Comments on: Richard Schmid

By: J Raspen

J Raspen — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:37:14 +0000

I was googling and found this blog and conversation about SmartFlix. This comment:
“She has confirmed what has been suggested by others, that SmartFlix uses a legal loophole to avoid paying any royalties to the artists or creators of the videos, as would be expected with normal video rentals.”

…mischaracterizes what SmartFlix is doing. They are not exploiting a “loophole”. The law explicitly states that the owner of a particular copy of a copyrighted work video may dispose of it as (s)he sees fit. The law has been in place since 1908 so it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

Also, the “normal” video rental stores do NOT pay royalties to movie studios. Sometimes there are arrangements whereby a rental store gets free videos in exchange for royalties, or gets copies earlier than the public can. But any store could go down to Wal-Mart, buy the videos and rent them royalty free.

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:56:41 +0000

At the request of Molly Schmid, Richard Schmid’s daughter, I have removed the passage in which I suggested renting from SmartFlix. She has confirmed what has been suggested by others, that SmartFlix uses a legal loophole to avoid paying any royalties to the artists or creators of the videos, as would be expected with normal video rentals.

I will not recommend (or personally use) Smartflix in the future.

By: L.W.Simons

L.W.Simons — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:17:51 +0000

Hi folks, been doing some online research about illegal DVD copies and saw this post. I paint with Richard on a regular basis, and he actually says all the stuff in his book and DVD’s … repeatedly.

It takes a while for things to sink in. We all do his color charts, and so does he periodically. We use our charts while we paint – makes it easy to match color of what we’re painting from life.

Anyway, recently, there is someone on Ebay is who illegally copying and selling DVDs done by famous artists and selling them inexpensively. I’m inclined to order one just to catch the thief.

Has anyone ordered art DVD’s from Ebay and gotten what seemed to be an illegal copy? Please let me know.

Lori

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:43:24 +0000

Thank Charley for your beautiful Website and your wonderful posts. I keep eagerly checking it day after day and learn so much from it. This is how I discovered Schmid and ordered his Alla Prima book. I had it sent to France and it took about 3 weeks to arrive. I’ve just leafed through it this morning and can only say it’s very promising!

By: Jeremy Deveraturda

Jeremy Deveraturda — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:50:45 +0000

I feel so lucky to have his Alla Prima book. Many years ago I remember trying to (desperately) buy it off Amazon on backorder. Somehow I managed to snag a copy, and it arrived in a beautiful leather cover. At first, I remember feeling overwhelmed and frankly disappointed. In my head I expected to be turning out paintings like Sargent or something.

Still it’s stuffed with beautiful and even poetic reproductions. Your post reminds me that I should look through this book again.

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:54:26 +0000

Thanks for your input, Jana. Here is the link to Jana's post about "doing the charts".

By: Jana Bouc

Jana Bouc — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:25:53 +0000

I’ve rented many videos from SmartFlix and am sorry to hear that the artists don’t profit from the rentals. I’ve also purchased a dozen videos directly from the artists. I’ve been happier with the purchases when I’ve seen the videos first but have only returned one that was really awful.

I think Schmid is a gentle and generous teacher in his writing and videos. I found doing the color charts just as he suggests in his book tremendously helpful. I wrote about them and posted pics on my blog. Here’s a link to my post about it (”Infinite Color & Joy”) on my blog .

By: Charley Parker

Charley Parker — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:37:53 +0000

I meant to mention that it took several weeks for the rental video to arrive, apparently because of its popularity.

There are two additional reviews of the video I mention among the links at the bottom of the post.

By: Jennifer Young

Jennifer Young — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:19:39 +0000

You must have read my mind with your post on Schmid. I’m among the many who are fans. His brushwork, edges, and underlying draftsmanship almost make me want to throw in the towel. But luckily, curiosity and desire always spur me on. :-)

I decided this summer to take my time and become one of his students (alas, so far only through re-reading his book). I’ve done the color charts once before some time ago and have recently begun to do them again with my current palette. I am taking my time but it’s a great summer project and incredibly enlightening.

As for the rest, interesting about SmartFlix. I have been wondering what the Landscape video is like and I actually did try to rent it once from SmartFlix but it was perpetually checked out (as were others I was interested in) so I finally gave up. But I am another one of those who would like to know what I’m getting for $75, so all opinions on the vids are very helpful.

By: Adebanji Alade

Adebanji Alade — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:19:02 +0000

I think about 4 years ago I got it ordered from the U.S. It wasn’t available in the UK at that time and I don’t think it is available at the moment in the UK.

Thanks for the advice about the colour charts, that will surely help me! I think 2 colours per month will be better a start than not doing them at all since I’ve read the book.

I really appreciate the mention too!