.

 


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How To Write About Your Images

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Writing an artist’s statement is something I initially resisted. For years I’d heard all of the excuses from many great artists, “Pictures should be seen and not heard.””If I could say with words what I want to say with images, I’d have become a writer.””Those critics got it all wrong.” But, did you ever notice how the people who write about other people’s art always have to address what the artists wrote about their work? Van Gogh’s and Edward Westons’ journals are both excellent examples of this – and worth reading.
I broke down and wrote my first artist’s statement when a gallery insisted they needed one for their exhibit and the response was positive. (A professor at Stanford later asked permission to share it as an example of how to do it well.) I was surprised not only by the positive response to my writing but also by how much I learned about my images while I was writing about them. I knew how to make the work – physically, emotionally, subconsciously –  but did I understand what I had done fully. My conscious mind had some catching up to do … and in the process, I found new ideas. Now I make writing about my images a regular practice. Why? I understand them better. Other people connect with them more. And I find new ideas.
I’ve collected some valuable resources that will help you write about your images.
Start with my free PDF.

9 Ways Of Writing About Your Images

Then move to this collection of quick tips.

6 Tips for Artists on How to Talk about Their Art

4 Tips for Writing a Good Artist Statement

How to Write an Artist Statement

4 Ways to Write an Artist Statement

An Authentic and Easy Artist’s Statement | 10 Powerful Tips

Want even more? Try these three information-packed resources.

What Should An Artist’s Statement Contain?

The Language of an Artist’s Statement

Examples Of Artist’s Statements

There’s even an entire website dedicated to helping you write better artist’s statements.

Artist’s Statement.com – Resources To Help You Write A Good One

It’s easy to make fun of artists statements when they’re done poorly or for the wrong reasons –while you’re doing it just be clear about what makes them funny and you’ll learn a lot while you’re having fun. You can learn a lot about how to write well by looking at examples of bad writing. So, don’t use this to write your artist’s statement, instead, use it to figure out what and how not to write. And don’t forget to laugh along the way.

Artists Statement Generator

Learn more in my digital photography and digital printing workshops.

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Plus check out The Complete Guide To Writing Your Amazing Photography About Page