Do you use Pinterest?

Aaron Pierce

Constantly! I use it for inspiration boards as well as reference boards when I'm working on stories and world building. I'm pretty sure that's not what it was MEANT for, but heck I love it for that. I also have the pintrest plugin installed on Chrome, so any time I see something I like or that inspires me while I'm browsing, I can pin it. I have a whole board full of nothing but illustration, art, and photography that gives me inspiration for when my creative bank account is overdrawn lol.

Miriam

I like Pinterest. I don't know about having a great organizational system, but I have a lot of boards, and I like to look at all the wonderful things I've collected. I use it for both art & for other personal interests. I think if I were starting to use it with a new account, I might create one account for my other interests, and one account just for art--but things can overlap sometimes & it's too late for me to do it that way, anyway!

I like to collect art that inspires me, styles I might want to incorporate into my style, and I also have boards to collect reference.

Yes, I've had times when the pins aren't linked properly. Sometimes it's just an image, and sometimes it's a bad link, and often it's something that's been reposted on blogs that are a just list of things & they don't always link to the original.

It is frustrating, but I just label my pins with something like "photo only" so I won't try to click on it again later (and to warn anyone else).

Another thing that I've done is to try a Google image search & sometimes I've been able to find the original source that way, then I can add the correct link (I just put it in the comment if it doesn't let me change the link, or if I feel like spending the time, I might download the image then upload it to Pinterest so I can add the correct link).

Christine Dion

Hello all!
I have a question about Pinterest and copyright. So I, like many of you in here, love pinning images for inspiration. I’ll try to post my original art and the images I used for inspiration. I belong to an international colored pencil group and I posted it to their closed FB page. The moderator told me I had to remove it because I had used Pinterest. I explained I had used it for inspiration and created my own 2 animals and she then cited some article that was 3 years old as the justification to their copyright rule. Please correct me if I’m wrong, as I would prefer to be honest and truthful about all my work. But I just don’t see my art and my references to be in any violations....ok I’m trying to figure out how to post a photo from my phone....I’ll post this and then see if I can do it from my iPad when I get home!

davidhohn

@mrsdion It is a very good idea to get a clear understanding about copyright. Both for your own work and when you use the work of others. Please post the images in question and I'm happy to offer my understanding about copyright and how to use images you don't have a license to (i.e. images found on pinterest)

Christine Dion

@davidhohn I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that!!! Exactly as you were posting! I couldn’t do it on my phone...but I might figure it out here (iPad)...give me a minute...or two....or three! LOL It’s been a year since I posted in here!

davidhohn

@mrsdion No pressure. I know how frustrating it can be to figure this stuff out.

Christine Dion

@mrsdion

Christine Dion

@mrsdion REFERENCES......

Christine Dion

@mrsdion ART.....sorry but I had to wait 2 minutes in between before I could post again!

BichonBistro

@mrsdion Christine, I honestly don’t understand why this is considered copyright violation. Your lion and lamb are not copies of the references—are you supposed to go to a zoo and take your own closeup photo of a lion to get a reference???

I follow a miniatures artist on IG @lorraineloots and her minis are often exact replicas of photos. She sometimes, but not always, provides a photo credit. She has international gallery shows and has been featured in the new york times. Her paintings are better than the source photos, but I always thought it was a violation to directly copy a photo unless you have written permission from the photographer or are paying a license fee. There is another mini artist who does the same thing, but is not as famous nor selling her work for anything close to Lorraine Loots’s prices. This is very confusing.

But I do not find your painting in any way too similar to the references, except it’s a lion & a lamb!

davidhohn

@mrsdion In my experience and understanding of copyright law you are fine.

It appears that you are simply using photos to better understand what a lion looks like and are not specifically copying any one photograph. Your reference for the lion is comprised of 5 different photos.

The only area that brings in a bit of a question is the specificity of the lamb's legs as they hang over the lion's leg. I would encourage getting 3-4 more photos, again to encourage an understanding of the forms and anatomy and avoiding reliance on a specific photo. But honestly that's because I tend to be over cautious when using photo reference I don't have a license for. I wouldn't have any real worry from a copyright standpoint here, especially when you factor in "transformative use".

Christine Dion

@davidhohn Thanks for your insights David. I was listening to the “Should You Do Fanart?” Podcast this morning and Lee mentioned how you are quite well versed in copyright information. Your expertise is much appreciative.

Lion: that is exactly what I was doing...looking at all of the images to create my own version and understand the layout of the fur and facial structure.

Lamb: totally used it for composing how the arms would hang on the lion’s arm. Not many other photos out there to show that.

I generally use all my own photos...as my main work revolves around animal portraiture. However I’m building up my illustration portfolio and going forward, this incident will help me keep things in check! Thanks again!

Miriam

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