english-for-designers

Chapter VI

If we didn’t copy, we wouldn’t know anything. As children, we start learning new things by copying our parents. We quietly watch them and save the information somewhere deep in our heads. Some abilities are certainly conditioned by instincts, however, as I think, most abilities which aren’t crucial for the satisfaction of living needs we just can’t learn ourselves. Therefore I consider copying to be a kind of human nature.

It’s the same according to art. When I was younger I always wanted to draw a picture exactly the same as it was in a book. At first, I put a blank paper on a book and outlined a picture that I saw through. Because of that, I was getting better and better. As time went on, I have learned how a dog, a flower, or a human hand looks like. I didn’t have to use the see-through technique anymore. I was just looking at the picture and was drawing what I saw.

Currently, I moved on even further. Because I’ve already learned the basics and I feel like I want to create my own work. Something unique. Naturally I still look up work by other authors, but now, it is not about copying. Now it is about inspiration that I am gaining. I get inspired by colors palette, design style, possibilities of use, but then I keep working on it. I would be truly dissatisfied if I just copied others works.

In conclusion, copying without specifying the source is, as I hope everyone thinks, dishonest. Nevertheless, soaking up the inspiration and then transforming it into your work, is absolutely fine. Besides, I think it’s almost impossible to come up with an completely new idea. It’s more about how we can deal with the gained experiences.

Original paiting by Jean Michel Basquiat.

My work inspired by Jean Michel Basquiat.

Original work by Andy Warhol.

My work inspired by Andy Warhol.