From time to time a student will tell me of concerns they have that their work might be too obviously influenced by mine. Like many who have studied with me, I know all too well the dilemma of wishing more than anything I could paint exactly like my teachers but at the same time, not wanting to offend them or be thought of as an imitator. My advice in general is to tune out some of the noise and just paint. I can assure you there will be comments and criticisms regardless of what you do and it's easy to get distracted from the daunting task of just learning to paint better. Maybe I'm naive, but to be honest, people imitating my work isn't something I've ever worried about a lot on a professional level. To be sure, attempts are being made all the time, but that's more of a reflection on the person doing it than it is on me. I've seen websites pop up occasionally, offering for sale what are probably very poor copies of my paintings in any size and shape and the same thing happens with a number of other artists I know. It's not fun seeing somebody blatantly doing that to make a profit but it kind of goes with the territory these days. My attitude has always been that it wouldn't be possible for me to successfully copy one of my own paintings and if somebody thinks they can do better at it than me, then I wish them luck. Sure, I could replicate one of my own compositions but it would never have the same feeling in the application of paint and that's sort of my thing. At any rate, when a student shows a measure of concern about hanging onto their originality, I take that as an indication they have within them a desire and potential to paint in their own voice. Whether a student is selling their work or not, as long as I feel someone is working with an aspiration to learn and grow, I'm inclined to be supportive of their efforts, just as my teachers were with me.  It's inevitable that when studying with someone your work will show the influence of the instructor but nobody should let fear of that get in the way of grabbing all the knowledge they can when the opportunity presents itself. Eventually, other influences and your own curiosity will lead you on new paths, and that's how it should be. 

      One thing I would caution serious students against is getting too caught up in the extremely popular trend right now of paint-a-long type workshops and videos. I have a whole rant about these that I won't go into right now but as a tool for learning I think copying in general is rather overrated: A promise of instant results but the benefits are pretty fleeting. It's kind of like learning to get somewhere by riding in the car with someone else driving -- unless you are paying close attention to specific things I'm not so sure how much sinks in. The learning by imitation approach also runs counter to the consistent advice I've gathered from virtually every artist I've admired about working toward training your vision --specifically in regard to shapes and values. This goes way beyond grasping just the concept of what a shape or a value is, and a much more involved process is needed to get any of that vision to show up at end of a brush. If the primary objective is to learn to observe and interpret using your own eyes, it's difficult to imagine how that's going to come about by borrowing someone else's eyeballs. 

     We all swap ideas and that's a big part of what this art journey is all about -- sharing the good news. Even with the most unusual objects I've painted I'm sure I wasn't the first person to try them. Some subjects are so ubiquitous, like a vase of sunflowers or roses, that it would be all but impossible to arrange them in a way that wasn't reminiscent of somebody else's composition. Unfortunately I can't give a hard and fast rule about what is acceptable in the context of originality but assuming legal boundaries aren't crossed, it comes down to your motivations and intentions. Basically we are are all on the honor system, so listening to, and being comfortable with yourself, is my best advice. There may be tangents and diversions and criticisms all along the way, but by continuing to explore your own tastes and a willingness to experiment, you can trust that your own voice will shine through. 

“Don't worry about your originality. You couldn't get rid of

it even if you wanted to. It will stick with you and show up

for better or worse in spite of all you or anyone else can

do.”

--- Robert Henri  The Art Spirit

“Many things that come into the world are not looked into. The

individual says ‘My crowd doesn’t run that way.’ I say, don’t run with

crowds." --- Robert Henri  The Art Spirit