I teach a couple of animation classes at the high school level. Each year I always off Inktober as a BIG extra credit opportunity (if they do all 31 days, they get excused from an assignment of their choice). Today, as I brought it up, some students asked about the controversy. We ended up having an interesting discussion about the topic, and about cancel culture in general. I really wanted to make sure that students understood the importance of researching stuff like this controversy on their own, then forming their own conclusions. I gave them my opinion about how I didn't think there was enough evidence to really support a copyright claim, and also told them the importance of handling things like this privately, rather than letting the Internet be judge, jury and executioner, like what's happening right now.

I think the essence of Inktober has always been to develop good drawing habits and inking skills. For me at least, it's not just about Jake Parker (although I love that he created the challenge). It's more about me getting more confidence in my own art. So I told the students if they still want to participate, to definitely do it. I care more about them developing good habits, even if it's through doing a different month long challenge, then I do with them blindly agreeing with everything I say simply because they think they need to.

Anyway, just wanted to share that experience.

I'm doing a 1920s theme...at the time I came up with it I thought 2020 was going to be a fun year (oh, to be that simple again )

I was a bit hesitant to post work on social media, given the controversy and the fact that I know a lot of my former college classmates think Jake plagarized and so they're trying to cancel Inktober. But you know what, I love the challenge, I love the community, so post I shall!

Wow, there are so many great pieces here! It's definitely making me want to step up my game!

Since I couldn't do the Inktober prompts that I created for 2020 due to an injury, I've been trying to go back and redo them. They're based off of iconic themes and character types of the 1920s (I made the list back when I thought 2020 was going to be a great year, haha). This one was supposed to be Day 4: The "It" Girl (based off of Clara Bow).

I've been experimenting with my new iPad and Adobe Fresco...I'm in love with both!

@Molambo it's hard not to be skeptical of him, because I just saw that post and no where does it seem like he acknowledges that 1)its for the courts to decide and LAWYERS and 2)he has contributed to a lot of the "haters" online by giving them a platform to speak up without any of us knowing the full story. I'm not just blindly following Jake either, I dont think any of us are. If, for some unknown reason, it ended up being that he did plagiarize, then he would need to be held accountable, as all artists would. Problem is...I dont think he did so he shouldnt be held accountable until such time (however unlikely) its determined he did. And if he didnt...then hes having to deal with other peoples rash decisions to accuse without knowing all of the facts.

One interesting observation...just browsing around the comments to Alphonsos post. I dont see anyone criticizing him or bad mouthing him. I'm assuming if people dont agree, then they're just not posting. So...why dont those followers pay the Inktober posts the same courtesy?

@kylebeaudette My first job "opportunity" was like that. The author didn't really have a plan for payment or a contract, and never really pursued me again until they found out I was working with another local author. Now they want me to contact them and explain how to get books published through places like Amazon. Which, unfortunately, I'm not an authority figure on since I just hand my drawings off to the author, who publishes. it. But the whole thing has struck me as odd about how much leg work the author wanted me to do without a clear idea of what their end goal should be.

At least my current client pays me flat out for the production of my illustrations. We both know it's not making money any time soon so we didn't even have a "when the book makes money" conversation.

Hi everyone! In an effort to get more comfortable with my art and think less about my anxieties, I decided to redesign an old D&D character of mine. Any thoughts or comments?

@Molambo I had a friend tell me "you're aware of his plagiarism right? We discovered that he stole work. Just be aware of it when you post with the hashtag".

The way people think we're ignorant of accusations just because we dont buy into them is...mind boggling.

@kylebeaudette definitely. Especially when this is not my full time job and its been I think 6 years since they initially contacted me about the book idea. Oh. And not to mention they had been working with someone in the publishing business before (no idea who) they decided to go Amazon.

So many questions pop up. It's a friend of my dads that I've known for a long time so at least I know itd lack of experience more than anything else. Still...not my job

I’ve been having a lot of difficulty with mental blocks lately so I really wanted to do something fun. I decided to do my own Christmas card this year, with my dog as the star of the show!

Hi everyone!

Here’s my sketch for week two of Inktober52 (I’m a bit behind). I wanted to do a fairy house and work on making a whimsical environment. It’s a work in progress that I want to take into my iPad and finish digitally.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you guys! It’s been great developing a community of people that help each other improve their work!

@robgale that’s true!

@robgale I was thinking of little hedgehogs or fairies...maybe both?

@ABCre8ive That's such a lovely compliment! Thank you for the critique also; I'll work on that, I definitely see what you mean.

@Asyas_illos it shows!

That looks great! It reminds me of the little illustrations you would find on the chapter heads of YA books like Harry Potter.

Hi everyone!

Here’s my sketch for week two of Inktober52 (I’m a bit behind). I wanted to do a fairy house and work on making a whimsical environment. It’s a work in progress that I want to take into my iPad and finish digitally.

What are your thoughts?

Thank you guys! It’s been great developing a community of people that help each other improve their work!

What sort of personality does your Yeti have?

Wow, there are so many great pieces here! It's definitely making me want to step up my game!

Since I couldn't do the Inktober prompts that I created for 2020 due to an injury, I've been trying to go back and redo them. They're based off of iconic themes and character types of the 1920s (I made the list back when I thought 2020 was going to be a great year, haha). This one was supposed to be Day 4: The "It" Girl (based off of Clara Bow).

I've been experimenting with my new iPad and Adobe Fresco...I'm in love with both!

@doro_thea Yep, I do that too! These comments are really eye opening...I do sketches underneath my ink and always look at reference, so if those are the first questions I keep getting asked, then obviously, even after practicing art and illustration for 10ish years I’m still not where I should be. Which is a whole different conversation because it seems like no matter how much I keep going back to basics, there’s still some sort of road block for me!

I’m hoping this year I can start loosening up.

@mag on the contrary, this helps a lot! I really appreciate you taking the time to look at my other work and give such good insight. Your words definitely inspire me to want to work at building up my confidence in drawing overall. I remember a professor once said that people tend to favor either line drawing or rendering...I think in the past I’ve definitely favored rendering more, so line work and bringing more life to my drawings is definitely going to be a goal this year!