Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

Yes, that's exactly how I mean. Using someone else's character, especially if you're getting money for it, is stealing. Whether it's from a big animation studio like Studio Ghibli, or a struggling illustrator. Some would even argue (http://bit.ly/6UzKnR) that using someone's art in ANY fashion without permission is stealing, regardless of whether you're getting money for it or not or how few people will even see it.

It's a shame that the initial image for this post is something unoriginal considering her body of work. I agree that her original figurines are pretty extraordinary.

Right; It doesn't seem like she's mass-producing these either. In fact, the Totoro figurines were in a set of wedding cake toppers, so I'm guessing they were commissioned specifically for someone's wedding and not for commercial purposes. Her collection of handmade figurines is pretty extensive, and 99% of it are all characters of her own creation.

You mean the way thousands of artists pay a licensing fee every time they sell a commission drawing/painting of some Marvel or DC character...?

Wonder if she needs to pay a licensing fee to sell those sculptures that use the Totoro characters.