Question about reference photos

[andymania]

If you have an assignment for a magazine such as Time or Newsweek and it involved doing a portrait of someone famous, obviously you don't have access to these celebrities in order to take your own reference photos. So how would you bypass this copyright problem with using someone else's photo? Does the magazine provide you with photo reference???

-Andy

[Elwell]

Does the magazine provide you with photo reference???

Often, yes.

[Mirana]

If not, search for multple angles of celeb's face and create your own likeness.

[andymania]

that would be hard as hell.

[Mirana]

Because...being an artist is easy? Oh, right! It's not. That means you actually have to work at it and then doing something like painting your own piece is not so hard to do.

Or you could just take someone's copyrighted photo, project it a la your other post, and not be an artist at all. :D Or the magazine could just buy said photo from the photographer and not need you. What's it going to be?

[andymania]

I never said anything about projecting copyrighted photos and copying the whole photo line for line if you read it carefully. Even if I did, projecting one element from a copyrighted photo, and projecting other elements from other copyrighted photos and putting them together in one final composition would not be copyright infringement.

[Elwell]

...painting your own piece...Or you could just take someone's copyrighted photo, project it...
False dichotomy.

[Mirana]

I never said anything about projecting copyrighted photos and copying the whole photo line for line if you read it carefully. Even if I did, projecting one element from a copyrighted photo, and projecting other elements from other copyrighted photos and putting them together in one final composition would not be copyright infringement.

I was making a reference to your other post in which you said you would just project images instead of drawing from reference, combined with your concern over copyrights on photos you would have to make celeb art from. I didn't say you did, I said you could. How exactly would you project different "elements" from celeb photos and somehow make that a cohesive image (if not abstract)?


False dichotomy.

Spartan examples.

[Elwell]

Spartan examples.

Touché.

[andymania]

No I know I couldn't do it for a celeb portrait. I meant if I was doing a scene (figures in environment) That was a little confusing. My fault. The celeb post and projecting post are two different topics with nothing in common. I was not intending on projecting a copyrighted celeb photo and just copying it. I was just curious as to how illustrators go about doing editorial portraits if they most likely do not have the ability of taking their own reference photos of famous personnel.

[Mirana]

Lots of practice. You might take a look at the methods some caricature artists (http://www.caricature.org/) use. The way they work will show you how to exaggerate and make an image your own.

[andymania]

Yeah, I can understand that caricaturists such as Philip Burke, Sorel, etc would have it much easier in terms of avoiding copyright infringement, but Im not a caricaturist, only just a simple hardcore realist/naturalist so for me it is more difficult. I heard (but i am not sure on this, so correct me if im wrong) that if you change at least 20% of someone else's photo, than there is no copyright infringement. This is what was taught to me in my business/ethics class at Parsons a few years ago.

[Elwell]

I heard (but i am not sure on this, so correct me if im wrong) that if you change at least 20% of someone else's photo, than there is no copyright infringement. This is what was taught to me in my business/ethics class at Parsons a few years ago.

You have GOT to be kidding. They actually told you the X% myth in a BUSINESS AND ETHICS class at an ART SCHOOL??!!!

un-f**king-believable

:nohope:

[andymania]

Yes they did. They said if this was taken to court and the court ruled that the artist altered around 20% of the photo, that there is no infringement issue. I swear they told me this. No joke.