1. "Toounit's artwork is heavily referenced - from character design,
clothing design, to background and composition designs." He never actually comes
out and says that he's referenced things, only says "inspired." However, there
are a few things (very few) in his gallery or have been in his gallery that I
still think are original (there's hope for this kid!) such as his daily
deviation... (how ironic..).

2. "Toounit has become worshipped and even became and icon of the
anime/manga style in Malaysia." I myself even thought he was amazing. I mean,
come on... age 18 and so successful? It was quite a sight, and everyone had
envy, and I think I'm assuming correctly. Therefore the shock that comes from
this ugly truth is very large. It's not something we all go through everyday.
It's a combination of feeling disappointment, let down, and betrayal. It's an
ugly feeling, and though telling people the truth would be honorable, I still
think if we could, we should avoid making people feel those ugly feelings.

3. "Toounit has sold artbooks of his heavily referenced work." And people
bought it. It's crossing the moral boundary somewhere... but it's legal, I bet.
I don't think we could do anything about that... except a lot of people might
boycott his artbook. He has also auctioned/sold his artwork.. but I don't think
that would stop people from buying his work. Despite his unoriginality, I think
I would have still bought his artbook (I know, how unloyal I am! D: )

4. "Toounit works for an illustration/publishing company." In all honesty,
I think this is one of toounit's fibs. He claims to have submitted tutorials and
pieces for Asukashinsa's SS (aka Small S/Sky S/Bessatsu SS) and S magazines, as
well as doing work for fujimishobo and Korean novels. If you've looked at any of
those websites, you won't see anything about toounit in sight.

5. "Toounit, though unoriginal as he is, still has a lot of talent." I'm
not so sure we can use the word talent, but I must say he has a lot of technical
skill. He has a very powerful coloring technique that I don't think many of us
can say is horrible. And he's taught us things about this: he's submitted
numerous tutorials and answered questions. Despite how angry at him I am right
now, I can't deny that I've learned a lot of things from that twit.

Fan art
Art that is drawn based on an existing character, story, design,
costume or any media, that is not drawn by the artist itself.
Usually drawn
as a tribute, or as a way of showing love to certain fandoms.

Reference
Art that is based on something that can be seen.
Usually drawn for the
purpose of studying arts and objects.
Doesnt nessesary have to look exactly
like the original.

Inspiration
Art that is influenced by something.
Can be seen or things that cannot be seen.
Usually drawn when getting
certain impact, such as an artist is inspired to draw something emo when
listening to some music/event/etc

Copying
Reconstruct or
reproducting something that is original.
What made copying and reference
different is that, copying, is copying everything from the original. Colours,
design, composition, angle, toning, concept, shadows, style, etc.
While
referencing, is just drawing the object, but some part can be original,
something that is created by the artist.

Nope. This is not what I think
up. I did some research LOL.

But what I write below is what I think.

I think, sometimes fanart can be original too.
There is no right or
wrong drawing them. For example, if I like Naruto, I can draw a drawing of
Naruto, with different concept/style.
Since i think of the
composition/design/etc by my own, while using Naruto as the character in the
art, I can still draw it out and claim it as fanart.

But if, lets say, I
saw the drawing of Naruto by the original artist, and I like it, and I redraw
it. I can call it fanart, but, it's mere copying. I can share with my friends,
but I can't sell it, since eventho I use my strength to draw it, it is
originally belongs to the artist. The strength belongs to him. He is the one who
think of the direction of the art.

Let's talk about original arts then.
I read the newspaper. There's this case of a girl and it touched me and made
me sad.
So I wanted to draw something, because I am inspired.
Or I saw
this cool pattern on the floor. I am like, whoa, fantastic!
What if I draw
it out for this piece?
So I draw this drawing, while having the patttern in
my mind, and applied it on my drawing.

What if, I saw this picture on
the magazine. Cool! I want to draw something like that.
But in the end, what
I draw, end up looks exactly like the magazine. Dang.
What if I put another
element from another magazine?
In the end, the picture looks like a
combination of two magazines, exactly like them.
Dang. I think I just
copied. This is not original!
I can share this thing with friends, but I
can't sell it off, because it is someone else's hardwork and dedication. All I
did is just copying.

That's my opinion. I am not sure about anyone else.
I used to copy works, but that was when I was learning. Like, I draw a
drawing of Rurouni Kenshin that looks exactly like it. And several years later I
start to imagine whatever things that I want to draw.
It's kinda hard. It's
VERY hard.
Because I used to copy so much, and I have to start thinking
independantly.
Because I have to spend my time thinking, planning, executing
and whatnot, without looking at anything.
Because I am the type of person
that will be very paranoid if my drawings look like someone else. And I will
start to blame myself being so flawfull.
And then I emo hahhaa......

But anyways!
Regardless of whether you're in DA/SA/whatever art
galleries/whatever place.
Do you have a proper ettiquette as an artist?