|
FT Pro, Mem SOG,'08 Cert Excellence PSA, '02 Schroeder Portrait Award Copley Soc, '99 1st Place PSA, '98 Sp Recognition Washington Soc Portrait Artists, '97 1st Prize ASOPA, '97 Best Prtfolio ASOPA
Joined: Jun 2001
Location: Peterborough, NH
Posts: 1,114
|
It's tough to imagine not being able to show samples of your commercial artwork.
When a publisher hires you to draw/paint a portrait of a celebrity from a photo that they supply for the cover/insides of a book that they will publish, they have the legal responsibility to obtain the necessary legal permission to use that photo. And you are completely safe in showing this published piece (probably available at a bookstore or newstand?) as a sample of your work.
If your photo source is a commercial photo supplier, it is standard practice to purchase the rights to use that photo. And you can certainly show the resulting artwork as a sample of your work unless for some strange reason your contract prohibits it.
If you use a photo of a celebrity to base your artwork on (so that it is recognizably from a specific photo) and you don't have permission to use that photo, both you and the company you sell your artwork to could be in violation of a copyright law.
I don't know who you are working for, but the company should certainly know about copyrights (if they're planning to stay in business these days).....be sure to ask them if you're nervous about it.
|