Why do people keep copying Paintings?

I was asked the question why do people copy other Artists especially the famous ones?

First it’s easy to do.

If you have drawing skills and patience you can copy any painting it just takes time to learn to do. It must be easy because so many do it, it is a learned skill it is not being a talented Artist, it is being a factory worker.

Second they avoid being responsible.

When you copy someone else you do not have the responsibility of coming up with the original thought and idea, you are just like Xerox machine and copy off the painting. Of course many will tell you how talented you are and that your work is even better than the original, but it’s not it’s a copy and a fake. If people do not like the work you have an out because you can say, I did not do the original painting, I just copied it, I cannot be blamed.

Third, it’s safe.

When you copy the fear is quiet, because you are not pushing any boundaries because you know the painting can be done as you can see it and you are coping it and there will be no chance of failure, so the fear is quiet, the thief only gets involved when you try to do challenging things that could fail, it leaves us alone when we are being average and ordinary, copying is just that.

Fourth, They legitimise it.

The way people do this is to make changes, like change the background colour and add a distortion to the face use words like . I saw a “Mona Lisa” that was perfectly done and then they deformed part of the face and had blood coming out, they said it was now an original, no it was still a copy but now a defaced copy. 
If the intent is to copy a successful painting from the past and to make it legitimate by changing some of it or defacing it, only persons being fooled are the painter and the person who buys it.

Fifth, Its factory work.

It is factory work by skilled workers not Artists, Artists do not do this they seek out original thought and creation.

Yes we can all be influenced and inspired by great Art and admire great Artists, but that does not mean we should be their clones, our desire must be to seek out the new and challenging and create new original work and push the boundaries of Art.

Create beautiful original paintings, that's got to better than being a copy of someone else.

A copy no matter how well it is painted and it can be painted even better than the original, but it can never be an original painting ever, it is destined to always be a factory copy and no more.

Now just because these copies sell does not make them legitimate Art, no it just means that someone bought them. They can call it Art if they want but it is not Art it is a copy and fake.

You can cut a cow in half and call it Art but that does not make it Art, it’s just a cow cut in half. You can spread old rags around the gallery and call it Art, but it is not Art it’s old rags spread around a room.

Art is something that comes from within, it’s not designed to shock and tantalise, it is to move peoples emotions, to touch their inner soul, to change them for the better.

People are moved by Picasso’s “ Guernica” and Rothko’s “ Black paintings” in the Rothko Chapel move people to tears, this is what great Art does, copying them will never capture the true essence of being the original Artist.

Whatever you paint if it is yours, your original Art no matter how complex or simple, if it is born out of you, it is Art.

Art is personal, it is alive and comes fresh from a real Artist.

If you paint landscapes, then make them your landscapes, if you paint portraits then make them your portraits, seascapes or abstracts, paint them as only you can paint them.

Original Art is your vision, your original thought, your feelings, your emotions expressed on paper or canvas or whatever medium that you work in.

Great original Art comes from the personal struggle of sharing your vision of your world in your Art for the world to see.