"Nude" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Nude" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201125
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More good lesson material in this one. Again and again and again, it's all about values! And colors too, but the value shifts are what I'm learning about most. The figure here was quite difficult to bring together because the darkest dark and the lightest light were so close on the value scale, and it took me a while to figure that out. It's an example of painting what you see; not what you think you see, or what you think you have to paint in order to create a good representation of whatever it is you're painting.

Now then - I want to write more about the controversial issue of working from another artist's work. It's a sea of factual copyright mish-mash, flavored with varying personal ideologies. In this case here, after torturing myself with the ethical aspect of doing such studies and selling them, I have determined for sure that Potthast's beach paintings are now considered to be public domain and most of them are noted "date unknown". What we do know for sure is that these beach paintings were created in the summer months (in any one of a number of seaside art colonies including Coney Island & Far Rockaway) after his final move to Manhattan in 1896. More specifically, they are generally known to have been painted somewhere between the years of 1910-1920. The latest possible US copyright expiration date would have been 1997, which is 70 years after his death. Sooooo - I have not violated any copyright issues in painting and posting these studies. For good measure, I'll add that my references were downloaded from the internet, and therefore were not copyrighted duplicates of the originals. (Had I referenced a poster, greeting card, book, etc. - it might be a different story). Next up is the issue of whether or not to sign my studies. This too seems to be a confusing topic with differing opinions of what is acceptable, unethical, or just plain rude & disrespectful. My comfort level here lies with signing the front with just initials (SCS), and the back with my full signature, plus "after Edward Henry Potthast". And finally, the issue of selling these pieces. Again - it's a sticky topic with stances ranging from "how dare you" to "sure, why not, you need the cash-right?". Somewhere in between is the subjective area of just how interpretive my studies actually are, and whether or not my derivations bring forth anything identifiable as my own. I believe these studies are unique by way of how I apply the paint; the shape, size and direction of the strokes. My technique, if I may say so without raising eyebrows, is pretty much easy to spot. So there you have it!

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