Influence itself isn’t a bad thing—in fact it’s a given as part of creativity. Creativity doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and as artists we are naturally inspired by other artists past and present, and interested in and inspired by what they do. But there is a point when influence is too much, and you are taking liberties with someone else's work. While over-influence is somewhat expected when you are in a learning phase, as you mature as an artist it is expected that you move into your own territory.

Some strong resemblance to another artist's work can be understood as unconscious and even as parallel development. But if you want your work to be distinctive, you need to confront the possibility of being mistaken for the other artist or vice versa. And if you're consciously copying, it's not fair to you and your development, and not fair to the artist whose ideas you are replicating. You may rationalize this as being less well known than the other artist, or even as flattering to them. There are other problematic reasons such as not wanting to put in the work necessary to develop your own voice or wanting to ride into the art market on someone else's path.

To avoid having your work resemble someone else's work too much, it's helpful to have a large mix of influences rather than taking too much form any one artist. In that way, your influences can be compared to the various flavors you combine when cooking a complex dish, which has a unique taste as a result. You can also work with ideas that you perceive or interpret in an artist's work rather than adopting the look of their work as a whole. This is an important way to synthesize various influences so that you avoid too much visual resemblance. And most importantly, remember that your strongest influences should be the most personal, coming from your own thoughts, interests, and experiences.

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The best influences are those in which you understand the other artist's work and the context in which it was created. This allows you to move beyond the look or style of the work to finding connections with your own ideas. It is also healthy to have numerous influences, so tghat you are not overly swayed by one person. In these ways, you can pull from the work of others the things that will help your own work grow in a personal direction.

Unfortunately, there are also artists who use influence in an unhealthy way, either deliberately plagiarizing another artist’s work, or using so many of their ideas that it comes uncomfortably close to outright copying. This is a distressing situation for the artist being copied. If the plagiarism is serious enough that action is called for, finding a way forward can be very challenging.

Try to remember that, although having your work copied hurts, it will probably end up hurting the person copying your work more than you. There are very few things more damaging to an artist than gaining a reputation as someone who produces knock offs. Customers, gallaries, and other artists all view this behavior as unprofessional. For these reasons we should all seek to create unique art, and not become overly influenced by other artists. If you art looks too much like someone else’s it will end up hurting you in the long run.

The bottom line is that you cannot control what other people do but you can control your response. Try to remain objective when handling these issues, whichever side you find yourself on. Embrace the centuries long tradition in the arts of being influenced by others and building on the work of the past. Always strive to differentiate your work from others, and if someone else’s work is too similar, do your best to handle the situation gently.

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