
“The real trick to life is not to be in the know, but to be in the mystery.” -Fred Alan Wolf
Our next assignment in my Color class was to choose analogous colors on the color wheel. Those are the colors next to each other on the wheel. Generally speaking you choose one color that dominates, a second color that supports and a third color for an accent. Black, gray and white don’t count. For this piece, I blended a blue-green background, added Titan Bluff and then the yellow and a darker blue. Most of the marks are made with the same tools I made marks in clay. Wet paint and wet clay are similar. This piece is 12 x 14 and will probably be a background for another painting.
Next we needed to add a complimentary (color) line drawing to our background:

It’s so strange – adding that red made my camera focus on the blue undertones – the actual color of the painting is truer in the first image. I only added red. Weird.
I cancelled my Pinterest account after a couple of days. There was some really wonderful images, but I started hearing some disturbing things about their privacy policies and the issues of their ‘ownership’ of the photos posted. I read an interesting article about someone who had posted photos of their own artwork on Pinterest but had hired a professional photographer to take the photos. This artist ended up being sued by the photographer for illegal use of those photos.
My own artwork is all over the internet. But I started being concerned about ‘re-pinning’ images I didn’t know whether the artist wanted that image on Pinterest or not. We started this conversation in the comments on my other post about originality, but I think until some copyright issues are resolved, the internet can be a wild place to be with no protection and no rights. The Google privacy policy change (today) certainly has me thinking about how my browsing habits can be monitored. It’s so easy to just not think about the ramifications of having our every move watched. It’s an overwhelming concept that we should probably think about more.
“Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it.” -Buddha
This issue is a concern. I love Tumblr and when I reblog I used to assume credit was given to the artist, then I started checking and found in many cases it was not. This bothers me a lot.
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I don’t see how that photographer would win that law suit. If I have photos taken by someone to use in my promotions and website and I pay for them and they are images of my work, how does the photographer have a leg to stand on?
I love the colors you chose for this background
xoxo
Hi Annie! I feel the same way on Tumblr – just not sure about reposting other’s work.
Here’s the article about Pinterest. I’m not sure the photographer will win the case, but it’s something to consider.
http://ddkportraits.com/2012/02/why-i-tearfully-deleted-my-pinterest-inspiration-boards/
The greens and blues are some of my favorites – so restful!
I just read something similar about copyright on Alyson’s Art Biz Coach blog today, which said even a review written about your own work is not your own but belongs to the writer. I am pinning on Pinterest but only my own stuff which I guess isn’t the aim of it, but at least I know it’s mine to post. I think some photographers have contracts that state who owns the right to the photos, wonder if that photographer had this type of contract? I guess the internet can be good and bad depending on which side of the coin we’re on. As competition gets stiff for work and income and blantant copying occurs, it seems copyright details become more important.
Hi Linda – I think your images of your own work on Pinterest can also be compromised or re-sold or re-posted anywhere without your permission.
It was a time waster for me anyway. I didn’t see any benefits to me or my artwork with Pinterest. I enjoy Tumblr – it’s a simpler format and a calm respite with beautiful artwork – not so much to wade through to find who you want to follow. And I have FB to keep up with friends and family and this blog – that’s enough for now.
It’s so good to see you working through the color class. Gives me motivation to get moving with it too. It’s been so long since I had any color theory in college, seems like I’ve been doing everything by the seat of my pants for years. Will be nice to refresh the old brain…
The Pinterest thing is snowballing. I’m holding off on getting an account until/unless they come up with a better way of handling things. But I’m always the last one to the party anyway. xo
Wish you would get started in class! Once I pushed myself to do the swatches and wheels, this class is moving fast. I’m already on lesson 7. Our paintings are meant to be quick. This is more of a color study and not a class on how to paint. I’m learning and having fun!
Pinterest was interesting, but entirely too time consuming.
xxoo
Oh man. Judy this breaks my heart. I will go check out what tumblr says and I bet it is a lot like what pinterest say in their terms. Which means I have to go delate a zillion posts and just leave mine up or anyone I get permission from. I just thought as long as you gave credit , it was okay, but I guess not. This goes the same for blogs. Boo.
Let me just say that anyone who wants to tumble my paintings has the go ahead from me as long as they give me credit and a link back. xoxo
I agree Annie. It is sad. The internet is like the wild wild west – no rules. But I think some of the stuff pinterest states would never stand up in court. They are just trying to cover their own butts. And as artists, I feel if we give credit or remove an image if the artists requests it, posting is really honoring someone’s work, right? And we, as artists need to be careful what images we post of our own work. What I like about Tumblr – is seeing all the old master’s works. Now that should be okay to post, right? Let me know if you figure it all out!
xxoo
Judy, Here is a link to the terms on Tumblr. I can’t really understand most of it and I gave up after a while because it made my head hurt
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http://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/api
Near as I can tell they cover their butts too, and they say you must have permission before posting an image and I know most of us don’t do that. Luckily I have only posted 2 artists besides my own work and I gave credit, but did not get permission, I can delate them from my blog, but if they have been reblogged it is already out there.
Tumblr also says that it has intellectual rights to everything on Tumblr, which means I won’t be posting anymore of my work there.
I may just delete everything that does not have credit given or I may quit Tumblr.
It makes me very sad, but I guess I can always look.
I hope this helps.
xoxo
Tumblr’s policy is a lot like Pinterests. I think all that legal mumbo-jumbo is just to protect themselves. They really want you to blog & post – just don’t want anyone suing them. And I agree – if these sites take ‘intellectual rights’ we need to be careful about posting our own work.
It makes me sad too
xxoo
Judy, this is what I decided to do. First I am putting a disclaimer on my tumblr blog, then over the next few months I will go through each image and make sure it gives credit to the artist, if it does not give credit I will delete it. I am deleting the posts I did of other artists that I did not get permission from. I think the quotes are all covered under fair use, so I am leaving them alone.
I think that if someone is to be sued it would be the person who first posted an image, they would not go to the trouble of suing everyone who reblogged it, at least that is my hope. So for now that is my plan, I will be very careful to check sources before I reblog an image again.
xoxo
Annie I sent you an email – but I agree that we should include a disclaimer on our Tumblr blogs. I’m not sure I’m going to delete anything – just going to make sure from now on that the artist gets credit before I re-post. And my disclaimer states that I will be happy to remove any image if requested.
xxoo
Your painting sings, Judy. You must have enjoyed doing this. As for Pinterest… I’m on the fence for the time being. It has given me so much pleasure it would be a pity to close my boards, but if things get too uncomfortable I might just delete.
Thank you Robyn. It was fun – but then I love to paint!
Your Pinterest boards were my favorite! After thinking about it with Annie yesterday, I don’t think Pinterest would sue an artist unless one had stolen a design for profit. I think Pinterest just doesn’t want to be involved in any suits – so their legal jargon protects them. My real concern is that we give up the rights to our images – and if that’s the case I can understand why some artists don’t want to be ‘pinned.’
Judy,
I am enjoying seeing what you are doing in your color class. I have always thought about taking one, but seem to keep putting it off. Seeing your work inspires me to learn more about using colour even if I don’t have time for a course right now….. hopefully some day!
Hi Kim! This class is great and it’s ongoing. Your access to the videos is unlimited. And you can take the class with support whenever you want. Here’s a link to classes offered: http://www.julieprichard.com/mixed-media-workshops/
The images of new work have such a wispy airy quality. It’s wonderful to see how you’ve made the transition from clay to paintings… Regarding Pinterest, I’m relieved about all the hub-bub. Means there is one less social media thingie to keep up with!
Thanks Patricia. I’m really loving painting. My husband keeps wanting me to fire a kiln load. He handbuilds and makes some beautiful tiles – but just a few and he wants me to help fill the kiln. But my bags of clay are shelved right now . . . and I’m not sure when I’ll get back to it. Yeah – Pinterest was full of so much I wasn’t interested in that it just took too much time to sort through. I don’t think image copyright issues will be resolved any time soon. lol I’m loving your work. Those boxes were divine!