You swipe, and you're gonna get caught

[Inkthinker]

Got this from Johnston's LitG Swipe File this week... and this one is just... RIDICULOUSLY eggregious.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...der_id=1629713

Apparently one of the latest Tokyopop RSOM top 20 did a fine job of swiping Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal. Not just a panel... several panels, and in one case a whole page of sequentials.

WHY? Why do people even try this crap? Not only are you likely to get caught (personally I hope this kid gets slammed hard by Tokyopop), but can't they understand that if they make a career based on bullshit, then they can't compete when time comes to really rock? When the editor hands you a script and tells you to have it done in 30 days, what will you do then... continually rip panels and layouts to the point that you risk a lawsuit? Draw crap, because you can't work without tracing someone else's art? It's not just sad... it's stupid.

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS TO SUCCESS AS AN ARTIST.

Quit looking for 'em, dammit!! There is no magic pill, no secret book, no goddamn fancy pen that makes you a better artist or brings you success. Criminy christmas, I want to slap every kid who traces a panel and then tries to claim it as original work upside the head with a t-square!

How can we convince the kids these days of the utter idiocy inherent in a move like this? It's one of the surest ways to completely torpedo your career and reputation.

[Chico Blue]

Yeesh. Lazy kids. That Liefeld picture further down the page is pretty funny, but atleast he's not tracing.

[Inkthinker]

I dunno if he's really "copying" for that matter... can't see the actual artwork. He might just be using the cover for some costume reference or something.

The difference between Rob and this other kid too, is that despite our various opinions of Leifeld, that man has an established career... this other kid is a fresh face.

So if Rob gets caught in a swipe, he still has a huge body of work to point to. I'm not sure he should but he can.

Whereas this other kid has shot himself in the head with the starting pistol. To do this, of all point, at the BEGINNING of your career... it's a 'tard move no matter what, but it's double-'tarded for a greenie, because now THAT is his ENTIRE rep; as a weak-ass swiper who can't hold up on his own. It doesn't even matter if it's true or not... it's what people will think when they look at his work.

[ielle77]

okay, so i get the whole, don't copy thing. And some of those pics you have on there are ridiculously copied, But if you're having a hard time getting the angle of say... an underside of a jaw and you find something like the segment with the guy being kicked in the face. you can't borrow that same angle of the jawline, with your OWN character and your OWN action for how he got that way? I mean people own body positions now???

How about the head in hands for the side pick. I mean so the guy owns the head in the hands position? I can see the fact that the stupid kid kept a character with the same clothing and similar hairstyle, but he switched up the background... had he changed the character to say, nike shoes, baggy pants and a bald head would that STILL be considered a swipe just because both are of men from the side holding their head in their hands? That doesn't seem fair. I mean okay... he shouldn't copy YES, i agree. And he shouldn't try to pass it off as his own.. CERTAINLY! But you can't OWN a position of the body, right?

[xadrian]

Man, so bad that the links are now gone.

I hope they are thoroughly embarrassed and are blackballed from the artistic, American comic and manga collective.

That's unconscionable.

[Huerta]

okay, so i get the whole, don't copy thing. And some of those pics you have on there are ridiculously copied, But if you're having a hard time getting the angle of say... an underside of a jaw and you find something like the segment with the guy being kicked in the face. you can't borrow that same angle of the jawline, with your OWN character and your OWN action for how he got that way? I mean people own body positions now???

How about the head in hands for the side pick. I mean so the guy owns the head in the hands position? I can see the fact that the stupid kid kept a character with the same clothing and similar hairstyle, but he switched up the background... had he changed the character to say, nike shoes, baggy pants and a bald head would that STILL be considered a swipe just because both are of men from the side holding their head in their hands? That doesn't seem fair. I mean okay... he shouldn't copy YES, i agree. And he shouldn't try to pass it off as his own.. CERTAINLY! But you can't OWN a position of the body, right?

The dude stole panel for panel, the pace and the layouts... NOTHING IS HIS. This isnt about owning body positions, which is the composition, he just ripped the pages. How would you feel ielle, if Batman Begins followed BATMAN frame by frame?

[xadrian]

But you can't OWN a position of the body, right?

No, you can't. But you can own a piece of artwork that puts all those positions, costumes and lighting into a set image.

[Karim]

that's just sad

[Singles]

If the artist just drew a picture of a guy with his head in his hands, then it wouldn't be a swipe, but, given the other examples, it's more than likely they traced or directly copied it. Otherwise, there would probably be some little differences or at least different clothes. This is beyond looking at something for reference, it's a cheat. I, too, hope they hit this person hard.

[Dash Martin]

I've had trouble with drawing some parts of a person in a pic before, but I just find a photo on google with the body part in a similar position and physique and use it as reference. I can't see using other comic art as reference though. Where's the fun in that?