Do you ever feel guilty/ashamed when taking inspiration from other people?

I can see why you might feel a little ashamed for what you may perceive as a lack of originality, but I personally think there's nothing wrong with being inspired by the creativity of others. It's not as if you're deliberately copying anyone - you're just getting ideas and being pushed to try out new exciting things with your dolls! I'm always amazed by the sheer amount of talent and artistic finesse there is in this hobby - it'd be much more damning to never be inspired by anything you see. All you're doing is allowing yourself to artistically connect with other people's work, which is great. And you never know - there could be people being inspired by your own work. When I've been stuck for ideas, I'll often have a look at the galleries here or on deviantArt and get inspired by the gorgeous, creative work I see everywhere. It encourages me to work harder at photography and faceups.

 

If we weren't allowed to get inspired from anyone else, think of how terrible, cold and empty this world would be... especially when it comes to art.

 

NO.

Everything anyone does is inspired by SOMETHING. It does not pop into someone's head out of nothing. Humans are visual and we see things and even if we don't consciously try to reference something, it is still THERE in your memory somewhere... particularly if it is something you like.

As long as you don't JUST copy everything exactly ALL the time... this is just a natural thing. You enjoy seeing things and you also enjoy seeing similar things on your dolls because it is your own taste. Just don't limit yourself to copying something entirely. It is always better to be INSPIRED but not copy exactly. Inspired is not copying. It means you loved something and you use that love to create a look of your own, not a copy.

Everyone needs to be inspired by something!

 

TL;DR: No and nor should you.

As april said, there's no originality in art. Everything one does is quite likely inspired by other things and every one thing you try, even if you thought it out completely on your own, has in some shape or form most likely already been produced by someone else, somewhere else. You have no means to know that, and will most likely go on about your life without ever finding out as well and that's completely alright.

Being inspired by others is nothing bad and you shouldn't feel ashamed about something as normal as that. The result of each and every one of your works is not that of copying (unless you copy something down to a T) but rather the finished mosaic of inspiration you've accumulated in regards to it. Most of the time you won't even be able to think up reasons for liking something so much to include it into a composition and more often than not it's the direct or indirect result of inspiration from something you saw, heard or read at some point along the way.

 

A lot of members of my doll family say 'no'. Most artists are actually happy when they've inspired someone else. When I met Brian Henson, son of Jim, and showed him the Brian doll I had made he said "Me with me".

 

Well, I am sort-of ashamed of something similar to this. I recently bought a secondhand fox anthro off of the marketplace. She has the default body blushing and face-up, but has a set style given to her by her previous owner. She came with several handmade outfits, which I have kept for her. I don't want to change her at all, and am keeping her with the image/creative pulse that her previous owner had for her. She's so perfect the way she is, but the idea for her appearance was completely someone else's. She gets compliments all the time, which bother me because I had no part in her design. I know that her name and backstory are completely different that her previous owner's ideas, but it still gets me. So yes, I do often feel guilty when I'm inspired or use an idea whose basis did not come from me. It happens whenever I create based off of inspiration, like writing and drawing, not only with doll stuff.

 

When I watch some dolls on Devianart, very often I take some ideas from one. And when I say to the owner that I will copy a dress, or a wig, the answer is always the same: pride ! And often, they ask for a picture... So, why would I be ashamed ?

 

No, not at all Art is a dynamic exchange of ideas among people; you could only accuse someone of stealing the idea if the person claimed the idea is his/her.
I myself would feel honoured if someone used my own ideas for inspiration. It would also be interested to see how the other artist develops the same idea.
My biggest "copy" of somebody's art was using Marina Bychkova's Concubine as an inspiration for a BJD costume (here). I didn't copy it really, but I based my costume on it, though I made everything in my own way. I mentioned though that her work has inspired me; and there cannot be anything wrong in it

 

What inspires you is what it is - no need for shame!

 

I think it's fine to use ideas close to someone else's as long as it's not completely the same thing. As others have said, inspiration comes from all over and if you are inspired go with it!!!

 

I don't think there's anything wrong in you leaving a doll you love as is. It's like buying a fullset or One-Off and being so happy with it, you don't change any of it's physical characteristics. The creativity you bring to a situation like this is the name and the backstory you've given to YOUR doll, that make it YOURS now.

I have a several of the same dolls that many of my friends do, yet mine are still different from there's because of how I think of them and play with them, even if I have kept the manufacter's name for them. For instance, my Volks Heath differs from any other Heath out there because of the backstory I've given him. To me he was always Heath from the first moment I saw his promo photo, and that has never changed.

It's true that everything we think draws some inspiration from that which has come before it, the trick is to not fully copy someone else's art and call it your own creation.

 

I'm 100% with the other replies here. Nothing wrong with inspiration. Unless you were directly coping another outfit, faceup, mods, etc, I'd consider that totally in the moral clear. I look for inspiration all the time and then add my own twist to things.
If it worries you a neat trick i've heard of might be to collect all the things that inspire you, look at em, piece it together in your mind, and then create the outfit/ faceup/etc without directly looking at them.
That way you can't feel like you're coping right from a photo, you're working from the memory of different sources and getting more the "feel" of what you like about it.

 

I was pretty much going to say what april said.

Teddy

 

Oh, I wouldn't want anyone to feel sad about keeping a doll from someone else exactly the same! The last owner knows that they sold the doll that way. If they didn't want someone else to have the doll that way, they could have just wiped the faceup! But most people who make a faceup on a doll are glad the next owner doesn't want to totally wipe it, I would think!

Artists are happy to have others appreciate their art. They don't want someone to rip them off (like re-casters, or someone totally using their ideas 100% to make an exact copy). That kind of thing is bad because they lose income and because someone else is not making their own doll, but re-creating someone else's doll... which isn't illegal, but just a bit sad, because people should not ONLY get their ideas from someone else. (This doesn't count for people selling dolls or for stuff like fullsets, where the seller/company is in the business of having people fall in love with their creations! Enjoying a fullset exactly the way it was put together is totally wonderful! In these cases, the person is expressing their own style in choosing something they like!)

Of course... there are possibly people out there who get hot and bothered if they think someone is copying the look of their doll! The thing is, some people will think that even when another owner has never seen the other doll! They just happen to look similar! I think those people need to calm down a bit and really think if someone is truly copying every little thing, or just has a similar doll with a similar style. Copying every little detail is nearly impossible, if you think about it. It's not easy to get the exact same doll, the exact same faceup (can be close if it's a default faceup, but even then, hand-done work is never exactly the same!), and find every little same wig and shoes... And the first owner just needs to change the clothes to make the dolls different again... These dolls are really so very different, even with fullset dolls! Almost none of them stay in their fullset all the time. Basically, dressing SIMILARLY does NOT COUNT as copying. Even with companies--similar sculpts is not evil. They are perfectly allowed. Only re-casting is evil.

 

oh not at all, I mean so long as you arent blatantly copying than hey who gives an ass, no one can trade mark a style. Being inspired by people helps you improve and try new things, seeing what works and what doesnt and using others experiences as a guide. Dont feel any shame, any one who does take too much of a problem with something you do looking too much like theres (and again that isnt a copy) has problems with them selfs first and fore most. So go, have fun and leave the guilt at the door.

 

I think there is a very big difference between being inspired and copying. As people have already said, everyone who creates something has gotten inspiration from somewhere. It's different if you just set out to entirely copy someone else's doll. That's wrong in my opinion, and really unfair. But taking inspiration from looks and styles you like is something most people do, I'm sure, and it's nothing to feel guilty or bad about.

 

April speaks the truth! All art comes from inspiration, all inspiration comes from somewhere. Plus, I think there are a lot of patterns that occur naturally in this hobby with certain sculpts or styles, and that's normal. As many others have said, as long as it isn't a blatant carbon copy, there isn't a problem.

 

I get stuck on this as well, sometimes.
But like many have said alredy, there is nothing wrong with inspiration.
The finished doll will not be a copy of someone elses work just because some little part of it is similar. If there are strong influences from a specific artist it is a good idea to state your inspiration, but apart from that I don't think there is any reason to feel the creation is not your own in the end.
It is all about how we combine our ideas, not the individual little ideas that went into it. The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts, after all.