Inspired by Jennifer Davis

Being online and having access to so many images and artists has been so wonderful and inspiring to me as a creative person. I generally complain that I don't have enough hours in the day to work on all the things that inspire me. I have made mention of artists whos work spurs me to create before, but I thought I would share with you today a piece  I created recently inspired by Jennifer Davis. I'm in awe of Jennifer's work and I would love to get my hands on an original of hers.

I took a painting that I had started on canvas and had abandonned and photographed it. I then imported into Photoshop and practiced my digital painting. I really love not having to wait for paint to dry and always having access to the "undo" button. I used a painting of Jennifers as my inspirational reference. Below is the reference and my final image. While I think I strongly referenced her painting I think I was still able to make the image my own.

I uploaded the painting onto Flickr and made a point of claiming my inspiration and contacted Jennifer to let her know about it. Jennifer sent me back the most wonderful letter to let me know that she was not only okay with me using her work as reference but that she felt honored. She also told me about a couple pieces that she has created inspired by others. The results are fantastic.
Here's a great painting of Jennifer's and the reference photo of a lamp that she found on Etsy that appealed to her. Love it.

While many of us hear of artists getting their images ripped right off their sites and used to make money for someone else, we can't deny the benefits to creativity to be influenced by other artists. What are your thoughts on this? What is the line between plagarism and influence? I think the work will always be better when you make it distinctly your own.

Alice in Wonderland

I don't know about you but I'm pretty excited to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie by Tim Burton. It's been a long time coming. I have been fascinated by the story for as long as I can remember and I've worked on various images over the years on the theme. I know I'm not alone in my admiration because I'm seeing "Alice" things everywhere. There are even Alice in Wonderland groups on Flickr. I thought I would put up a mosaic of some pieces that seemed Alice inspired to me. Click on the artist's name to view the rest of their Flickr photo stream.

1. several times changed, 2. if:Leap, 3. Untitled, 4. Back into Wonderland, 5. Untitled, 6. Ego, 7. sweet little Alice, 8. Alice, 9. Alis, 10. Frankie, 11. Mary Blair - Image10, 12. Bellamy and the Birds


And we can't forget about Tom Petty's Alice in Wonderland video. I would always be mesmerized by this. Enjoy.

Flickr Friday Favorites

I love browsing Flickr and seeing wonderful new work people have posted onto their pages. I thought I would try and share some of my finds with you. Please note that all the images are copyrighted to the artist and if you click on their name you will be able to see even more of their fantastic work.

1. smarter than..., 2. Seaside Excursion, 3. Tossed About on Etsy.com, 4. Mr. Fullofshit, 5. crowthirteen_oil, 6. prince fish, 7. 31 Paintings: A Halloween Series - #13, 8. Cabin With Woodsmoke, 9. Alis