A View From My Window #3

A View From My Window #3 9x12 Oil on Masonite

This is another Arkansas sunset done "semi" plein air from my "studio" window. I started the painting last night AFTER I had taken a digital photo. I finished it up this afternoon using the photo. The sun had dropped below the horizon so the foreground looked very dark in the photo - I could see it well last night. But I didn't need the clutter of the foreground for this "quick" rough painting.

Even after laboring over the sky today, I still didn't capture the color! At least I caught the essence of the colors. Or at least I think that I did.

Tuesday After The Rain - Plein air

Tuesday After The Rain 8x10 Oil on Masonite

 
This is another (Number 2) stab at plein air painting. Again, this is (sort of) the view from my "studio" window which faces West.

We had totally gray skies with a gentle, soft rain all morning then around 2-3 PM the clouds started breaking up and we had skies similar to this.

In reality, there are homes in the foreground, but I didn't feel like cluttering this with those details. Speaking of details, my camera and I are at odds again about focusing. I'll keep trying to get a sharply focused photo - in the meantime just squint at this picture and you won't know it's not nicely focused. :-)

Quick sketch of dusk at our house

Dusk At Our House 6x8 Oil on Masonite

This is a small, fast study of the Western sky from the room where I do my painting. Until I finish my studio in the back yard, I'm using one of three bedrooms as my "studio".

This is my first ever plein air attempt. Now I understand better how quickly the light and sky changes. DUH! :-) But it was a good thing.

But is it "original art"?

I cruise the internet for photographs and where the photo is not copyrighted (sp?) I save the photo(s) to my computer hard drive. Sometimes I use the photo as a starting point to make a painting. Sometimes I use part of picture A, part of picture B and some of picture C to make a painting. None of my paintings look like any one photograph. There are a few blogs where somebody posts a photograph and "challenges" artists to make their art using the photo as the basis. Are the works of those artists "original art"?

Is original art only what comes from working from plein air sketches, using my imagination or working from my own private photos? Can I call my paintings from various outside sources "original"?

What do YOU think?