The Art of Manuel A. Carmona - Blog

The Art of Manuel A. Carmona

We're on IndyPlanet!!!

8/8/2020

It's been a minute since we've written anything, mostly because this Pandemic has kicked our tails but we have great news to share with all of you; we finally have our line of comics available for print-on-demand or digital purchase through INDYPLANET.COM!!! We've been trying to figure out a way to get our comics to your hands in the best way possible and we believe IndyPlanet will allow us to do just that! You can purchase our books in physical or digital format by visiting: www.indyplanet.com/truthful-comics

His First Story!

4/10/2020

This is a special treat for me since I get to share a story that my ten year old wrote with me a few years back and I just found a few days ago. I have a feeling I'll do something with this, maybe develop it into a children's book or something like that but for now; enjoy!

The Endless Forest

Written by
Jason Alexander Carmona

There was once an endless forest, dark and mysterious like the night; evil dwells there. There were giant bats hiding there as well as well as dangerous pirate. he had a patch over his eyes, long dirty hair, tattered clothes, a sword, two pistols... and very teeth! He wasn't too bright but he was astute, he talked loudly and often but never said too much about things he cared about; like his treasure.
But the pirate wasn't the only one living in that forest, two mean witches lived there as well. One of the witches had just one ear, the other had none; nobody knows why. Very few people go into the forest these days, the witches scare them away which makes the pirate very happy; less people go wondering in the forest... less chances of anyone finding his treasure! Oh, remember the giant bats hiding in the woods? Those were the witches pets!
So the witches hid alongside their giant pet bats and walked the forest looking for food and scaring people away, they didn't want anyone to know where they lived; or what they did. The witches were bad, the giant bats were bad, the pirate was bad; but the forest was good. That's another reason why the witches and the giant bats hid away, the forest would hurt them because it knew they were evil; and he wanted them gone!
Just outside The Endless Forest lived a good man, someone kind to humans and animals alike, someone who even the plants recognized and protected; The Ancient Emperor! He was once a great sorcerer who protected travelers trying to get across The Endless Forest and who fell victims to the evil witches. The sorcerer had two loyal companions, a red monkey and a dragon! The dragon had saved the monkey from snake years ago, breathing fire and scaring the snake enough that it let go of the red monkey; after that day the two were inseparable.
Legend has it the red monkey only eats a special kind of apples that only grow in The Endless Forest, so even though it's very dangerous for anyone to go through the woods; the red monkey has to go or he'll starve. So the dragon found out about this and he gets apples for the red monkey every day and brings them to him. They're best of friends. On one occasion, while the dragon was picking apples for the red monkey, the witches trapped the dragon and if it wasn't for the sorcerer it would've been fatal for the dragon. Thankfully the sorcerer is very powerful so he could fight off the witches wh ran away into the woods not to be seen again for a long time.
The sorcerer's power comes from a powerful warlock named Jayden The Great! Jayden The Great was slain in battle fighting the evil witches when one of them attacked him from behind, but before dying he transferred his power to the sorcerer and from that day forward; the sorcerer became the protector of the land. The End?

PS. I edited some of the grammar but the main story is his writing and yes, I'm very proud of my boy!

-MC

Respect Indie!

4/10/2020

Indie Creator Spotlight
Jose Cruz

When did you came up with the idea for Alpha?

I came with the idea when I was making character designs for a story, written by me within the local artist group known back then as Trinity; later known as Unity Artist Group. The story was based on Unity characters, but from those version's future, one of those stories and one of the characters' designs; Alpha was born. Of course, only based on the story; not copying any of those original characters.

What is the creative team behind your comic?

I am the creator of the vast majority (if not all) the characters in our studio. Likewise, I've been the writer and many times, the artist and colorist as well. Silver Island has at our service great talents, artists and writers from here, from Puerto Rico, the United States, Spain, Arabia, Brazil, Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and many other Countries.

What's the premise behind Alpha?

Alpha is a character that obtains powers from a blue space rock, which is alive (within itself that is). There is an entity, it fuses with the human host and hence Alpha is born. The story involves fantastic elements, more based on science and aliens but following the genre of superheroes.

How many issues do you have planned to produce?

So far two Alpha comics have been published, that is, issues #1,and #2 with #3 in process; apart from that a few art pinup books have been published based on the character with art by different local and foreign artists. A mini series is being produced apart from the regular comic, but it does connect, where it concentrates on the presentation of new Alpha enemies; one in specific. This mini series will have three parts, but there will be more. Moreover from Alpha #4, the regular comic, will fully begin the story of the origin of Alpha and some of these characters and how Alpha gains his powers.

Is Alpha going to be a long running series or a mini-series?

Both, we hope. The regular run was meant to be twelve issues but it will go on, better put, it'll be an ongoing series as long as the readers support it. And as I mentioned, there's a mini series in the works and much more.

Why self-publish?

Indie publishers, as we sometimes names it, on all countries, have
nothing to envy to big publishers like DC, Marvel, etc. There is a lot of talent in independent publications in the world, they also have or have more creative freedom.

How do you separate yourself from the thousands who self publish their books every year?

If you mean local, I try or WE try to give a good product, we do not look for competition, although this however is business and competition is healthy for the business; but at least we (I mean local publishers) respect each other and many times collaborate with each other. We feel if one or one reaches the maximum... we all win!

So where can fans read or get their very own copy of Alpha?

Alpha was taking, like most of our other publications, to comic shops and specialized bookstores and events, but unfortunately due to the current situation, that is canceled but those interested can write to our Facebook page and place orders for our comics at the entire island of Puerto Rico and abroad.

What's next for Alpha?

Good stories as of now, it gets better, introduction of new
characters and inclusion of other Silver Island characters in the Alpha story.

Are you working on any other projects at the moment?

Silver Island related only, for now, apart from Alpha there's a Blindsight #1 comic, based on the origin of this female character named Jenny Alvarez; who is blind from birth and has powers of her own. X-pyre, another of our main characters, will have his second issue; both characters had previous appeareances on the title Paths.

Anything else you wanna share with us?

Just stay tuned to our Silver Island Studio pages on Facebook, Instagram and all of social media, lots of good things are coming; and thanks for the continued support.

Art Giveaway???

3/4/2020

Yes, you read that right; I'll be giving away some FREE sketches to a few lucky readers... but there's a catch! To enter the drawing you have to order (or have previously ordered) a copy of my book Project: New Wave #1. Here's what you have to do:
1. Click on this link to place your order.
2. Purchase your copy/copies.
3. Once you receive your copy take a selfie with your copy and post it on social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
4. Tag me on your selfies or use the hashtags:
#TruthfulComics #ProjectNewWave
5. The winners will be selected on July 4th, 2020. How American of us! ;D

So, what are you waiting for?

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!!!

Regalando Arte???

Si leíste bien, voy a regalar algunos bocetos a varios fanáticos de mi comic... pero hay un "catch"! Para poder ganar un dibujo debe ordenar (o haber ordenado previamente) una copia de mi comic Project: New Wave #1. Esto es lo que tienes que hacer:
1. Presiona este enlace para ordenar tu copia.
2. Compre su copia / copias.
3. Una vez que reciba su copia, tome un selfie con su copia y publíquela en las redes sociales (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
4. Taggeame el selfie o postealo con los hashtags:
#TruthfulComics #ProjectNewWave
5. Los ganadores serán seleccionados el 4 de julio de 2020.

¡Qué Americano de nosotros! ;D

¿Entonces, qué esperas?

ORDENA TU COPIA HOY!!!

2020 Convention Appearances

2/17/2020

ICONICON
March 28th - North Suffolk Public Library, Suffolk, VA

Join us for the 5th Annual IconiCon! This multi-fandom event is free to attend and open to all ages. We'll have vendors, panels, a cosplay contest and fan art contest, themed storytime and activities for kids, gaming tournament, family-friendly DnD, trivia contest, karaoke and more. Stay tuned for event details and special announcements!

REGENT CON
April 18th - Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA

Regent Con is returning for its 5th year on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 from 11 am to 7 pm! This convention is a family friendly event for all those LOVE comics, anime, cosplay, and fantasy!!

KAPOW CON
May 9th - Virginia High School, Bristol, TN

Join us at the newest, most exciting comics convention in Northern, Tennessee! Comic books, Cosplayers, toys, sci-fi memorabilia and lots of fans; it doesn't get any better than this!

PLASTIC CITY COMIC CON
August 1st - Wallace Civic Center, Fitchburg, MA

The Plastic City Comic Con Returns for our fifth and best year! $5 Admission and Kids 12 and under Admission is Free! Bring the family down and share our love of comic books with celebrity creators, local talent and vendors! Free Parking! Plastic City Comic Con is the premier event for comics, toys and pop culture fans in North Central Massachusetts! Jam packed with comic artists, writers, creators and comic celebrities!

Make sure to mark your calendars and come see us if you're in the area! Keep it Truthful!

-MC

I Read Indie!

1/5/2020

Recently I came to the realization that because I began reading and collecting comic books in the early 90s, I've always been in on the whole Indie comics thing; that's why I never understand comic book fans who only read "Big 2" books. That being said, I've amassed quite a bit of indie books over the past 30+ years I've been reading comics and I'd like to share them with you in my own way. Beginning in February, I'll be reviewing some of the thousands of indie comics I currently have in my collection and the thousands I'll be buying in the near future. Not only will I be reviewing comics made in the US, I'll also be reviewing some made overseas in the UK and in my homeland of Puerto Rico. The important thing is to give you my perspective on as many independent comic books as I can.

I'll be reviewing anything from really small studios as well as large independent publishers such as Dark Horse and Image Comics. It could be a single issue, a mini series, a trade paperback or even an entire run; all it matters is that they're all indie books and that we have fun together. Just to give you an idea if the titles you can expect me to review, off the top of my head: Spawn, Savage Dragon, The Darkness, Witchblade, Ninjak, XO Manowar, The Anchor, The Creech, The Lone Ranger, The Spirit, Captain Victory, The Spider, Robin Hood, Gravestone, Those Who Sleep, Bone, Hunt, Danger Girl, Battle Chasers, Crimson, The Mighty, Invincible and many more! I hope you'll join me on this ride, I'll try to make it fun.

Respect Indie!

1/2/2020

Indie Creator Spotlight
Francisco J. Rivera

As you all know I've been shining a spotlight on many indie comic book creators I feel deserve more recognition than they currently get and whose body of work merits our attention. Some of these creators are writers, pencillers and today we're going to get to know a master colorist; one of my best friends, colleague and Truthful Comics brother Francisco J. Rivera!

TC: When did you discovered comic books? Was it love at first read?

As with anyone who is curious about this wonderful medium one would find magazines and books at local shops like supermarkets and pharmacies. In my early teenage years, Manuel and I discovered that a boutique happened to be selling comics and trading cards. And yes it was love at first sight.

TC: When you first started collecting, which books did you collect?

X-men comics were a big hit in the 90’s so X-men #1 had come out and was really exciting to start with the second series with Chris Claremont and Jim Lee. The industry was expanding quickly, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino really got my interest. Image comics had released their lineup of series made to appeal to all kinds of comic fans: Youngblood, The Savage Dragon, Spawn, and WildC.A.T.s offered science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor.

TC: Do you consider yourself a comic book reader, collector or both?

I became both since once you’ve dipped your toes you are hooked up to a whole new world of stories, ideas, and art that you never knew existed!

TC: Which is/are your favorite comic book character(s)?

Hands down, my favorite mutant is X-men’s Beast.

How did you get into computer coloring and/or coloring in general?

I had started to develop a passion at a very young age. Growing up as a kid that watched cartoons every chance I had, either with family or friends. I got the idea that someday I could be the one who would be drawing those same cartoons that I was watching. The Sunday comic strip would have been a fair start to spark the interest of any reader. Then as I started reading comic books I was captivated by colors and effects that artists gave characters making them come alive. As other people have tried painting their own drawings with crayons, colored pencils, watercolor, and other media. I got my first computer when I turned 18. It was 1997 Windows XP was a thing. my father just had got me a computer for college. Working around computers one will find that Windows Paint was the most accessible program to start testing your artistic aspirations.

TC: How would you weigh the importance of technical knowledge vs. aesthetic feel and experience for a colorist?

For my part, it requires patience, practice, and some level of artistic skill. Nowadays mostly coloring is done on computers. It is amazing what can be achieved. It is secondary but its as important to pencils and stories.

TC: Can a colorist have a unique style?

Yes. Although it’s difficult to stand out as today there are so many talented artists in comics. You can be doing your own style can’t help but be influenced by other colorists.

What are your artistic inspirations?

I would say many artists have influenced me but one more than others. Marte Gracia, Carlos Pacheco, Marc Silvestri, Jae Lee, Christian Lichtner, Alex Ross, Mark Texeira, Todd Mcfarlane.

TC: Which comic book colorist(s) do you follow, if any?

Marte Gracia definitely is a master. Yeah!

TC: How and when did you and Manuel A. Carmona decided to work on a project together?

As around the late 90s, Manuel came with the idea of a group of young superpowered kids who were used for their powers to bring good to this world. I wanted to see how that went cause it sounded to me a lot like what I was interested in since reading comics so New Wave was a perfect fit.

TC: What’s your approach when coloring Project: New Wave?

I try to set the colors as cinematography film would. I set the tone and mood.

Describe to the readers your coloring process.

I don’t even actually touch the art physically, but it is all done with a scanned piece of artwork. After the penciler sends scans of the inked comic page. That’s when the magic happens. Layers its the trick. It’s a wonderful thing. Highly recommended its a non-destructive approach in working your pages. Currently, I’m using Krita for colors but I’ve worked on Sai, Corel Photo-Paint (not recommended kids) and like most other colorists Photoshop.

TC: Do you see yourself coloring comic books for a long time?

Well, not really; I plan to travel to the Milky Way's Galactic Center. The center of our galaxy that is located around 26,500 light-years away from Earth. Not enough time. Need to build my spaceship.

A New Beginning...

12/30/2019

Well folks this is it, my last blog post of 2019. As I sit here typing these words I feel a sense of hope and excitement for what the future holds that quite honestly I hadn't felt in a very long time. Many things happened this year, some good, some not that great and some amazing things happened as well; so as a whole this year wasn't bad at all.

   The positives outweigh the negatives by a huge margin because the few negative things that happened to me, career wise; didn't slowed me down in the least bit. In fact, if I'm being perfectly honest; I'm actually thankful for those negatives. The negatives taught me a lot about organizing events more efficiently, it taught me that in business you have to be very careful because money changes people and last but not least; it removed toxic individuals from my inner circle... so it automatically became one of the most positive things that could've happened.

The positives are so many that it'd take me 10 paragraphs to name them all and I'm not here to gloat, but I will say this; in 2019: I finally printed Project: New Wave #1 under our studio Truthful Comics, I attended a bunch of comic conventions and events representing Truthful Comics, made great business connections, completed various art challenges including Inktober and the 12 Hour Comic Day, Buy Indie Comics Day grew even more from last year, developed various new concepts we'll be working on in the near future, planned out a series of projects that we're about to set into motion in 2020, I was able to provide my colleagues with some state of the art equipment to help them with their projects and met some incredible artists (both locally and abroad) that I'll be either collaborating with, mentoring and/or simply getting to know and hopefully building real friendships with.

   2019 also marked the start of my Respect Indie! series of interviews spotlighting independent creators that I feel deserve more recognition than they currently get, I've been busier than ever updating my blog and I finished the art on Project: New Wave issues #2 and #3. This year made it clear to me that I was holding myself back trying not to bruise other people's egos, but once they were removed from the equation; so was my need to pull back. I was then able to unleash my full potential to the forefront, and I have to admit; it feels amazing to be surrounded by people who are confident enough in their own skills that they aren't threatened by their own teammate's success. I feel like my creative juice is at an all time high and it shows, finishing not one, not two; but three complete comic books in one year! It all happens for a reason and whatever reason it was, I'm thankful and happy things turned out the way they did and I'm eager to see what 2020 will bring; not only for me... but my Truthful Comics Family as well!

   Thank you each and every one of you who's reading this, thank you whoever purchased Project: New Wave #1, thank you whoever commissioned me to do some artwork, thank you whoever donated books to our non-profit initiative Comics For Christmas; THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!!! It means the World to me. Can't wait to show you what Me and my Truthful Comics brothers have been working on. We're coming out the gate guns blazing in 2020 so get ready and as always...

Keep it Truthful.

-MC

Un Nuevo Comienzo...

12/30/2019

Bueno amigos, esta es mi última publicación de blog de 2019. Mientras me siento aquí escribiendo estas palabras, siento una sensación de esperanza y emoción por lo que depara el futuro que, sinceramente, no había sentido en mucho tiempo. Sucedieron muchas cosas este año, algunas buenas, otras no tan buenas y otras increíbles también. así que, en general, este año no estuvo nada mal.

  Los aspectos positivos superan a los negativos por un amplio margen porque las pocas cosas negativas que me sucedieron, en cuanto a mi carrera; no me detuvo en lo más mínimo. De hecho, si estoy siendo completamente honesto; estoy realmente agradecido por esos aspectos negativos. Dichos aspectos negativos me enseñaron mucho sobre la organización de eventos de manera más eficiente, me enseñaron que en los negocios hay que tener mucho cuidado porque el dinero cambia a las personas y por último pero no menos importante; eliminó a los individuos tóxicos de mi círculo íntimo... por lo que se convirtió automáticamente en una de las cosas más positivas que podría haber sucedido.

El 2019 marcó también el inicio de Respect Indie! una serie de entrevistas enfocándose en creadores de comics independientes que en mi opinion merecen más reconocimiento del que actualmente reciben. He estado más ocupado que nunca actualizando mi blog y terminé el arte de Proyect: New Wave, números 2 y 3. Este año me dejó en claro que me estaba conteniendo para tratar de no lastimarle el ego a otras personas, pero una vez fueron eliminados de la ecuación; también se fue mi necesidad de retroceder. Al fin pude liberar todo mi potencial a la vanguardia, y tengo que admitir; se siente increíble estar rodeado de personas que tienen la confianza suficiente en sus propias habilidades para no verse amenazados por el éxito de sus compañeros de equipo. Siento que mi jugo creativo está en su punto más alto y se nota, terminando no uno, no dos; ¡TRES cómics completos en un año! Todo sucede por una razón y sea cual sea, estoy agradecido y feliz de que las cosas hayan salido como lo hicieron y estoy ansioso por ver lo que traerá 2020; no solo para mí ... ¡sino también para mi familia de Truthful Comics!

  Gracias a todos y cada uno de ustedes que están leyendo esto, gracias a quien compró Project: New Wave #1, gracias a quien me encargó hacer algunas obras de arte, gracias a quien donó libros a nuestra iniciativa sin fines de lucro Comics For Christmas; ¡¡¡GRACIAS POR TODO SU APOYO!!! Significa el mundo para mi. No puedo esperar para mostrarte en lo que yo y mis hermanos de Truthful Comics hemos estado trabajando. Saldremos con las armas de la puerta en llamas en 2020, así que prepárate y como siempre...

Keep it Truthful.

-MC

The Inktober Dilemma

12/27/2019

If you're someone who's actively involved in the art community and engage in online art challenges you're probably aware of this whole Inktober dilemma. If you're not, let me bring you up to date on what's been going on. Now before I go in on this whole clusterf&%{ I'd like to give you an idea of where I stand in all of this. I love the Inktober idea, everything about it made sense to me and sounded fun. Involving the art community under a single #hashtag (in order to gain traction) in order to improve your skills as an illustrator is just a cool concept.

Me personally, I've participated in a few Inktobers and it's been everything from fun, stressful, challenging and above all; eye opening. The idea of drawing every day is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Life gets in the way. Work, kids, loved ones; it's hard work trust me! As a side effect from doing a few Inktobers I discovered that Jake Parker was the mind behind the idea and that the reason he did this was to improve his own inking skills. Who would've thought he'd create such a phenomenon. For a few years now Inktober has grown into a global movement bigger than even Jake expected, and it seemed likee there was no stopping the snowball effect anytime soon. Right?

For a while it was understood that artists who participated in the challenge could sell their artwork as prints and/or sketchbooks or any other merchandise. Even Jake posted a few Vlogs showing off his favorites throughout the years and encourage artists to continue in the tradition. But, as Inktober grew; so did the opportunities for Jake to profit from his creation. And he did! That's the goal isn't it? Create something that will generate an influx on cash for it's creator.

So, as Inktober keeps growing and growing, Jake did the smart thing and secured the Inktober trademark in order to protect his intelectual property. This is when things changed. Let me be perfectly clear, there's nothing wrong with protecting your intellectual property, the problem artists are having with all of this is basically that they feel the only reason Inktober became "a thing" is solely because of the support from the art community; they feel that securing a trademark for Inktober is basically a slap in the face to everyone involved except it's creator.

Soon after the first artist went on Twitter and posted about what Jake's lawyer had done to him, and avalanche of artists began pouring down on Twitter with similar stories and/or outraged about the whole situation. Jake wrote a short Tweet basically saying that it was all a misunderstanding and that he was working on fixing the problem. Of course artists didn't buy it and continued with a barrage of negative Tweets and eventually, the amount of people calling for an Inktober boycott was so overwhelming; that Jake had to come out with an official statement explaining the situation. Since I want to be impartial in this matter, I'm going to post his statement just as he wrote it on his website:

Hi,

Back in 2009 I created the Inktober art challenge as a way for artists to:
-Get better at drawing
-Find other cool artists
-Grow an audience for their work

Inktober is and will always be free to participate in. The hashtag is free to use (as are all hashtags). Every artist is free to sell the drawings they made during Inktober if they want to. Contrary to misstatements recently made on social media, I am not trying to stop any artist from profiting from their own artwork, and I am certainly not trying to steal your work, nor receive back payments from work that has been sold.
I love the Inktober community, and am so grateful for the outpouring of creativity that happens every year in October. It’s been amazing to think that something I used to do by myself has gotten so big.

Since 2009, Inktober has grown into a world-wide event with hundreds of thousands of people participating each year and millions of drawings being posted online during the month of October. Every year Inktober takes more and more of my time, resources, and attention to lead the challenge and engage with the community.

However, as the Inktober challenge got bigger and bigger with each passing year, it started being invaded by individuals outside of the community trying to make a quick buck. These people are not artists like you and me, and have profited off the popularity of the challenge, with no concern for the Inktober community.

One of my biggest worries is that something I’ve created as a challenge that promotes creativity and community could be used to promote hate or violence. For example, one of these people could sell a horrible racist inktober shirt. That not only affects me, but people could then associate racism with the whole inktober community. As the creator of the challenge I feel responsible to legally protect it.

I could have let these bad actors win, eventually taking over Inktober and diluting its purpose, or I could have chosen to fight back. I have chosen to fight back using my intellectual property rights, which is why I registered the trademark that I have been using since 2009.

It is not my intention (and never was my intention) to hinder the very artists that made Inktober so popular or marginalize the creators that Inktober was intended to support. I did ask my lawyers to take action against those wrongfully profiting off the Inktober brand. I did so to protect the integrity of the brand, and to protect the investments made by my sponsors, which help make Inktober possible year after year. And in that spirit, I encourage all artists to protect their creativity.
If you are a pirate, making money from the sale of Inktober merchandise (such as t-shirts, mousepads, mugs, books, etc.) and confusing the public into believing that you are somehow officially affiliated with or sponsored by me, my lawyer will contact you and I make no apologies for this.

Over the years I have encouraged artists to sell the drawings they made during Inktober, to collect those drawings into books or make prints out of them and sell those too. I still think that’s a great idea.

If you are an artist, I am NOT trying to stop you from participating in the Inktober challenge or even from selling your Inktober drawings. Yet, there is a right way and a wrong way to reference Inktober. As a participating artist, you CAN certainly sell your Inktober drawings. As a participating artist, you CAN reference Inktober in the sale of your drawings, but I’m asking that you do so in the following manner:

Please don’t use my INKTOBER logo—this is reserved for sponsors.
Totally cool to use the word INKTOBER together with the year of participation (i.e. INKTOBER 2019).
Use INKTOBER + Year as a subtitle, not as a leading title on the cover of your sketchbook. For example, it’s ok to use the subtitle “based on INKTOBER 2019 prompts” or similar reference. The public needs a way to distinguish my stuff from your stuff. It is no more complicated than that.
If you are an artist and your book is not currently consistent with the above guidelines, please contact me and I will work with you. I am not trying to stifle the creativity here, but rather I am simply trying to maintain the integrity of the challenge.

My lawyers and I are in the early stages of this enforcement. It is possible that we may have cast our initial nets too broadly in some cases, and inadvertently blocked legitimate artists. This was certainly not our intention. If you believe that your use of INKTOBER is legit and consistent with my above requests, again, please contact me. I will certainly work with you. Wreckless rants on social media serve no constructive purpose. Currently there is tons of misinformation floating around social media. I ask that if you’re reading this, please help be part of the solution, rather than perpetuating the problem.

As artists, we are all in this together. I want all artists everywhere to have success with their work. And every artist has a right to protect the things they have worked hard to create.
I will keep using the Inktober platform to inspire artists to draw and create, to spotlight artists who are doing amazing work, and to teach people to get better at drawing.

I hope you’ll join me.

Thank you,
Jake Parker

At first I was confused with the entire situation so I started to investigate and although it kinda sucks, I totally understand where he's coming from; he's simply protecting his intellectual property. With that said at this point the damage is done and, for better or worse in my humble opinion; Inktober as we knew it will never be the same. I know for a fact that thousands of artists are not even gonna use the Inktober hashtag ever again, some are even coming up with new hashtags to compete against Inktober; but the point is that from now on the idea of Inktober is going to be tainted. It's too bad cause from I've seen in his videos, following his career and from his peers; Jake is a genuinely good dude.

But there's always something to be learned from any situation, in this case there are a few things to take away with you; one of them is:
-Being completely transparent with the people you're getting involved with from day one. If you're cool with artists using your i.p. then explain in detail what they can or can't do beforehand and not after the fact. Especially if you're counting on them to pick up your idea, run with it and turn it into a global brand.
-Another thing we can take away from all this: if you participate in any art challenge; DO NOT PLACE ANYONE'S LOGO ON YOUR WORK. Why? Because this will avoid you receiving a Cease & Desist letter or a lawsuit from someone's lawyer.
-Another thing to take away from this: don't give anyone free promo, especially since something like this happens almost every time.

It's always about money, nothing wrong with getting paid; but we have to be smart. Still love Jake Parker's art, still have nothing but respect for him and what he's accomplished and he's still someone I look up to when it comes to taking charge of his art career. If you wan to check his art visit his website: www.mrjakeparker.com

NOTE: Here are some of my Inktober sketches. Enjoy!

What are your thoughts on this whole situation? Will you participate in next year's Inktober challenge or has this situation made you reconsider doing the challenge? I'd love to read your thoughts.

As always, keep it Truthful!

-MC