Artists are often sensitive, emotional, and able to see things from a different perspective. We can also be a moody bunch prone to soaring snobbery and sinking self-loathing. These two ditches are often best displayed through our disdain for other mediums and genres of art.
As a portrait painter, I most often hear the criticism: “Aren’t you just copying?”
The short answer? ‘Yes.’
I always have.
I copied my parents when I learned to form words. I copied my teachers when I learned reading and writing. I copied my siblings when I learned to tattle. Copying is how I’ve always learned and created.
But, to make the criticism sting less, I would like to suggest that many art forms are ‘elevated copying’. Yes, I’m copying values, forms, and color. But I’m also seeing.
I spend hours looking at my subjects as I paint them. I see. I notice. I’m intrigued. I put that all on canvas. And it does something to the subject, the viewer and me, the painter.
The subject feels seen. Known. Beheld.
The viewer feels empathy. Themselves reflected in the expression and humanity of the subject.
And I, the painter, feel like a mirror. Taking the image of someone and reflecting it back to them with worth, value and dignity.
Yeah, I copy. But my prayer is that I become an artist who copy the steps of the Creator Who sees, shapes, forms, and heaps dignity on all.
