Drawn

jon’s work rocks!!!

jon’s work rocks!!!

Always been a big fan of Foster. Love the loose style and abstract content.

And along with Foster;
Justin Sweet http://www.justinsweet.com
Jeffrey Jones http://www.ulster.net/~jonesart/
Phil Hale (couldnt find a URL but hes definetely up there with foster)
Ashley Wood http://www.ashleywoodartist.com
John C Berkey (Classic sci-fi spaceship designs)
Riley
John Harris

Always been a big fan of Foster. Love the loose style and abstract content.

And along with Foster;
Justin Sweet http://www.justinsweet.com
Jeffrey Jones http://www.ulster.net/~jonesart/
Phil Hale (couldnt find a URL but hes definetely up there with foster)
Ashley Wood http://www.ashleywoodartist.com
John C Berkey (Classic sci-fi spaceship designs)
Riley
John Harris

Truly Jarrett ! Your paintings cast a magical spell on me.

Truly Jarrett ! Your paintings cast a magical spell on me.

He also had an iPod cover at Macskinz as part of their limited-run Artist Series….

http://www.macskinz.com/

His sold out but other artist are still available. I’ve been itching for one of their covers, but which artist to choose?

He also had an iPod cover at Macskinz as part of their limited-run Artist Series….

http://www.macskinz.com/

His sold out but other artist are still available. I’ve been itching for one of their covers, but which artist to choose?

Yeah. That’s awesome stuff … !

Yeah. That’s awesome stuff … !

Are you sure his pen name isn’t James Jean? Seems like the same guy to me.

http://www.jamesjean.com/

Are you sure his pen name isn’t James Jean? Seems like the same guy to me.

http://www.jamesjean.com/

Who are you referring to about James Jean? This persons work doesnt look anything like Fosters as his style is fairly consistant, the robot being a good representation of it.

Who are you referring to about James Jean? This persons work doesnt look anything like Fosters as his style is fairly consistant, the robot being a good representation of it.

Jon Foster – konstnär

Underbara målningar, skisser och statyer från Jon Foster.
Via Drawn.

…

Jon is Simply…”Brilliant”! His Work is very captivating! I am a new fan. Thank you “drawn” for sharing him.

Jon is Simply…”Brilliant”! His Work is very captivating! I am a new fan. Thank you “drawn” for sharing him.

Lone,

The robot image is obviously fan-art of Ashley Wood’s Popbot, which is fine. I like fan-art.

My point is: His illustration work looks really similar to James Jean’s cover art for the comic ‘Fabels.’

Really, really similar:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrblank/180746984/

I don’t know which one came first, but I like them both.

Lone,

The robot image is obviously fan-art of Ashley Wood’s Popbot, which is fine. I like fan-art.

My point is: His illustration work looks really similar to James Jean’s cover art for the comic ‘Fabels.’

Really, really similar:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrblank/180746984/

I don’t know which one came first, but I like them both.

Mr.Blank said it best. Although I would like to know who came first.

Mr.Blank said it best. Although I would like to know who came first.

James Jean is the first, and in my opinion, a better and more original illustrator. Foster has admitted to being influenced by Jean in the past — anyone can ask him and he’ll admit it. But just look at his work: he used to be a Phil Hale clone. Now it’s JJ.

James Jean is the first, and in my opinion, a better and more original illustrator. Foster has admitted to being influenced by Jean in the past — anyone can ask him and he’ll admit it. But just look at his work: he used to be a Phil Hale clone. Now it’s JJ.

Jon Foster published work predates James by almost a decade ( James first major published work didn’t appear until ’02). To say one is a clone of the other is just stupid. I know James and have met Jon several times. The only things they have in common is talent and creating work in the same field.

Jon Foster published work predates James by almost a decade ( James first major published work didn’t appear until ’02). To say one is a clone of the other is just stupid. I know James and have met Jon several times. The only things they have in common is talent and creating work in the same field.

Larry – sure, Jon’s been working for a while, and as a talented draftsman, he can do better than to ape someone else’s style. What if Jon had never seen James’s work before? More than one professional illustrator has mistaken Jon’s work for James’s — this was evident in the recent Society of Illustrators book show in New York when several attendees mistook Jon’s book cover illustrations for James’s. If JJ hadn’t been around, then perhaps he would still be a bright star in Phil Hale’s shadow.

Larry – sure, Jon’s been working for a while, and as a talented draftsman, he can do better than to ape someone else’s style. What if Jon had never seen James’s work before? More than one professional illustrator has mistaken Jon’s work for James’s — this was evident in the recent Society of Illustrators book show in New York when several attendees mistook Jon’s book cover illustrations for James’s. If JJ hadn’t been around, then perhaps he would still be a bright star in Phil Hale’s shadow.

Addmitedly I dont know the difference between JF and JJ, but yeah this whole debate about others work, who it imitates, who did it first and the like is just a fruitless, poor course to follow.

Addmitedly I dont know the difference between JF and JJ, but yeah this whole debate about others work, who it imitates, who did it first and the like is just a fruitless, poor course to follow.

Ouch! Mr. Conceptart how do you really feel? Like I said before I don’t see it. Maybe that is because I have seen so much of both of their work to get a bigger picture.

The only thing I can reference that they even share is that simple “blowout” effect that Mr. Blank posted. If that is all you need to constitute theft then I can show you a dozen process effects that James uses that are borrowed or shared.

What’s really important is that James is a phenom with limitless potential. I assure you if anyone is “aping” his style it will be short lived. Check out his new work if you don’t believe me, http://www.processrecess.com/ .

If that not enough, and you’re really worried about it, then I suggest e-mailing both Jon and James and tell them how you feel.

Ouch! Mr. Conceptart how do you really feel? Like I said before I don’t see it. Maybe that is because I have seen so much of both of their work to get a bigger picture.

The only thing I can reference that they even share is that simple “blowout” effect that Mr. Blank posted. If that is all you need to constitute theft then I can show you a dozen process effects that James uses that are borrowed or shared.

What’s really important is that James is a phenom with limitless potential. I assure you if anyone is “aping” his style it will be short lived. Check out his new work if you don’t believe me, http://www.processrecess.com/ .

If that not enough, and you’re really worried about it, then I suggest e-mailing both Jon and James and tell them how you feel.

I think that Fosters work has always been great and it has always left good impression that nobody can forget easily. The work that you have shown here is really very great.

I think that Fosters work has always been great and it has always left good impression that nobody can forget easily. The work that you have shown here is really very great.

[...] This week’s blog comes from the folks at Drawn yet again. They just keep finding the best artists and pointing them out to me before I have a chance to find them myself. Thanks for making my job easier! [...]

As an old friend of James Jean, and as an illustrator myself, I have to leave a comment here.
When I saw Mr. Foster’s work at the Society of Illustrator’s book show, to be honest I couldn’t believe it was not done by James. I know Mr. Foster is a very talented artist, has been in the field for a long time, at the same time the work I saw at the SOI was a new work of his. Well, I am not James, and I am not Mr. Foster, so I shouldn’t comment on who borrowed which style from who or what.
However what I can say is, as professional artists, James and I both believe in creating works according to what our inner voicse tells us to do, and copying other people’s work is not anything we would ever do or ever did.
James came to talk to my illustration majors at SVA, and generously shared the techniques he has used to create his illustrations. He is not scared of sharing his process because his philosophy is if someone wants to copy his process/work, by the time that person is doing them well, he is already moving on to a next stage. Artists are artists because they keep experimenting, learning, and taking risks and challenges to create something new.
All I want to say is that we hope everyone who are illustrating, or eventually wants to be illustrating in the field should keep that in mind and try to be the originals.

As an old friend of James Jean, and as an illustrator myself, I have to leave a comment here.
When I saw Mr. Foster’s work at the Society of Illustrator’s book show, to be honest I couldn’t believe it was not done by James. I know Mr. Foster is a very talented artist, has been in the field for a long time, at the same time the work I saw at the SOI was a new work of his. Well, I am not James, and I am not Mr. Foster, so I shouldn’t comment on who borrowed which style from who or what.
However what I can say is, as professional artists, James and I both believe in creating works according to what our inner voicse tells us to do, and copying other people’s work is not anything we would ever do or ever did.
James came to talk to my illustration majors at SVA, and generously shared the techniques he has used to create his illustrations. He is not scared of sharing his process because his philosophy is if someone wants to copy his process/work, by the time that person is doing them well, he is already moving on to a next stage. Artists are artists because they keep experimenting, learning, and taking risks and challenges to create something new.
All I want to say is that we hope everyone who are illustrating, or eventually wants to be illustrating in the field should keep that in mind and try to be the originals.

I hate to chime in on another one of these arguments, but:

Yes, it looks like he’s picked up many stylistic affectations from Jean, particularly where he uses pattern (in some cases borrowing Jeans iconography outright), and when he uses a high key monochromatic tonal palette–that blue-grey tonal effect. But the better work on here is the stuff where he looks the least like Jean. The way he renders figures is definitely his own–Jean has a more lyrical quality to his figures that Foster’s figures don’t share, which adds a sort of brutal realism to some of the better images, particularly when he uses really dramatic lighting and an earthier palette. Unfortunately, just a few too many of these images seem to have ellements borrowed from Jean, and I hope that he doesn’t let his admiration for Jean’s work get the better of him.

In the end, Jean is a better draftsman and a little bit more of an original voice, but Foster is clearly a talented painter and like many of us, may have been looking at one particular influence a little too closely. I wouldn’t call it plagiarism of style, and it may be entirely unconscious, but aside from Jean’s influence there’s some really good stuff here and I’d be loathe to dismiss it.

I hate to chime in on another one of these arguments, but:

Yes, it looks like he’s picked up many stylistic affectations from Jean, particularly where he uses pattern (in some cases borrowing Jeans iconography outright), and when he uses a high key monochromatic tonal palette–that blue-grey tonal effect. But the better work on here is the stuff where he looks the least like Jean. The way he renders figures is definitely his own–Jean has a more lyrical quality to his figures that Foster’s figures don’t share, which adds a sort of brutal realism to some of the better images, particularly when he uses really dramatic lighting and an earthier palette. Unfortunately, just a few too many of these images seem to have ellements borrowed from Jean, and I hope that he doesn’t let his admiration for Jean’s work get the better of him.

In the end, Jean is a better draftsman and a little bit more of an original voice, but Foster is clearly a talented painter and like many of us, may have been looking at one particular influence a little too closely. I wouldn’t call it plagiarism of style, and it may be entirely unconscious, but aside from Jean’s influence there’s some really good stuff here and I’d be loathe to dismiss it.

I agree Jed. After all, we all have our influences, and that too create our work and who we are. Picasso and Brack, for example, influenced each other to create new styles in paintings.
At the same time, there is a fine line between influence and copying. we as artists are responsible for keeping influences as influences, and not crossing that line. We should digest our influences to come up with our own. If an artist knows he/she is copying, that I believe is a crime. However, if an artist is in process of digesting to come up with his/her own, the viewer should wait till that process is over and what the result would be.

I agree Jed. After all, we all have our influences, and that too create our work and who we are. Picasso and Brack, for example, influenced each other to create new styles in paintings.
At the same time, there is a fine line between influence and copying. we as artists are responsible for keeping influences as influences, and not crossing that line. We should digest our influences to come up with our own. If an artist knows he/she is copying, that I believe is a crime. However, if an artist is in process of digesting to come up with his/her own, the viewer should wait till that process is over and what the result would be.

Style isn’t something you own. It’s something you discover. Looking at illustration, or fine art for that matter, as a business: if someone appropriates your style and is benefitting from it at your expense, if they’re taking work away from you, or getting credit for something they didn’t originate, I think that then, yes, it’s probably an unethical act.

Then there’s grayer areas, that I have less of a problem with:

There are a hundred people in Marin painting in the style of Monet, none of them as good as Monet, but what’s wrong with that? Nobody is going to think that they originated the style, and I don’t begrudge them the living that they make from working in this style.

Dan Adel’s work looks a lot like Frans Hals. I for one, think it’s really cool that there’s an illustrator working in the business who paints like Frans Hals, and it doesn’t take away any of my appreciation for either artist. It’s interesting to see Hals style applied to a comtemporary context. How would Frans Hals paint a caricature?

Right now I just started doing work that’s heavily influenced by Paul Cadmus. I think there’s enough of me in there, that no one’s going to say, “this guys painting like Paul Cadmus”. And there’s a little bit of Albrecht Durer, and a little bit of Grant Wood, and yes a little bit of Yuko Shimizu in there as well. I’m open about my influences, and I think it’s important to be conscious of where what your doing is coming from, since we have the benefit of all of this wonderful art around us. But it’s important to that you look at your inspirations with open eyes.

I wrote a little about my Cadmus influence here: http://jedalexander.blogspot.com

Style isn’t something you own. It’s something you discover. Looking at illustration, or fine art for that matter, as a business: if someone appropriates your style and is benefitting from it at your expense, if they’re taking work away from you, or getting credit for something they didn’t originate, I think that then, yes, it’s probably an unethical act.

Then there’s grayer areas, that I have less of a problem with:

There are a hundred people in Marin painting in the style of Monet, none of them as good as Monet, but what’s wrong with that? Nobody is going to think that they originated the style, and I don’t begrudge them the living that they make from working in this style.

Dan Adel’s work looks a lot like Frans Hals. I for one, think it’s really cool that there’s an illustrator working in the business who paints like Frans Hals, and it doesn’t take away any of my appreciation for either artist. It’s interesting to see Hals style applied to a comtemporary context. How would Frans Hals paint a caricature?

Right now I just started doing work that’s heavily influenced by Paul Cadmus. I think there’s enough of me in there, that no one’s going to say, “this guys painting like Paul Cadmus”. And there’s a little bit of Albrecht Durer, and a little bit of Grant Wood, and yes a little bit of Yuko Shimizu in there as well. I’m open about my influences, and I think it’s important to be conscious of where what your doing is coming from, since we have the benefit of all of this wonderful art around us. But it’s important to that you look at your inspirations with open eyes.

I wrote a little about my Cadmus influence here: http://jedalexander.blogspot.com

As someone who usually bristles at ‘swipes’ all I can say is–I love the fact that now I”m much more aware of BOTH of these artists, and for that I thank the other commenters here.
And thanks too for expressing yourselves so well and making very forceful points without becoming overbearing about it(not easy to do when discussing any passion, esp. art). I’m impresssed by the lot of you!

As someone who usually bristles at ‘swipes’ all I can say is–I love the fact that now I”m much more aware of BOTH of these artists, and for that I thank the other commenters here.
And thanks too for expressing yourselves so well and making very forceful points without becoming overbearing about it(not easy to do when discussing any passion, esp. art). I’m impresssed by the lot of you!

I’ve hired both of these guys many times — both are wonderful artist and wonderful to work with…and I’ve never once thought that the same project was suited to both of them.

I’ve hired both of these guys many times — both are wonderful artist and wonderful to work with…and I’ve never once thought that the same project was suited to both of them.

I’m surprised at how easily people overlook a fantastic talent like Foster’s. maybe he borrowed some elements from other sources but you have to be blind to mistake his work as someone else’s. and Jean is a master in his own right of course. The connection here is no stronger then Shimozo -> Fox -> Thanuka ->Tomine. same surface different gene pools. pick your favorite but why bash the others?

I’m surprised at how easily people overlook a fantastic talent like Foster’s. maybe he borrowed some elements from other sources but you have to be blind to mistake his work as someone else’s. and Jean is a master in his own right of course. The connection here is no stronger then Shimozo -> Fox -> Thanuka ->Tomine. same surface different gene pools. pick your favorite but why bash the others?

The Art of Jon Foster

Jon Foster creates really sweet fantasy art: paintings, sculpture and sketches. The only problem I had with his site was picking an image to use for this post.
Found via Drawn!

…

I’ve already explained why I think Foster’s work is similar to Jeans, so it’s not an argument I feel I need to ellaborate on.

The artists you mention, Fox, Thanuka and Shimizu (who did do you the favor of spelling her name up there for you, if you’d given it a little bit more of a courteous glance) do share similar influences–but that influence stems more from a medium than an individual. My guess is that these artists are influenced by comic book and manga art among other things, which is where they’ve developed their clean line approach, and in the case of Shimizu, an even earlier source bares out–wood block prints. Tomine doesn’t quite mesh with the group you mention here, because, though he does work in that medium, he’s pursuing different aims. His images tend to do no more and no less than service the stories he tells, and as an illustrator of other people’s concepts, I don’t think even he would suggest that this is where his strength lies.

But with Foster and Jean we’re in a different realm entirely. Now no one here has argued that Foster is not a talented artist. There’s no question of that. But he’s picked up some very specific mannerisms of Jean’s. Jean is a gracious guy, and I don’t think he’d arm wrestle him over the point, but there does seem to be a superficial veneer of James Jean on Foster’s recent work that may even be a impediment to his growth and discovery of his own style. All I’m saying is that Foster is too good to be doing this. In the case of a less talented artist, it would be just a fannish tribute, but in the case of Foster, what he does without Jean’s influence is just too interesting for him to continue to borrow from Jean.

I’ve already explained why I think Foster’s work is similar to Jeans, so it’s not an argument I feel I need to ellaborate on.

The artists you mention, Fox, Thanuka and Shimizu (who did do you the favor of spelling her name up there for you, if you’d given it a little bit more of a courteous glance) do share similar influences–but that influence stems more from a medium than an individual. My guess is that these artists are influenced by comic book and manga art among other things, which is where they’ve developed their clean line approach, and in the case of Shimizu, an even earlier source bares out–wood block prints. Tomine doesn’t quite mesh with the group you mention here, because, though he does work in that medium, he’s pursuing different aims. His images tend to do no more and no less than service the stories he tells, and as an illustrator of other people’s concepts, I don’t think even he would suggest that this is where his strength lies.

But with Foster and Jean we’re in a different realm entirely. Now no one here has argued that Foster is not a talented artist. There’s no question of that. But he’s picked up some very specific mannerisms of Jean’s. Jean is a gracious guy, and I don’t think he’d arm wrestle him over the point, but there does seem to be a superficial veneer of James Jean on Foster’s recent work that may even be a impediment to his growth and discovery of his own style. All I’m saying is that Foster is too good to be doing this. In the case of a less talented artist, it would be just a fannish tribute, but in the case of Foster, what he does without Jean’s influence is just too interesting for him to continue to borrow from Jean.

Totally agree with Jed. And thanks for spelling my name right (almost no one does…).
I took closer look at Mr. Foster’s site today. He is definitely a wonderfully talented artist, no doubt, not that I did not know that before. Amazing skill, great composition, movement and rhythm… Again, I am totally with Jed that he is too good to be in this situation. Everyone gets influences, but danger lies when one influence becomes too strong and overpowering and start shadowing who the artist himself is. maybe Mr. Foster is not aware.

Maybe nobody is interested, but let me explain a bit more about Tomer, Nathan and me. (again, Adrian is a bit different). I know all of them well, especially Nathan is a really good friend. Nathan and I started working in the field a bit after Tomer started. I have to say, we both owe a lot to Tomer, as he made us feel confident to be working with our comic-Japanese print influenced work. Tomer definitely opened up doors for us. I would say Tomer and Nathan are my influences, in terms of their work ethic, philosophy, etc, but we are not directly influenced by each other’s work at all. We do have similar influences in process of developing our work, and we consider ourselves as “peers”.

Totally agree with Jed. And thanks for spelling my name right (almost no one does…).
I took closer look at Mr. Foster’s site today. He is definitely a wonderfully talented artist, no doubt, not that I did not know that before. Amazing skill, great composition, movement and rhythm… Again, I am totally with Jed that he is too good to be in this situation. Everyone gets influences, but danger lies when one influence becomes too strong and overpowering and start shadowing who the artist himself is. maybe Mr. Foster is not aware.

Maybe nobody is interested, but let me explain a bit more about Tomer, Nathan and me. (again, Adrian is a bit different). I know all of them well, especially Nathan is a really good friend. Nathan and I started working in the field a bit after Tomer started. I have to say, we both owe a lot to Tomer, as he made us feel confident to be working with our comic-Japanese print influenced work. Tomer definitely opened up doors for us. I would say Tomer and Nathan are my influences, in terms of their work ethic, philosophy, etc, but we are not directly influenced by each other’s work at all. We do have similar influences in process of developing our work, and we consider ourselves as “peers”.

Well, it seems that everyone is referencing material that I haven’t seen yet. If what has been said is true than shame on Jon and I apologize for my ignorance.

Shimizu since you bought Nathan up tell him to fix his site please. It’s been almost a year now for crying out loud! Would love to recommend him to Drawn but I don’t think they’ll take him because of all of the broken links.

I think he is the best artist of your group by the way. Definitely a shame he’s not better known. http://www.foxnathan.com

Well, it seems that everyone is referencing material that I haven’t seen yet. If what has been said is true than shame on Jon and I apologize for my ignorance.

Shimizu since you bought Nathan up tell him to fix his site please. It’s been almost a year now for crying out loud! Would love to recommend him to Drawn but I don’t think they’ll take him because of all of the broken links.

I think he is the best artist of your group by the way. Definitely a shame he’s not better known. http://www.foxnathan.com

Larry, you can e-mail and tell Nathan too. It might be more effective if someone who is a fan of his work asks him for website updates. He also has a blog which updates more often than his site, http://foxnathan.blogspot.com/ so you might want to check that one out too.
By the way, please call me by my first name, it is wierd to be called by the last name, bring me back the memories of not so fun school days in Japan…, but thanks for spelling it right.

Larry, you can e-mail and tell Nathan too. It might be more effective if someone who is a fan of his work asks him for website updates. He also has a blog which updates more often than his site, http://foxnathan.blogspot.com/ so you might want to check that one out too.
By the way, please call me by my first name, it is wierd to be called by the last name, bring me back the memories of not so fun school days in Japan…, but thanks for spelling it right.

All of the images in reference here are on Foster’s site, and are easy to access, particularly this most recent work. The best examples of Jean’s work that parallel’s Foster’s are his Fables covers, as can be seen here: http://www.jamesjean.com , so ignorance no longer need serve as an excuse.

As for Nathan Fox: he does great work, I love his sense of caricature, and the way he just crams an image full of detail, but he doesn’t have the color sense or really the compositional skill of Yuko or Tomer when it comes to single illustrations. Yuko has her own very unique iconography, with the textures and patterns she uses in her work, while Tomer is a fantastic problem solver.

What I love about Nathan’s work is just the joy that he takes in drawing–he’s having fun, and it’s apparent on the page. And his comics work is also genuinely impressive–he really captures movement and action well in his comics.

Anyway, these are all very unique artists, and it’s not a competition, and it’s not my intention to derail this thread any further, but back to the main point:

if Jean’s influence is so strong that Foster’s work can be at times confused for Jean’s by other professionals, this needs to be brought to his attention–I wouldn’t go so far as to say, “shame on him”, it may be something he’s not aware of at all, but he definitely needs to know about it.

All of the images in reference here are on Foster’s site, and are easy to access, particularly this most recent work. The best examples of Jean’s work that parallel’s Foster’s are his Fables covers, as can be seen here: http://www.jamesjean.com , so ignorance no longer need serve as an excuse.

As for Nathan Fox: he does great work, I love his sense of caricature, and the way he just crams an image full of detail, but he doesn’t have the color sense or really the compositional skill of Yuko or Tomer when it comes to single illustrations. Yuko has her own very unique iconography, with the textures and patterns she uses in her work, while Tomer is a fantastic problem solver.

What I love about Nathan’s work is just the joy that he takes in drawing–he’s having fun, and it’s apparent on the page. And his comics work is also genuinely impressive–he really captures movement and action well in his comics.

Anyway, these are all very unique artists, and it’s not a competition, and it’s not my intention to derail this thread any further, but back to the main point:

if Jean’s influence is so strong that Foster’s work can be at times confused for Jean’s by other professionals, this needs to be brought to his attention–I wouldn’t go so far as to say, “shame on him”, it may be something he’s not aware of at all, but he definitely needs to know about it.

Jed, like I said before I haven’t seen anything yet that would be considered plagiarism. Yes there are some images on Jon’s site that have similar palettes. Which is also used by other artists like Robert Gould, Yoshitaka Amano, Monet and a few million others.

He is also scanning in his line art at 32 bit now and using bend modes to achieve that hard light effect. However his line weight, composition and subject matter are to me the same as when I first saw his work in the 90′s. In my opinion theft would be copying any of the last three. I find it hard to argue color and process effects as plagiarism unless your name is Winsor, Newton or Adobe. That’s just me though.

This is an open forum where everyone opinion is welcome. Just remember editors and peers read this forum too. Illustration is a back slapping boy club if I’m ever seen one. Calling someone a theft could get them blacklisted. I’ve seen it. Please be sure you’re in the right before someone calling out.

James Jean is big time in Comics and editorial. However there are fields outside of that too. I recommend looking at a few issues of Spectrum, Digital Artist, and even a pack of Magic cards. These tends have been in the works for a long time. The question is who will be the first to evolve?

Jed, like I said before I haven’t seen anything yet that would be considered plagiarism. Yes there are some images on Jon’s site that have similar palettes. Which is also used by other artists like Robert Gould, Yoshitaka Amano, Monet and a few million others.

He is also scanning in his line art at 32 bit now and using bend modes to achieve that hard light effect. However his line weight, composition and subject matter are to me the same as when I first saw his work in the 90′s. In my opinion theft would be copying any of the last three. I find it hard to argue color and process effects as plagiarism unless your name is Winsor, Newton or Adobe. That’s just me though.

This is an open forum where everyone opinion is welcome. Just remember editors and peers read this forum too. Illustration is a back slapping boy club if I’m ever seen one. Calling someone a theft could get them blacklisted. I’ve seen it. Please be sure you’re in the right before someone calling out.

James Jean is big time in Comics and editorial. However there are fields outside of that too. I recommend looking at a few issues of Spectrum, Digital Artist, and even a pack of Magic cards. These tends have been in the works for a long time. The question is who will be the first to evolve?

Whoah–I never said plagiarism, or theft. Not once. I said, “IF Jean’s influence is so strong that Foster’s work can be at times confused for Jean’s by other professionals, this needs to be brought to his attention” This isn’t a fair summation of either my intention, or my words. And why am I being singled out here? I wasn’t the first one to point this out, and Yuko backs me up 100% on, for the most part, everything I’ve said.

At one point I think I was trying to address in a fairly open way, what appropriation is, just the idea of what’s fair, as an open concept–pointing out Dan Adels work and its similarities to Frans Hals.

When you said, “it seems that everyone is referencing material that I haven’t seen yet”, believe it or not, I actually took this literally rather than facetiously. I thought you were inviting the idea that it was still open to question, rather than having had already made up your mind. I’m not even sure I’ve made up mine. I think this is why my response was taken for more of a challenge than intended.

I’d like to address this as calmly and as neutrally as possible, but the iintention behind your comments about “black listing” seem given without, what I will generously call, much spirit of good will. This phantom threat of black listing is ominous and unnecessary. I did make an earlier post with a similar sentiment about another artist, and it’s not as though I intend to make it a trend, and my first post about Foster was to point out the differences between the artists as well as their similarities. I’ve also come to the defense on this forum of artists similarly accused of swiping someone elses style when I’ve thought their work has meritted it, and I’ve not made anywhere near as strong an accusation against Foster.

The similarities, however, go beyond palette or the hard light effect–there’s some very similar iconography in some of his most recent pieces that leads me to feel the influence is stronger than an industry trend. I’m familiar with both Spectrum and Digital artist, and I’m not unfamiliar with the whole milieu of this kind of genre fantasy art and it’s influences and origins. There’s a reason that James Jean is sucessful, and it’s not because there’s catalogs of identical artists working in the field. It’s because his work has a distinctive look of which Foster is an admitted fan.

If you’re trying to scare me away from critical evaluation of the work posted on this site, it’s not necessary. Though it’s certainly an open forum, as one of the site’s arbiters, I’m sure you can solicit to have me banned from posting my opinion in the future. In that event, I’ll save you the trouble, and will be glad to bow out if that’s what it comes to, but I doubt that’s really what you want. I give you the benefit of the assumption, that you were justifiably peeved at all of these accusations against an artist whom you admire enough to share with us, and as many of us do, you lashed out a little impulsively, rather than stopping to consider what I actually said and intended. And really, I thank you for posting Foster’s work, because I do genuinely admire it, and I might not have been aware of it otherwise. I consider it one among many excellent new discoveries you’ve posted on this site, and appreciate your continued involvement with Drawn.

Whoah–I never said plagiarism, or theft. Not once. I said, “IF Jean’s influence is so strong that Foster’s work can be at times confused for Jean’s by other professionals, this needs to be brought to his attention” This isn’t a fair summation of either my intention, or my words. And why am I being singled out here? I wasn’t the first one to point this out, and Yuko backs me up 100% on, for the most part, everything I’ve said.

At one point I think I was trying to address in a fairly open way, what appropriation is, just the idea of what’s fair, as an open concept–pointing out Dan Adels work and its similarities to Frans Hals.

When you said, “it seems that everyone is referencing material that I haven’t seen yet”, believe it or not, I actually took this literally rather than facetiously. I thought you were inviting the idea that it was still open to question, rather than having had already made up your mind. I’m not even sure I’ve made up mine. I think this is why my response was taken for more of a challenge than intended.

I’d like to address this as calmly and as neutrally as possible, but the iintention behind your comments about “black listing” seem given without, what I will generously call, much spirit of good will. This phantom threat of black listing is ominous and unnecessary. I did make an earlier post with a similar sentiment about another artist, and it’s not as though I intend to make it a trend, and my first post about Foster was to point out the differences between the artists as well as their similarities. I’ve also come to the defense on this forum of artists similarly accused of swiping someone elses style when I’ve thought their work has meritted it, and I’ve not made anywhere near as strong an accusation against Foster.

The similarities, however, go beyond palette or the hard light effect–there’s some very similar iconography in some of his most recent pieces that leads me to feel the influence is stronger than an industry trend. I’m familiar with both Spectrum and Digital artist, and I’m not unfamiliar with the whole milieu of this kind of genre fantasy art and it’s influences and origins. There’s a reason that James Jean is sucessful, and it’s not because there’s catalogs of identical artists working in the field. It’s because his work has a distinctive look of which Foster is an admitted fan.

If you’re trying to scare me away from critical evaluation of the work posted on this site, it’s not necessary. Though it’s certainly an open forum, as one of the site’s arbiters, I’m sure you can solicit to have me banned from posting my opinion in the future. In that event, I’ll save you the trouble, and will be glad to bow out if that’s what it comes to, but I doubt that’s really what you want. I give you the benefit of the assumption, that you were justifiably peeved at all of these accusations against an artist whom you admire enough to share with us, and as many of us do, you lashed out a little impulsively, rather than stopping to consider what I actually said and intended. And really, I thank you for posting Foster’s work, because I do genuinely admire it, and I might not have been aware of it otherwise. I consider it one among many excellent new discoveries you’ve posted on this site, and appreciate your continued involvement with Drawn.

Yuko-I’ve asked him a number of times to update. We use to talk all the time but I’ve sort of lost contact since he moved. I was hoping if I put it out there I could draw power from others to force his hand.

His brush skills are like Paul Pope and Huang Chih-yang rolled together. Truely gifted.

Thanks for the link too. I forgot about that one. Too much internet not enough brainpower…

Yuko-I’ve asked him a number of times to update. We use to talk all the time but I’ve sort of lost contact since he moved. I was hoping if I put it out there I could draw power from others to force his hand.

His brush skills are like Paul Pope and Huang Chih-yang rolled together. Truely gifted.

Thanks for the link too. I forgot about that one. Too much internet not enough brainpower…

Jed you are right, you didn’t say anything directly but others did. I apologize to you for lumping you together with the others. My last post was really direct at them. You were just the last one to bring it up so I addressed it to you. Apologies again.

Jed you are right, you didn’t say anything directly but others did. I apologize to you for lumping you together with the others. My last post was really direct at them. You were just the last one to bring it up so I addressed it to you. Apologies again.

Apology accepted. And it looks like i misread you as well; I thought you were suggesting that I could get blacklisted for making the accusation, which kind of freaked me out (excuse the paranoia), the reason for my long-winded, hopefully, considered response. I by no means want Foster to get black-listed. We’d be deprived of what will hopefully be many years of really skillfully done, beautiful work, influences aside–not to discount what I’ve already said on the subject. I still see a strong James Jean influence, but I like the work enough to add it to my bookmarks. Looking forward to seeing him rise above it.

Apology accepted. And it looks like i misread you as well; I thought you were suggesting that I could get blacklisted for making the accusation, which kind of freaked me out (excuse the paranoia), the reason for my long-winded, hopefully, considered response. I by no means want Foster to get black-listed. We’d be deprived of what will hopefully be many years of really skillfully done, beautiful work, influences aside–not to discount what I’ve already said on the subject. I still see a strong James Jean influence, but I like the work enough to add it to my bookmarks. Looking forward to seeing him rise above it.

Hi again Larry and Jed.
About Mr. Foster, if my postings may have sounded of accusing him of anything, that was not my intention, or neither was Jed’s. My apologies.
Once again, he is a wonderful artist, what Jed and I pointed out were regarding a few pieces done digitally recently that we saw among the rest of his work, and again he is probably not aware of the similarities shown in some of his newer works. I will be looking forward to see how Mr. Foster’s new digital style will evolve from here.

Also using this space, I wanted to stress the importance of each individual artists to be aware of where we stand, importance of our work not overshadowed by our influences.
Using one very extreme example, unfortunately there are people out there who do intentionally work in the style of artists who are very popular in the field, like Brad Holland or Brian Cronin, to try to take jobs away from them. Also sadly there are those clients who hire those copy artists, or have artists copy other artists, because they want the certain look but not want to pay the fee the originals deserve.
As artists and as clients, it is our responsibilities to not get into these obvious unethical behaviors, and keep the industry healthy and fair to us all.

Yes Larry, let me talk to Nathan about his site. He is busy with work and baby, so I assume that is what is preventing him from working on his site. But let me talk to him and see.

Hi again Larry and Jed.
About Mr. Foster, if my postings may have sounded of accusing him of anything, that was not my intention, or neither was Jed’s. My apologies.
Once again, he is a wonderful artist, what Jed and I pointed out were regarding a few pieces done digitally recently that we saw among the rest of his work, and again he is probably not aware of the similarities shown in some of his newer works. I will be looking forward to see how Mr. Foster’s new digital style will evolve from here.

Also using this space, I wanted to stress the importance of each individual artists to be aware of where we stand, importance of our work not overshadowed by our influences.
Using one very extreme example, unfortunately there are people out there who do intentionally work in the style of artists who are very popular in the field, like Brad Holland or Brian Cronin, to try to take jobs away from them. Also sadly there are those clients who hire those copy artists, or have artists copy other artists, because they want the certain look but not want to pay the fee the originals deserve.
As artists and as clients, it is our responsibilities to not get into these obvious unethical behaviors, and keep the industry healthy and fair to us all.

Yes Larry, let me talk to Nathan about his site. He is busy with work and baby, so I assume that is what is preventing him from working on his site. But let me talk to him and see.

Hey Larry,
Just spoke with Nathan on the phone. He is having someone building a new site, so wait just a bit more.

Hey Larry,
Just spoke with Nathan on the phone. He is having someone building a new site, so wait just a bit more.

Eek … I didn’t mean to imply plagiarism with the comparison. They’re both great artists. I just found it interesting that some of their works synced up so closely. If you take a look at the collection of work by both artists, you’ll see – without a doubt – that they both have their own style.

Eek … I didn’t mean to imply plagiarism with the comparison. They’re both great artists. I just found it interesting that some of their works synced up so closely. If you take a look at the collection of work by both artists, you’ll see – without a doubt – that they both have their own style.