Copying is cheating when you claim the work as your own. When reading to and
talking with students about how various artists evolved....and learned...many
talk about how they went to musuems and copied other artists to learn. I
discuss this with the students...we talk about how you can learn from what
another artist did....however...you cannot say the idea is yours...you must
say that you copied it.
Art is interpretation.....of life, ideas, what we see and understand. An
interpretation is not a copy. Is this splitting hairs.....mmm.....not when
you teach that all art begins in the mind. You have to think of it before
you can do it. And that many people might have the same idea.....but not the
same way of doing it. Believe it or not....my students seem to understand
this bizzare logic....it is just "kid" enough...to make sense to them! go
figure!
