Just because Prince William’s son is a child doesn’t make him immune to public criticism as a member of the Royal Family. 13-year-old Prince George has recently made headlines with a picture of a kingfisher, neatly drawn in colored pencils. For a young teen, the artwork is fairly impressive, or so people felt until they realized that George might have been following a tutorial to draw the bird.
This accusation arose when people compared George’s drawing to a kingfisher tutorial by Matt Fussell, The Virtual Instructor. The lesson is called “3 Little Birds with Colored Pencils: Kingfisher with Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils,” and the kingfisher shown in the tutorial shares almost the same pose, angle, coloring, and plumage as George’s. “Not crediting the original artist is so tacky and yet completely unsurprising,” remarked a Redditor, an opinion that many critics had about Prince William’s son and this “copied” artwork.
However, many people made sure to clarify that it was mostly William who they were bashing, not the 13-year-old. Many people believed William was using his son’s artwork as boastful PR when it wasn’t allegedly original artwork. “There is no shame in a young person learning to draw by following a tutorial,” a comment began. “The sad thing is not only did they lie, the lie was unnecessary.”
Ctitics Blamed William for Not Being More Transparent About His Son’s Inspiration
“Just credit the teacher/designer of the image!” demanded another. “Because they lie about and hide everything. They just embarrassed their son,” sighed a third. Of course, some people were unfairly dragging the child online, but George doesn’t exactly have the PR power to control how the public views him; William does. On the flip side, several people pointed out how this whole situation is seemingly blown way out of proportion, with one notable art teacher coming out to defend George.
Fine artist and tutor Barry Whitehouse took to Instagram to praise George and shame critics attacking him or his artwork, saying, “We’re talking about a child.” Plenty of people in the comments pointed out how, even if George used Matt Fussell’s tutorial, following it to a T takes skill and patience, something that’s respectable for any child to develop, on top of his alleged artistic talent.
As for what Fussell said about this whole ordeal, USA Today reports that the tutor was more than honored to hear that his lesson might have had an impact on the Prince. “While I can’t say for certain whether Prince George used my lesson, the similarities are certainly exciting to see,” he remarked. “Whether he followed my lesson or not, I think he’s done a wonderful job, and I hope he continues exploring his artistic abilities.”
