A tale of plagiarism...?

[tinkertrain]

Last week, Alphonso Dunn an artist and author posted a video on youtube claiming that another artist by the name of Jake Parker (who initiated the "Inktober" movement), plagiarized the contents of his book.

Jake Parker seems to be a polemic figure even before these claims, if you are interested to know what happened, this reddit post is a good summary: https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/iih7sm/art_community_inktober_2020_the_annual_ink/.

This is the youtube video by Alphonso (over an hour long though!):

Someone made an 11 minute version with the relevant parts:

As Alphonso explains, the concepts and methods he's teaching are not what Parker copied (it is not like he is claiming he invented the concept of lines or texture), but the way of teaching them, the layout, the order... I'm not familiar with Parker's work but people that are claim that the style of the illustration on the book is not even how he draws, looks bad.

Bit of drama to start your week!

 

[stlukesguild]

Is it plagiarism? I've sat through drawing classes by several different professors and there were many similarities in what was taught and how. There are only so many ways to teach contour, texture, value, perspective, etc...

 

[JohnEmmett]

Hm…

 

[tinkertrain]

The order of topics, order of terms, order of chapters, almost exact terminology and phrasing, same titles, same diagrams, same layout... even the same "unusual" tools.

It isn't that they both go over fundamentals, we know there would be overlap. But Alphonso points out he (Parker) knows his book exists, what and how it covers it, what compelled him to practically recreate Dunn's book? The only reason I can think why someone would want to make the same thing someone else already made is that this time he can attach his brand ("Inktober") to it (and of course, monetize).

Reminded me of this :

 

[JohnEmmett]

 

[JohnEmmett]

People spend all their time on defense, and that's why they lose…

It's a different game…