[michael_dorfman]

I agree with him completely when he writes: "The act of merely copying a photograph has no artistic merit except to hone one's artistic skills."

However, when he writes: "This painting of Tica is not just a copy of a photograph, but is a product of many artistic decisions, whereas I deviated from the reference photo for more aesthetic appeal" I have to say, "not so much".

[petite]

The decisions he made for the painting go down to a level of detail many of us could not comprehend. It's akin to writing an entire operating system, then showing it to someone who uses computers very rarely in their life. That person may think that the operating system is just like all the others they've used, but it's only the people who are coded the thing that can realize how different it truly is.

[michael_dorfman]

That doesn't make much difference to me as a viewer. I'm impressed with his chops, but I don't see what makes his reproduction better than the original photo.

[petite]

Oh, I'm not arguing the artistic/aesthetic quality here. I was only saying that I do agree with him when he says that he made many decisions in changing the original for what he sees as aesthetically better.

[mhartl]

Is the original photo in the story? I think all the images are of the painting.