Inktober Book Plagerism Accusations

LauraA

I have been watching this thread but waited to comment, because 1) I wanted to be very calm and 2) I didn't think I had anything new to say. Now I do.

I am an American who has lived outside my own country for almost ten years now. I can't quite tell if I am the one who has changed, or whether it's my country, but I'm seeing a tendency across the spectrum to witch hunts, conspiracy theories, and vigilante justice.* These are all dangerous roads, not only for the people they call out, but also for the people who participate in them. History is full of examples. I also see people who are trying to be calm and think through the issues, but our current way of judging a matter doesn't give them much credit. It's very hard in this kind of atmosphere not to keep upping the ante. I hope we learn quickly from our mistakes and move on to methods that allow for more open dialogue.

On a lighter note, I am considering participating in Inktober for the first time ever this year. It really has nothing to do with the current controversy. I didn't participate for years because I too had the mistaken notion that Inktober had to be done in traditional, black ink, and I am neither primarily a traditional artist nor an inker. Also I was afraid of not being able to finish. But mulling around on Instagram this summer, I discovered some lovely Inktober submissions, done in less traditional ways, that really inspired me, and also I'm in the mood to produce work via prompts. So, we'll see...

@danielerossi Haha! I too have an illustration on my Instagram of a boy with his hands (and tongue!) pressed up against a bakery window, shown from inside. It's based on something that made me laugh in real life. No fish, but yes, some scenes are just too classic not to try at least once!

*(I know that this certainly isn't the first time this has happened in US history, and I know some of the frustrating reasons behind the current trend that have to do with people not being heard via traditional means, but I have to limit the scope of this comment.)

danielerossi

@LauraA I say we post a bunch of our similar illustrations on Alphonso’s post and do a mock “you plagiarized me!”, “no, you plagiarized me!”, “no! You all plagiarized me!”, “I’m going to cancel you all for plagiarizing me!”. But we’re more mature than that. Would be funny though

Nyrryl Cadiz

@danielerossi \ this definitely crossed my mind. I’m petty

Kristin Wauson

@Lee-White or anybody, do we know how to preorder Jake’s book now that the direct link to it in Amazon says it’s currently unavailable? I have already preordered it, but some friends are still looking to show support if there is still a way to order it.

@Kristin-Wauson When Lee posted the link above I was still able to purchase it. Now you can put in your email to get notified when it's available again. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145217041X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It really frustrated me to see the effects of this on the amazon rankings; Jake's book went from no. 1 in the inking category to no. 1 in a category called 'creativity' with more general books that didn't relate. So the search was messed up and I have a feeling Amazon goes by trends more than anything and ended up helping promote Alphonso's book in that way. This is why I normally buy stuff anywhere but amazon if I can help it, because they have these ways of changing my search and changing prices and mostly it benefits them greatly and gets me frustrated. I'm sure Chronicle books will be smart about all of it and not even put out the book if it won't make the money they were aiming for.

I am really not familiar with Alphonso's career. Is he an artist rather than an illustrator? Is this an artist vs. illustrator thing? Does a fine artist have different views about copyright? Or is he mostly earning money as an educator? No one working in a professional capacity with others in illustration or design or art would still believe in poor man's copyright. Is Alphonso making a living from his books and youtube channel, and otherwise not working with anyone? Jake's skills seem much broader to me because I'm more familiar with his work, so if anyone can summarize Alphonso's career maybe that would help me.

pixel.dsp

@carolinebautista In his video, Alphonso said he was a chemistry teacher and had resign from it in order to finish his book. Later he also said that even now he still has a full time job. So my assumption is that he went back being a chemistry teacher after the book was published. But he did not specify what his current full time job is. From the tone of it, it’s probably not art/illustration related.

@pixel-dsp Thanks. Do you know if he sell his work as fine art?

pixel.dsp

@carolinebautista I don’t know... the extent of my knowledge of his work is that his publication consist of those two books and his educational videos on YouTube. He does have an official website but doesn’t seem to have a web shop. I’m not in the art industry so I’m not the best to answer this question...

pixel.dsp

@carolinebautista He has a Masters degree in Fine Art... which makes me wonder why he said it took him 2 months to come up with the term “varied stroke” when Arthur Guptill and many other artists before him used the term “vary your stoke” and it’s variations...

@pixel-dsp yeah, it's too big of a question, but your answer does help, thank you. Trying to watch that video again and look at his work at this point is a little too frustrating for me, so I appreciate it.

@pixel-dsp That is really odd!

One of the things I've noticed is that people talk about a bias for/against Jake in terms of whether they like him. When I talk about bias it's mostly to do with familiarity with an artist's work and who their audience is. It's like people forget that even if they've interacted with Jake, they don't actually know him. What must it be like to have so many people on the internet discussing whether they like you? It's so far beside the point.

This thread has helped me be more generous in my thinking toward Alphonso, and for that I'm really grateful. It has given me a clearer picture of where he's coming from (self-publishing and all the frustrations with that) to temper my anger at his happiness over causing a mob and misinforming his students. I think his behavior is not professional and it seems like he wouldn't have done that if his income depended on his professional reputation.

djlambson

This really does get more frustrating daily. Maybe I'm naive but I tend to think this may be as simple as professional jealousy! The climate of the world right now is not in Jake's favor either, I think that's another unspoken factor.
I used to work with glass..I made glass beads and at least once a year there would be one artist call out another for copying a design. It's the same sort of thing. There are only so many ways can you design a bead without there being some sameness going on. But the perceived wronged one was so passionately indignant that they would stir up a noisy crowd for several days. Then of course, it would die down until the next time. We all want to be a star. An original star. and the thing is, there really is room for all of us. The success of Jake's book would not hurt the success of Alphonso's book. What a terrible waste of energy and I really hope that Jake can continue to just keep rising above it all.

andersoncarman

I was asking my Instagram audience to give me suggestions for my theme for this year's inktober and I had two different people tell me that I should not do inktober becuase of the allegations. I moved the discussion with them to messages and I had a pretty civil discussion. A ton of people are looking for a quick jab but I felt like I was really able to through to at least one of these dissenters. I don't think that text is a great way to communicate on such an intense issue, And I can't convince everyone to wait for all the information, BUT I have seen that being civil and patient can lead to a fruitful discussion. Even though they went well both converstaions were emotionally draining. I just want to encourage you all to stay calm, dont give in to anger or rage. and keep DRAWING!

lpetiti

@Nyrryl-Cadiz the sad thing is it was one of my closest friends in college that said that. It's hard not to be made to feel "naive" in situations like that...hahaha

duttychai

@CaseyKinseyArt This guy, Dunn, may or not have jumped the fence with his accusation, but he is generally respected. Unkindness hasn't seems so unlike him, not his way. But I do think he should have gotten publisher and legal inform before tossing like that on social media. Sets a bad tone. And he says in his video that he had not spoken with Jake at the time. If wrong move by Jake, I hope he will do the honorable.

Also I don't think he is fully acquainted with the standards for copyright or trademark infringement as applied to media. The physical design, the wording, and terms used by him, and the images all must be given a proportion of importance. Perhaps the closest to his complaint is some similarities in the Tools and Alternate xxx pages.

Otherwise, at a minimum of 30 years of reading art instruction material and class handouts, informs me that I've seen and heard these concepts before.The various words used to instruct on line quality to sculpt, shape, contour a 2D image have been here forever.

I've followed Jake and Alphonso for years. So sorry to see this happening. PS: They both have admired and recommended each other.

duttychai

Thank you for the post, Lee.
Judge a legal issue by law rather than personality. If I don't like a book or the person I don't buy it. We all need to take the business side of putting our art out there more seriously either in our own hands or professionals we hire as gatekeepers, not social media. Beware of Karma.

duttychai

@LauraA
I am here in USA. It's not you, it's US.

In agreement, at first I wan't going to participate in Inktober. My decision now is to buy both books as keepsakes. Also to compare. Two people whose virtual schooling and life outlook inspired me to come back to my art.

duttychai

@pixel-dsp
His video did not mention that he consulted his publisher or legal. Also he had not spoken with Jake Parker before the blast.

duttychai

@Geoffrey-Gordon
Good points. Thanks for the links to kesh etc.
Ironically his home page reminded me of svs fundamentals page.
Irony or just another example of similarities.

duttychai

@lpetiti
Browsing his YouTube on that, you missed me and others who may have replied at top level or to other posters.

I had recommended that he should have tasked his publisher and lawyer before a public blast even if he was so certain.