What are some ways you feel like you've "stolen" in you're art?

[akitsukino]

There is an artist a really like and for a while I was wondering what it was that was so appealing in her art. I'd read in a tweet from LeSean Thomas that when you like someone's style its better to see what you like about it instead of trying to copy it, so I started looking at some of her works and tried recreating them. I didn't trace, I simply looked at the piece and reconstructed it using my own techniques and tools; kind of like reverse engineering. I learned A LOT, quick from doing this, and even started to notice some themes I liked from her that I also liked in other artists. like round shapes and swooping lines. I started to get excited with how much I was learning, but after a while I started to feel like I was copying her too much. I then remembered a quote I'd heard, possibly from Picasso, that said "bad artists copy, good artists steal". I guess as it goes no artist really gets by without obtaining inspiration from somewhere, whether consciously or subconsciously. So my question to you is, how do you think you've "stolen" in your art? Are there any artists you can credit that you've taken inspiration from? What part of their art did you "take"? Did you feel bad about it , like you really were just copying? Let me know below!

[joannekwan]

I've definitely "taken" elements from Est Em's work. Particularly the line work and how to do eyes.

and then one of Heavy Horn's pages sans dialogue and grays.

Also to a lesser extent, Tomer Hanuka (and even less so, his brother Asaf)

I do look to them for their use of color though definitely (among other artists as well).

I don't feel too bad about picking up some of their techniques, that's how any artist develops a style. I just admire these artists so much I want my art to be like theirs, albeit in my own fashion.

[Menbung]

I've taken so much shet, literally from everywhere (so I won't be naming artists, would take a topic or two...), that's one of the best methods to improve your art skills.

I just want to take the oportunity to say something, stealing as you say, should not make you guilty, take any artist for example, you name it, and you ask they what are them influences, you will probably see that their drawing style resembles in some way or another the style of them influences.

Many artists I know have a style that has "improved" or embelish that of their influence(s), for instance, just to mention someone: horror master Junji Ito idolizes horror master Kazuo Umezu. If you take a look at the art of Kazuo Umezu and compare it to Junji Ito's, you can clearly see that Ito sensei learned a lot from Umezu sensei, the way he draws women to the reactions the characters make when they're scared, he took Umezu's style and gave it his own flare.

So, don't be afraid to "steal", the discussion between carbon copy and "I just take what I like..." I will leave it for another topic, just remember that we are "Standing on the shoulder of giants".

Cheers

[DavidPerry]

I've taken primarily stylistic references from other artists. Anthony Holden had a big impact on me about a year ago, with his inking style and chunky, billowing aesthetic. Other than that, the humor in Mallory Bash takes a lot from things like Ren and Stimpy, Steven Universe, The Simpsons (old seasons), and Spongebob. Though Mallory Bash is tonally much more like SU and The Simpsons. Cozy and heart-warming, but occasionally absurdist and irreverent.

[garrenn]

Though my case was completely unintentional, I realized when I looked back at some of my poses that I had taken those poses from other cartoons or artwork. Like the pose stayed in the back of my head to the point that when I drew it and looked back at it, it looked scarily similar to the point that I was worried people would think I was copying.

[HVOICE]

That's true. Every artist was influenced by another at some point. Unless they lived in a hole their entire life, there's no getting around that. No matter how original you think you are, you were influenced by someone.
I don't think there's anything wrong with learning from other artists though. That's what you do, it's how we learn. That's why we do "study's" in drawing class, because you can get a lot more out of a drawing by recreating it than you would looking at it. You can work through it and try to see how the artist might have approached it.

I've definitely taken a lot from Takeshi Obata. His work in "Platinum End" really inspired me to up my game in hair detail.

I did a few sketch studies, and then I gradually started incorporating detailed hair in my comic. Eventually it became a natural inking style for me, and it greatly benefited my comic, especially in moments like this:

Sometimes when I'm having trouble drawing a good enough face, I'll sketch his characters' expressions.

By the end of the day, I still draw my characters with my eye style and I'll make up my own expressions in my final drafts. The Obata eye study kind of works like stretching, helps me expand my options on how to approach my drawing in ways I didn't think about. I don't feel like I'm "copying" him. You may be able to see his influence in my work, but it's still done in my own style.
Professionals have done this too. I don't know if you know Mark Crilley, but he did a lot of Obata studies to help find a more serious style that worked for his series "Brody's Ghost" The designs for his main characters were a lot more cartoony before he did Obata studies.

This is even how music works too. I've watched a lot of documentary's for some of my favorite metal bands, and they all talked about how in the beginning they "stole" techniques from some of their favorite bands to help them get started, but they didn't want to sound JUST like them. Learning their techniques helped them improve and create their own style. Hell, one of Metal Hammer's issues last year came with a CD of all the bands that Metallica took influence from. Freak'n Metallica. They're one of the biggest bands in the industry right now.
I used to take an ear training class in college, and we would listen to Jazz tracks and immediately be able to tell who they took from "Oh yeah, you can tell he listens to a lot of Miles Davis- Oh, he just did a classic Louis Armstrong riff right there, nice". Not that surprising, because this is what artists do. Taking what they see or hear, and incorporating it in their own way.

[HVOICE]

Oh same. I remember drawing this one hair style on a background character in one of my pages, and I couldn't help but think I had seen that hairstyle somewhere. It was the same hairstyle from this other webcomic I follow. I even talked to the artist about it and showed it to her. She didn't think I was copying her and actually thought it was funny.

[randomladyaj]

Ah! Yes! I sometimes feel like I've stolen from many creative people! Especially when I just seen their work for the first time and then notice, "Hey that looks similar to something I did. Oh god! Did I see this before and subconsciously steal it from them? What if someone notices and points it out and calls me a thief? What if they see this and say hey they stole this from me and sues me or something! I didn't mean to!" Then I go back and I assess the similarities in my work and their work and I see if they really are very similar. Then I work to see what I can do to make it "different". Is this just me who does this?

Other times I do see a creation that I really like whether it be a book, cartoon, painting etc and try and pick out the things I like about it and make it my own. For example one of my favorite anime is Fate/Stay night (if you haven't seen this please do!). I love the artwork, the characters, the stories etc.

(Spoilers I guess) Two characters from the show Gilgamesh and Emiya both can make weapons come from another dimension, and I wanted to see how I could use this in my work. My main character can let her sword appear and disappear at will but it's not from another dimension the sword is inside of her. XD

There was one section from fate/stay night unlimited blade works where (Spoilers I guess) Rin is doing a magic battle with caster and realizes that she couldn't beat her. So instead she used her fists to defeat her which worked. I was like hey that's something that happened in my (unpublished) manuscript then I went those the phase, in paragraph one, and realized that there are similarities but not completely.

In the end, I intentionally and unintentionally take things from other creations and try my best to make it my own and build my own ideas around that particular one if that makes sense.

Okay, I've typed too much and I'll shut up now.

[indagold]

I guess a few, like edward gorey I took a lot of inspiration from. I feel sometimes bad that I might have taken inspiration from someone and then I see popular shows or artists who literally copied an existed copyrighted character/IP and unabashedly make something out of it. Like look at the creator of Undertale, papyrus was just Dedan from OFF in the early designs. No tip toeing around it.

[Mari]

Any bit of dialogue I've drawn is like an ode to Yamashita Tomoko, lol.

[digitalvalium1]

I borrow ideas freely though I always try to credit the source when I do. As far as art is concerned, I was heavily influenced by Akemi Takada and still love her work. This might be more about my age, but she always had a great sense of composition, and softened rather than enhanced the sharp edges of individuals. If you've been around anime at all, you've seen her work a time or two whether or not you realized it. Elvgren probably takes a second chair there. He was particularly good at glamorizing normalcy, although I think some of that charm came from the art direction at the studio he and several other pinup artists worked at the time.

Writing... well, I read a good deal. When one finds an author they like, one's bound to imitate their work, even subconciously. Psychologists call it the chameleon effect. You'll see this in couples particularly. A couple will often take on each other's mannerisms, idioms and posture. We're programmed to imitate what, or rather whom, we like. I don't see this as stealing as it's a documented psychological phenomenon. Plagarism, on the other hand, is something different from, and more sinister than imitation.

When representing ideas, or works of art, I always try to credit them. I think that's fair. Though, I do admit that sometimes, in the mishmash of my addled brain, I forget where I heard, read, saw something. Even the most strict instructor would not, however, consider that stealing. In fact, I bristle at the word. I don't think language should be bent that way, to exaggerate an act. Just my thought, though.

[spadesart]

i mentally call my style "store brand kiwi byrd" but thats mostly in reference to my painted style

[Stickly]

I get poses off of google images. Not as reference, but as a stencil

[tomatobird]

I was inspired to use digital watercolor brushes after seeing the beautiful work here that is Goth Western! I’ve made comics with traditional watercolor before and doing things digitally really helped speed up the workflow. I’ve ended up using watercolors in my own way definitely for Agapetos, but that’s a definite influence.

I also grew up reading a lot of different graphic novels, and my favorites were always the more funky indie ones that were usually in a kind of sepia tone, such as Temperance by Cathy Malkasian and David Small’s memoir Stitches. Both of which are… VERY different in tone than my comic, but formally I really admired the look and feel that sepia/watercolor has.

gahh idk why my images aren't loading!! Also just in general, greyscale comics that utilize composition and values really well like Prague Race ahah