Did you Know? Inktober Controversy

BY ANN TRINH

Did you know that there was an Inktober controversy? I didn’t. Google search autofill helped me find out it existed and a reddit post kick started this quick piece discussing it.

Let’s begin with the basics. Hopefully by the end of this piece, you will notice the irony in that.

What is Inktober?

Inktober is a month-long event where artists make ink drawings over the course of the month of October. Traditionally, artists would create one drawing a day and each day would have a corresponding prompt. By the end of the month, an artist would have a grand total of 31 drawings. Nowadays, artists can make pieces bi-weekly, every other day, and other variations.

This 31-day challenge was popularised by ink artist Jake Parker in 2009 “as a challenge to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits”.

What is this Inktober controversy?

For a seemingly uncontroversial event, there was actually some drama surrounding the 31-day-challenge in 2017, 2019, as well as a larger-scale controversy in 2020. The focus of this piece will be about the 2020 controversy, which is likely what the Google autofill search was referring to.

Photo from inktober.com

Jake Parker was about to publish his book “Inktober All Year Long”. A tutorial book about Inktober and how to ink draw, set to be published in the Fall of 2020. Well known artist, Alphonso Dunn, made a nearly 1-hour long Youtube video in August 2020 titled “Jake Parker Plagiarised My Book”. The video delved into the striking similarities between Parker’s soon to be published book and Dunn’s 2015 published book “Pen and Ink: A Simple Guide”. Dunn tells viewers that Parker’s book is “phras[ed], organiz[ed], [and] present[ed]” in jarringly similar ways. Parker, however, claims that he did not plagiarise. He along with other people in the art community have mentioned that any similarities are to be expected as both books discuss fundamental techniques that have been engraved in the art form. What is happening now?

Inktober continues to be celebrated, but some artists have chosen to move away from it during the height of its drama-filled storm. They looked at Drawtober or Drawlloween as alternative events. In terms of Parker’s book, it seems that his book was published in March 2021 but is currently discontinued.

Learn more about it: Official inktober website: https:// inktober.com/ The reddit post which summarizes the inktober controversies: https:// www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/ comments/iih7sm/art_community_inktober_2020_the_annual_ink/ Alphonso Dunn’s video, “Jake Parker Plagiazed My Book”: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG3ENcAdWBM