When I started this site almost two years ago I wanted to focus on metal art in a positive uplifting manner, that would hopefully motivate and inspire other artists. As an artist myself, I have always been frustrated by the lack of attention that visual artists get in the metal scene. As many of you know, there is no other form of music that is so directly connected to imagery. Buying a shirt at the show is required for most metal fans and buying music based off the art often takes place….but check most press releases and they include awesome cover art but not many of the artists actually get credited.
I have interviewed a bunch of people and all of them from Derek Riggs to the lesser know artist’s, have been very pleasant passionate people. The pervading sense I got from all of them is that there is a camaraderie that exists amongst us…that binds us and makes us want to help other artists. To bring together this odd group of people, who have decided to dedicate their lives to being creative.
That is why the email that I received this morning really disturbed me. I got an email from an anonymous person, presenting a bunch of evidence that one of our own, had used entire sections of other artists work. When I asked who they were and for more details, I got more examples and this response: “I don’t want to get into “politics” and have this story be “one graphic designer claims against another” but instead it should be about stopping this guy.” The artist in question is Justin Osbourn otherwise known as Slasher Design. I reached out to Justin right away, to hear his side of the story and after a few emails back and forth….he basically decided to go with no comment as a response.
Here are the examples for you to decide…
**UPDATE**
These examples were given from the comment section:
Jesus, someone did their homework, hard to argue with the results though…
I can’t understand why he did it. I mean, it’s not that the guy can’t draw or something – after all, of what I can see not EVERY BIT of the artwork is stolen, so really, I just can’t undertand why…
To Shafuy
well maybe the rest is lifted too, from the top of my head I can tell the guy holding the crucifix on the Aborted cover left side is taken from the cover of PSYCHO comix issue 13:
http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/690897.jpg
This is fun ! Like a mystery crime game for horror fans !
That sonavabitch…
These types of stories need to be told. With the way technology is moving it will become easier every day for people to lift work off others.
Wow! Well when you look at all of the work as a whole, it’s obvious that he doesn’t use his own ideas. What I don’t understand is why he did it. He has so much talent. There are enough differences in some his pieces to make it his own. There is a thin line between being inspired by another piece of work and copying. But who draws that line?
“I can’t understand why he did it.”
I think the answer is: little money and tight deadlines.
I’ve noticed one in Municipal Waste’s Fatal Feast too, the eyes were duplicated from a Scream cover:
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3469/mwslasher.jpg
Someone posted this image earlier, comparing it to a Municipal Waste cover. He also used the head from this “Scream,” cover and pasted it on the body of the figure from the “Nightmare,” cover, for the cover the sleeve of the “Aborted,” album.
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3469/mwslasher.jpg
Can someone do a side by side of those 2 for comparison? I must admit I’m now having fun trying to see how many I can spot.
Yes….there have been many more examples pouring in…and now some of the bands have been contacting me..
I am still a huge fan of his but, yes, now it has knocked him down a peg… If these are the ones we’ve spotted, I imagine more will start to show up… I’d be curious to see if more people spotted others…
As a member of one of the bands who paid for some of the above artwork, I can’t express my level of reappointment. We commissioned Justin for original art for or CD and received something far from it. I would personally push for resolution from Justin, however we all know that nothing would come of it. It more than sucks to be caught in the middle of art theft in this manner. I am sure all affected bands/artists feel the same way and are appologetic to the original artists and wish this would not have never happened and all would have received the original art we paid for and thought we were getting.
I bought two designs from Justin only to see he turned around and re-sold a design I purchased to Victory Records/Carnifex. He ignored a polite email, so I posted about it on my companies FB page
Sorry for the phone autocorrects…
Maybe he’s huge fan of the masters mentioned above or at least Justin not copying all shape from the original or first artist made, he re-create with his own style, I think is called about influence or something like that.
Sorry, but I disagree.
No one is saying that reference is bad. Every artist worth their salt uses reference.
I take pictures of myself daily! But the key is to use the as a REFERENCE. Keep them off to the side of your work, look at them, and draw it yourself.
Influence is totally different. Influence is just admiring someone’s work to the point where you look at their techniques and incorporate some of them into your own style.
Cutting and pasting from existing art is neither influence nor reference. It is stealing.
Hi Dusty,
Thought he was just re-paint from the original images to use it only as reference to create a new one for his work at least,
firstly I only notice on new malignancy cover art and the one with giant monkey for troglodyte, he take a sample of the guy face and the body for the giant, , then I saw your post here http://i.imgur.com/xgwCt23.jpg -.- now i know
I hope he read all this comments..
Yes, I promise you…if this was just a “reference” or a “pose swipe”, you wouldn’t see anyone pissed.
He’s cutting and pasting.
That’s unethical at every possible point.
http://unitedmonkee.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/phantasm_4.jpg?w=600
Chad, out of curiosity, what band are you in? This may sound ignorant, but I must say that despite this, Slasher Design has managed to make some insanely amazing art… at the end of the day, people are drawn to his work.. Then again, I can understand your want of “original” art…
“despite this” Do you realize that there may nothing more to it than the “this”…the amount of feedback I have gotten from world famous metal artists is amazing..and they are all pissed
“…at the end of the day” is a slippery slope.
If people are only concerned with the end result and make excuses for this type of behavior, then where does it end?
Can I just take a picture from H.R. Giger, put a different shape here, a new stroke there, and sign my name on it?
“At the end of the day” it looks amazing!
Of course it does, because HR Giger is amazing – but if I did that, I would not be amazing.
Doesn’t really matter which band I am in as I am pretty positive that I echo and reflect any and all members with artwork shown above. While you may be content with the final product as a visual, I tend to strive for integrity in all the efforts, time, sweat, blood and pains it takes to be one of these affected musicians striving for the best and honest final product possible. Simply being ‘OK’ with someone ripping off and fucking over another artist does not rest gently with me. I feel badly for anyone who is simply ‘OK’ with this as the his artwork looks good in the end.
You can be “influenced” by something but it’s not cool to take somebody else’s original piece of artwork and make some minor tweaks on it and call it your own. I’m floored that there are this many pieces like this. I’ve been a fan of his work but ripping off somebody else make me lose all respect for him and makes me question all of his stuff. It’s just wrong.
I don’t know. I can sorta see what you mean. anyone else find out more exmaples? i am still not convincnd. the guy is so good. why would he do it.
when a “guy is so good” = artist producing original artwork, period.
this guy is just making collages of pieces he likes, then basically rendering overtop. I’m amazing at rendering, but can’t draw ORIGINAL art for shit. If there is more than one example then hes a hack.
Hester Prynne “The Goswell Divorce” is taken from Racconti Del Terrore, a film staring Vincent Price. His film poster for Behind The Mask, The Rise and Fall is derivative of the movie poster Graveyard Disturbance. Another Hester Prynne T-shirt he designed is from the film Schizo.
I’m an artist and I have written an article on MBA and have also been interviewed here.
It is really sad to see this article.
For the person that asked “Why would he do it?”, we can only guess, but I can assume it was pressure to get things done faster.
Making a living off of freelance art is rather stressful. You have deadlines, people to impress, and the necessity to sometimes pile multiple clients on top of each other so that you can pay your bills. You have “dry months” where you don’t get paid and clients don’t have a massive priority to pay their merch/album artists all that quickly. When you take all of those factors and add success to the mix, it can get pretty sticky.
What I assume happened here is that it probably started out with a little short cut here or there to make a deadline and it has now turned into an avalanche and it’s now just part of his workflow to go onto Google or whatever reference site he uses to pluck from all of these pulp comic covers.
Personally, I understand how stressful being an artist I can sympathize with trying to get something done as fast as possible while still maintaining your quality bar. Professionally, I find it unethical and inexcusable. You don’t maintain your quality bar by taking from other artists’ hard work.
For the record, there is no “I don’t really see it” or “I’m on the fence”. There are several of these examples that are a little more obscure (The michael whelan one), but the Frazetta Thigh/Leg, the Julie Bell Bikiki/Legs/Torso, the Bekzinski corpses are all indisputable cut-and-pastes. Sometimes he seems to just use these pieces as bases to paint over, but you can tell that the Julie Bell Bikini is the EXACT same bikini. He didn’t even bother to change it.
So we can talk about the “hows” and “whys”, but honestly we shouldn’t even be talking about the “ifs”. Because there is no “if”. He definitely did it. You could take these pieces and overlay them on top of each other and they’d fit perfectly.
The guy can clearly paint. There’s no question there. But he’s crossed a line by taking existing art from other artists and passing it off as his own. Photoshop was literally designed to do things with photos, so if these were paintovers of photos, I think he’d be getting a lot less backlash. Obviously there are plenty of album cover artists that use photography as their main starting point and there isn’t any problem there (though hopefully they use their own photos most of the time).
No, the problem here is that people spend their entire lives learning how to draw and paint. To disrespect that and to just snip out a piece of their art and slap it onto your own is not acceptable – regardless of whatever deadlines you have.
I mean, where do you draw the line?
Should I just take Frazetta’s Death Dealer and slap a unicorn horn on the horse and call it my own? Of course not.
I honestly hope that Slasher makes a comment at some point. I think he needs to be honest about this in order to move forward.
yeah Frazetta said in an interview people would copy exact poses from his stuff. he said hed much rather see a quote technically inferior artist from the heart, than a quote artist that used swipe and photo references. THE BIG picture is …look at all the movies,REMAKES because they made money before , its the society, the prsidents,etc, ALL liars and thieves. These are held up as role models, what do you expect?, business, commercial interests are opposed to artists, they don’t give a shit as long as it SELLS ..the bottom line. That’s why so little originality is seen. Im to the point where I’d rather see shitty hand drawn stuff than more cgi.
Why does something hand drawn have to be shitty? And why is CGI automatically bad? They are all tools…use them to the best of YOUR ability…I think there is a ton of orginality going on and if you are missing it, spend a little time checking out all of the interviews on this site…
This is the stupidest thing ive ever seen! you think he stole from these shitty things, they look nothing alike! FUCK OFF
I love SLASHER, but with all due respect, Tony, a retarded monkey with one eye can tell he ripped off others’ work.
Hi Slasher.
lol’d
Do you still feel that way?
Tony, I only ask that you look at this image.
I own this shirt because when I first saw it I said “Wow…that is the coolest depiction of the Tall Man I have ever seen”.
And it is…it just wasn’t originally the Tall Man.
This isn’t a little leg here or an arm there. This is the entire focal point of the piece.
http://i.imgur.com/xgwCt23.jpg
The logo isn’t his. The main image isn’t his. So what did he do? The blades on the ball?
How much do you think he charged? I bet it wasn’t cheap!
It’s not his work!
No.. The Blades on the Ball are from the original theatrical poster…
Ah, you are right. Phantasm 2 poster.
Good eye.
Tony, obviously you are pissed because Justin just did the artwork for your recently released “Howling” cd. First person to expose where that image comes from gets a high five.
I was floored when I saw the artwork for Undergang…
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/15/26/152610829-1.jpg
Then I did some investigative work… and found this…
http://s326.beta.photobucket.com/user/cimmerian32atgmail/media/Magazines/Nightmare131973-06.jpg.html
Will it end????! I agree… I think Tony is just butthurt cause he may just be the next victim.
Now I know how Milli Vanilli must have felt…
Turns out Slasher Design also copied the wolves from Julie Bell and from her husband :
http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/9030/juliebellborisslasherde.jpg
Those wolves seemed like they were from somewhere…I have added that to the article
I could be wrong… what ya think?
http://forwardprinting.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/waterbase-10-color-chainsaw-disfigurement1.jpg
Perhaps from this…
http://www.grindhousedatabase.com/images/Texas_chainsaw_massacre_2_poster_01.jpg
take image, transform > flip horizontal> reduce size> position copy > change to multiply layer and you have a match!
http://www.rickstalder.com/rip_offs/same.jpg
Swamp Thing:
http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-s/swamp_thing_poster_01.jpg
Boggy Creek:
http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/BBC-677×1024.jpg
Something about that tree… hmm
I am an artist myself and I understand deadlines but, if you can’t meet them then don’t take on the extra work. Know your limitations on things. Coming from someone whom has had their artwork stolen by someone and passed off as theirs I know how it feels. the difference is the people that he took from are loaded and will sue you blind.
For all of you guys saying you can’t understand the reason and/or motivation, because (!) he clearly have talent, let me tell you something. Adressing this to Vertebrae33, Shafuy, bahrullmarta, etc.
You guys overestimate the amount of his self made content only because he collaborated from several – if not dozens of – different sources, making the stealing process less obvious at first glance… just look at the Hammerlord design, it’s not only the torso and the bikini… the wolves around her are both pasted from different paintings of Boris Vallejo and his wife, just like someone already mentioned before, and I would propose a wager any time that you could find her head, the skulls and hammer on other retro ’70s covers/posters, all being ripped off. Moreover, I would guess that there’s a large assorted gallery somewhere on the internet which that jerk taking from.
With Photoshop and even mediocre skill of color adjustment, you can mix up a cover like this in minuztes, given (!) that you blatantly use almost everything premade by different artists, just as he does if you investigate further. All these because your so called “work” is nothing more but blending those cropped parts together. You may think otherwise, but forging in a digital is not as skill related as creating fake paintings of famous painters, just to make a comparison… I know what I’m saying, because during my work, I often come to a point where I apply photo-manipulations, starting from my own taken photos, or, if the subject is less reachable and/or foreign country related, from stock images… but all of them offered in a free-to-use license, provided for that exact purpose.
That’s style called photo-manipulation, and trust me, you need to sweat out workhours to turn raw photos into artistic imagery.
On the other, what “Slasher Design” did there, is nothing more but ripping off exact parts from other artwork, premade, looking already good. He not even bothered to alter them a little, thus hiding the obvious similiarity. If he had any decent skill or so called talent you guys talked over, at least he would tweak them a bit to secure himself and avoid being caught.
With reaching the point what I really wanted to say, the worst part of this disgusting story is only coming.
You may think, that defaming him and spreading the word will do anything, but the fact is, he easily can switch name, creating a new desing “brand”, and continue his whole copycat method – because forget not, making a new portfolio with completely ripping retro covers will only take him months if not weeks. Without you knowing it, he will already have a different working brand with a portfolio authentic enough to convince anyone about his non-existing painting skills.
Placing warnings, contacting other band members, spreading the word alone is ineffective in this case.
The only working solution is taking the whole issue into legal action, asking if anyone met him personally, if any contract is written, forcing him to take responsibility in the matter… not to take revenge, but to prevent further exploits.
It was his golden goose, and it will be later as well under different name if you guys let him to do so.
[English is not my primary language, atrocious grammar mistakes may lay around ~sorry]
“For all of you guys saying you can’t understand the reason and/or motivation, because (!) he clearly have talent, let me tell you something. Addressing this to Vertebrae33, Shafuy, bahrullmarta, etc.”
Do not include me with that..I never said that..believe me, there is more I can say
I see now and I beg for pardon, I saw your name at several occasion and for some reason I tought you counter argued in the matter, trying to defend him. Sorry again.
Btw, I hope this whole scandal won’t ruin your mood or spirit about continuing this great site… obviously, it must be overwhelming for you, either because the constant e-mails by bands/fans, or the completely different attention and role what the site should deserve.
As others not said it yet, I say thanks.
Thank you very much…this site is a labor that I have never made a dime from (in fact, I am down $5 every month for the hosting)…I have tried over the last two years to post as much as I can and put the coolest work on the site…I hope that some of the people that are new to the site will stick around as we have some great stuff coming up!!!
Bravo ^^
Okay, you’ve made your point. But you’re still wrong. The artwork he did for Lifeforce bluray? And how about his newest poster for Return to Nukem High? How about the new t-shirt design for Slaughter High. I rest my case.
yeah, that Lifeforce Blu you mentioned…another collage he mocked up.
Don’t you understand?
It doesn’t matter.
Everything he does probably has an original somewhere. You don’t know what he’s done that he’s ACTUALLY done.
Look, I get it…you are a fan. Fair enough.
But I can’t reiterate enough how BAD this is for the industry. It hurts EVERYONE – the original artists that did the work, new artists that have to compete with someone stealing from legendary artists (both in quality and speed, probably rates too), and he does it so recklessly that it shows he has ZERO respect for the original art creators.
There needs to be a line with this stuff. And this is where the line was crossed.
HailsBells, are you an artist?
Let’s pretend that you are for the sake of argument. You are not famous, but you do quality work. You draw possibly the most amazing thing you’ve ever done and you are proud of it. You spent YEARS getting to this point – refining your abilities, solving anatomical, compositional, and lighting problems, and the piece is AMAZING!
So amazing, that it gets put on a band’s album.
But then I come along.
I think it’s great art, too! So great, I think I’d like to make some money off of it!
So I take that image that you made from Google, I cut the image, paste it into a new Photoshop document, and make some subtle alterations. I make the red sky blue, I add a couple more gnarly teeth, I even take another figure from ANOTHER piece of artwork and put it into yours.
It’s a new piece right? ALL MY OWN!
Except I DIDN’T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING.
I cut.
I pasted.
I composited.
I used a couple of filters so it’s all unified.
It took me about 2 hours when YOUR original took you weeks.
Then I find a sucker and I sell that piece to them for a 1000.00 dollars. They think they are getting original art so they are happy to pay it!
But who makes out the best? The person who did LITERALLY nothing and got paid immensely.
How can you not see the problem with that?
Just to reiterate a point:
I am not as good as Boris Vallejo or Michael Whelan. Not even close.
Should I be able to just steal portions of their art and pretend to be as good as them and make money off of their hard work and decades of experience?
The answer is, and always will be, no.
Thank you Dusty for shedding light on this. @HailsBells, I think what Dusty and others are trying to say is that ITS NOT OKAY to be doing this. SIMPLE. Maybe and most probably more examples will begin to surface.
Consider this post dated back in October. This is some scary ass shit.
http://www.facebook.com/cityofhorror/posts/10151192669761067
Kevin: Thank you for sharing my post on here. At the risk of looking tacky, shoot me an email (jaysin@cityofhorror.com) and I’ll send you a package of pins and stickers. I appreciate you sharing my horrible experience with Justin with the folks on this board.
“We are not your typical “slap some clip art and a lame font on a shirt and call it done” design company. Endless amount of attention and detail is put into the designs. The designs contain emotion and/or message the client/band is trying to portray, and often tell a story all on there own, thus making them some of the BEST in the industry.”
Haha..this is text taken from his website. Funny how he attempts to take a dig at other artists with the “slap some clip art..” line, yet is actually only trying to cover up is own disingenuous practices!
Here’s another example guys..Hester Prynne Shirt (whoever the fuck that is, band sounds fucking lame) art lifted from the original art from the film “The Prowler”
Hester Prynne Shirt-
https://91576663-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/slasherdesign/gallery/t-shirts/shirt9.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cr2IMja
The Prowler poster-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Prowler.jpg
Sorry, here’s a link for the Hester Prynne shirt that works-
https://91576663-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/slasherdesign/gallery/t-shirts/shirt9.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7coorE_F5rhqRARhPdQAlajl57rHPfu_6NYPZfHNnnUc9TtZZHna1tR5x2qwloqgHJ3CYGA3dkJQI3-LliDOXR3duRaZpSHcFr0ZdpOkCjX_VrAW2kA0tbjg308LGsFJJww-tl6IVpV-g6RCmhm-Zdjqmtj6FX1NYFM8KS2mM2jo47kaKMMcLoW5-d7J1uyzTNWwB0Wka2cpD6ubawSlKzj4rGZAotrWCZuUgIdluCitfbj5F38%3D&attredirects=1
The image on this shirt is taken from the original art for the film “The Prowler”
If The Prowler and Schizoid (the film) had a baby
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/885025_142596935908931_1002423371_o.jpg
Cha cha.
Hack job in every sense of the word.
Preach on Dusty!!!
As an artist who’s had his art stolen a few times, I can attest to this. But what really upsets me is that he’s takin’ it from the very people we look to for inspiration, it’s like spitting in the face of yer own mentor.
By the way, I heard about this from the band; Troglodyte who was upset about this whole thing!
awww man..not only does he steal images but he steals taglines to, c’mom dude!
Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon:
http://slasherdesign.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-07-09T17:03:00-07:00&max-results=7
The Mutilator:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mutilatorposter.jpg
When Vertebrae33 (playing it safe on the name here man) wrote me he said this was the hardest post he’d ever written. I immediately thought someone died. Still kind of feels like that.
There are a lot of good comments here. Dusty really hits the nail on the head though. The issue at hand isn’t really did he do it, that is pretty cut and dry. Nor is it an issue of if it’s right or wrong. Of coarse it’s wrong. There is an unwritten code among illustrators and that’s don’t f— with my art. It’s not Bushido but it is a rule. Now, we all use reference, I’ve tried to make that point in interviews ( one here one MBA…thanks Vert). The line exists in a non fuzzy area between “referencing” and ” lifting”. I reference Frazetta almost every project. I look at photos constantly. I work realistically, good reference is the key. Lighting is ridiculously hard for a portrait, much less a scene with (literally) hundreds of elements. If you’re putting a black line around it fine, make it up. But if you are rendering it, you need lighting reference. So you go out and get it. That’s exactly what Julie Bell did ( I went to school with Boris Vallejo’s son). In fact that pose may well be Julie Bell. She was BV’s model before they married and she became an outstanding fantasy artist in her own right.
The killer is the Beksinski rip. I mean wow! That takes some balls.
I really do hate to pile on. Hopefully this goes away for him. Hopefully the industry starts to appreciate original ideas ( as nebulous as they may well be).
did you read this Frazetta interview… comics interview 42 ,1987? It talks about how if you have to resort to photos you are that much less of an artist. Read it, it might give you a different view on things. You went to art school?, didn’t you do life drawing and observe the reflective light? that’s in your memory,and all around you constantly.
Has anyone passed this information on to the above artists (or the estates of those artists who have passed away) yet?
All metal art (and music) is derivative of all previous works, if this really bothers you then you should destroy ALL of your CDs and do it NOW. This post is borderline sensationalism in its own right, why spend so much effort tearing things down when you could be celebrating the underground instead.
Stevo,
I’ve explained why what Justin did isn’t cool.
I think you need to elaborate your point beyond what you posted.
You are drastically missing the point.
Inspiration, influence, and reference are not the problem here.
It seems as though you are just blindly defending your friend/artist you admire.
Sensationalism??? This entire site is dedicated to the positive!!!
now this is just getting fun, someone make a blog posting all this shit this creep stole.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/885025_142596935908931_1002423371_o.jpg
Some guy mentioned this earlier(due to comments flowing in, I can’t find his comment/reply)
But this is pretty obvious evidence he steals others artwork. Can the case be closed now?
Look up… Behind the Mask: The Rise and Fall of Leslie Vernon…. now look up Graveyard Disturbance… get to it!
Sad to see… he’s obviously a super-talented guy, I don’t know why he’d need to lift so liberally from others.
Kudos to whoever did their homework on this, I’d never have spotted most of it.
“he’s obviously a super-talented guy”
What? He put ZERO original content into those images, what talent are we talk about? Everything is copy-pasted from retro posters, paintings and album covers.
Seriously, some ppl still believe that he painted any part of those pictures? Just because he mixed from several sources, it won’t make him talented in any degree.
Another person wrote earlier, “it’s not that the guy can’t draw”…
Wake up people.
Those images are 100% rip-offs, combined from shitload other ~70′s artworks, not a single part is original. He just replace a hand, head or eye from another poster, painted again by someone else. Or you really think cropping them entirely in photoshop and using color balance is a big deal, worth enough to call it skill?
[Something tells me that those defending comments are just sock-puppets by him, no one can be that blind and/or ignorant, can't believe this.]
This guy has done some work for Shout/Scream Factory (Lifeforce on blu-ray) and the Howling cd on Razorback Razorback (Right, Tony?) as well as a vast amount of work for Fright-Rags.com, would love to see more of these debunked!
Someone definitely needs to compile of all these infringements and post them somewhere.
I think the most depressing part about this whole debacle is that as evidenced by the link at MS, many people just do not seem to care.
It really goes to show how much people are willing to defend something just because they like the end result.
Ethics, integrity, and respect don’t seem to matter with some people and that is somehow more of a shame than the original problem.
It’s the #1 reason why I am still vocal about this days after the fact. Because even though I wasn’t directly affected, I am indirectly affected as another professional artist in this industry.
I don’t want to see it become watered down like the comics industry where everyone is totally okay with tracing porno stars for their comics.
Vertebrae33: I think many people here will agree that you should consider adding Dusty’s Phantasm and Google’s lady-on-the-floor to the article, and place both right on top so it would be first, as MetalSucks.net made it clear to everyone that many lazy readers just look at the first couple of images and say “well it’s just minor details / I don’t think it’s cutting and pasting” and then dismiss the whole article.
These two are the most instant of everything posted here.
Julie Bell’s image should then be 3rd IMHO.
I have added those two examples…
It’s especially sad and ironic that he calls all of the people he’s done work for “victims”: https://sites.google.com/site/slasherdesign/victims
This story was brought to my attention earlier today when someone shared a link on my post about Justin/Slasher Design. I thought he was a scumbag for just the way he treated me and my small company. I feel infinitely worse for the bands, labels and other companies that he’s screwed over. This makes my inconvenience look small in comparison. It also makes me concerned if the other design he did for me was blatantly ripped off, too.
An interesting article that Dennis Dread did back in 2011 that is relevant
http://dennisdread.blogspot.com/2011/05/occult-roots-of-metal-iconography_896.html
BUT now what’s pissing me off is the people who’re defending him!
Whatta bunch of idiots! Fuckin’ morons!
“But it looks good! Artists are inspired…”
I hope somebody steals something from them, so I can say it looks good!
Mostly I see these connections as bull shit. Yes, a few, like the Tenn. axe… But seriously… Lets face it… “ALL” artists take from other sources… When I was in art school… I took a business class on art… This subject came up… They said its all grey areas, and basically, bottom line… Change things enough to where no one will notice, or else you may wind up in court. This thread is ridiculous… Most of these supposedly loose connections to others work seems to me at least, as an artist, far fetched, and ya need more than that to suggest a copyright infringement. EVERYTHING, comes from somewhere else in this day and age… Just look at the music industry today to know… IT seriously gets stupid about this…. Show me something that, without a doubt is taken from another artist… I don’t see it here. My opinion!
Wow…ok…so and entire body of a person as well as the exact outfit is not enough…
Wait a second… I didn’t look at the bottom images… I change my stance …. Yeah, this guy did take those images from elsewhere…. Whooops… posted before I looked… Sorry! ;o
hahaha
I think it’s really cool of you to correct yourself. I agree the top 3-4 images in the article are some of the more vague ones (though they are still rips), but you can see through other examples that it just gets worse and worse.
Thanks for admitting that this is not cool.
The more people that defend this, the worse off the art industry is.
Eric you look like a moron when you spout off like that. Do your research before you offer your crudely educated opinion.
Can all you brilliant artists please post your artwork so that the entire world can dissect it. Clearly you have nothing better to do with your lives right now. I don’t so I would love to take the time and rip you to pieces.
Actually…I have taken the time to put together a site to celebrate amazing metal art…check the interviews with: Zar, Baizley, Roper, Riggs and many many more as evidence…
I’m sorry I had to find out about this awesome site, only because of this article
They HAVE – 2 of the guys who posted here gave their first names and stated they were interviewed on this very web site.
I will happily do so.
My website can be linked in my name.
I assure you that you can critique my work fairly or slam it with complete vitriol and it will not phase me.
The reason? Because regardless of what YOU think of it I can stand behind it and know that *I* did all of the work. Seriously, feel free to look at it and find where I copied anything other than my own personal photos.
Quality is irrelevant here.
We aren’t “ripping him to pieces” because we just don’t like his work.
We are showing examples of him blatantly stealing other artists work and passing them off as his own. You need to look at all of the examples before you post, man.
Or maybe some of us are pissed because we paid Justin for what we thought would be ORIGINAL work, and now we could face potential lawsuits because HE decided to be shady as fuck. I bought two designs from him that I’m now afraid to keep printed
Please tell me that you guys wrote proper contract, as violated copyright is not only unethical, but cause serious financial damage as well. Taking your money for something unusable is more than lying – it’s stealing, as you hired him to make original artwork.
Printing this shit cost hard money.
Hiring another artist is another expense.
With already printed material, the cover of your album, which should be important and personal in your life, is completely devalued… not to mention how he defecated the whole metal scene with disrespect, bands and album artists alike.
What he did is illegal and prohibited by law.
Please guys, have the balls suing him, you can’t lose a clear case like this.
I just went through all my emails and unfortunately I no longer have my exchanges with Justin. I probably deleted them when he ignored my requests to change the name in the artwork and he refused to acknowledge me back in 2010
I am appalled at this blatant ripoffery. I have been pretty impressed with some of his work in the past and it saddens me to know it wasn’t the real deal. I kind of had moments of doubt with the pieces I really liked but gave it the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t realize he did the Essence cover… that one rubbed me the wrong way the first time I saw it. I’ve seen other artists, who I’m choosing not to drag into this discussion, use Beksinski’s work in metal art before. The use of his paintings was so blatant and unapologetic, it made me feel kinda gross.
That said, I have a question for Dusty and Rodney as fellow artists and the most vocal dudes on the subject here…
Photoshop collage is a huge part of metal art these days. For better or for worse… I think for the worse. Are we just extra sensitive to painted (traditional or digital) art and dismiss it when people are using stolen photography? This is super common and I have less of a reaction to it.
I’m biased to begin with because I’m super pro-traditional and sort of mostly anti-digital (despite the fact that I do digital for a living).
Thoughts?
Definitely not.
I do think that photography is a different demon.
Photoshop was literally designed to manipulate photos around and do interesting things with them. I totally support using digital media to rearrange, reorganize and blast apart existing things – provided you own the source material, get permission from copyright material, or change it so far beyond it’s original intent that it is not recognizable.
The last one there is the shady one and I would still prefer people not do it.
But if you are a digital album cover artists who mashes bunches of photographs together, I totally support what you do. My tastes do lie in the “painted” look, but I am also a digital artist! So I can’t really look down on people that collage photos together.
But I definitely do look down on collaging existing paintings. It’s totally different than photographs, in my opinion.
One of them is something that exists in the real world and can be snapped over and over and over again in different lighting, angles, and weather conditions. One is something that ONLY EXISTS in the mind of the painter and is only realized on canvas by their own skills.
It’s clearly wrong to try to pretend that you can paint as good as someone else by using their paintings in your own work.
I’m inclinded to agree with you for the most part… but I’ve got some photographer friends who I’m sure do not feel the same way. They make their living doing that just as you or i do with illustration / design.
I’m not slagging on photographers, I promise you that. But I will admit that I do not view the “eye of the photographer” in the same way that I do the “mind of a painter”.
It is a bias that I will admit of myself.
I think a photographer can be an artist and vice versa, but I don’t think that just because you are a photographer that you are ALWAYS an artist.
Whereas someone that paints is ALWAYS an artist (even shitty ones).
In many cases the photograph could not exist without the photographer. Take Storm Thorgerson for example. I view him in the same esteem as Frazetta or Beksinksi in many ways as an artist. If someone stole his photography and photoshopped it in the same fashion… I would have a serious problem with it.
So… where do we mentally draw a line between what is acceptable to manipulate and what is not?
I didn’t see this until now.
I agree with you, his work is artistic as hell!
I wonder how he creates his photos, btw. He clearly doesn’t have a tree in his back yard that looks like a human head, for example. Right?
So obviously there are photos that are made with artistic intent. There are also photos that are just meant to be photos with no artistic intent.
That’s kind of what I meant.
It’s still wrong to take from either, I just think that taking from anything that originally had artistic intent is worse than taking from something that was just meant to be a picture of a regular tree in the woods.
Does that make more sense?
I lean towards traditional work but with that said I use a lot of computer…I think all of it is a delicate dance. But I do always ask about reference in my interviews as I am curious to what degree to people use it in their work…with that being said, obviously there are no fine lines in this case…
This of course happens the same week, as me gettin’ ripped off here.
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/481713_620288511330700_530675455_n.jpg
I did the cover for Cut Throat’s re-release of Thrash Metal Slaughter, and some band named Death Kommand, just crudely covered their name. But kept the album name….idiots!
Yeah, I’m really not sure how anyone can defend this guy unless:
1.) They’re a plant
2.) They’re part of the TL:DR crowd and skipped straight to the comment section after the first two examples.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not an artist. I’m a business man, but I do have a lot of artist friends who bust their ass to make it in the industry. I would never assume that my opinion on an artists work would mean anything more to anyone than it does to me.
I also admit that I wasn’t overly concerned by the first two comparisons. My first thought was, ‘Wow, you’d have to be an artist or huge fan to catch that. Yeah, it’s cheating, but I don’t know enough about the industry to really tear into some guy for doing it.’ Then I saw the HammerLord and Phantasm comparisons….
I just don’t understand how anyone inside or outside of the industry could defend that.
http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/858759_142659845902640_537064913_o.jpg
All credit goes towards Zyklon-T for finding the match up..I’m just helping everyone out.
And the hits just keep on coming!!!
Wow, this is pretty wild stuff. I just looked at his site and can spot a million ripoffs in a second.
It should be noted that the hands in his PHANTASM “design” appear to have come from the US poster for the early 80s anthology NIGHTMARES:
http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-n/nightmares_poster_01.jpg
That Hester Prynne shirt is from (roughly) 2010.
I don’t know, I got the image from their facebook and it said it was added to their merch store in 2012…
Thanks for putting that in a better format for people to view. The second half of the image (the man with the scissors) is from the poster for a film called “Schizoid”…look it up!
Pretty sure I just found his library :
http://www.wrongsideoftheart.com
BINGO!
At first glance, I was willing to give benefit out the doubt. I think a lot about authenticity and appropriation and where it is all heading as technological capability improves. It is all very interesting.
TO be honest, I didn’t really get it at first. But then looking closer it’s impossible to deny that there are whole sections which are direct copies and that some pieces are composites of multiple works.
What makes this sad for me is that it could have been about homage, hero worship and respect. I love all that old pulp fantasy/horror work, it ticks all the boxes in my favourite aesthetics list in my head. SO many people try in this style but are hardly successful.
It seems Osbourn tried a little too much. Surely, in this day and age of near universal information he must of thought he would be caught out? And to not have a statement, a counter-article or theory ready to use simply makes him look very guilty.
SLASHER CAN DRAW. You guys watch. THIS whole thing will blow over in a few days. I guarantee no one will be talking about this by next week. When SLASHER does decide to speak, he will offer an apology. He’ll say he was sorry and that he was only trying to make deadlines. It sort of just got out of hand and he got carried away with dipping into his “folder” file for pulp horror. The fact of the matter remains, the dude can draw! Just take a look at this flyer he did for a friends “save the date”…
What, you think his friends had a previous life in some obscure 60s pulp horror comic? Come on now. He made a mistake. Many, many mistakes. And in the future, I guarantee he’ll only do original work and it’ll be awesome.
I’m actually not convinced that he can draw at this point.
He seems like a designer that is great at photo-manipulation (which is fine – nothing wrong there, but decided to give the illusion that he could paint. So instead of using his own photos, he just googled images of paintings.
So far I haven’t see any examples of him drawing and it actually being his work. I distrust anything at this point and expect it to be lifted from somewhere else.
Even if that WERE the case, though, I have lost all respect for him.
If he can draw and paint – then he should.
Does somone need a pair of scissors? Maybe Hester Prynne can use one! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-75nIs0zDNOg/Ts228sGsMpI/AAAAAAAACc8/ZDcf76aMBQ8/s1600/schizoid11.jpg
Ah, let’s be nice and give the boy a hand! A Phantasm hand that is!
http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-n/nightmares_poster_01.jpg
Hey this is a great site! I followed the link at Metalsucks and this will now be a daily stop for me.
I do a lot of album covers for mainly small unsigned bands. I do most of it for free because I love doing it and because I love supporting other artists.
Most of my covers are ink/watercolor. While I have my own style and feel for color, I have learned a lot from John Baizley-he’s an influence to me and many other artists–but I don’t lift his work, add some innocuous feature to it and then claim it as my own…but that’s exactly what this guy did.
Like other artists have said: there’s a big difference between influence/ reference and cutting/pasting.
Artists can be weird maybe these piecesneally inspired him and its some kind of thing to honor some of these master works …I have to ask myself if every time a guitar player does a tap solo he is ripping off van halen visual art is taken differently I guess I cannot draw so I am clueless but his work is good either way you slice it
Here’s what happens when a straight-edge band wants to jump on the evil and occult trendwagon…
Maroon (Germany, formerly xMaroonx) T-shirt design by Slasher Design:
https://91576663-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/slasherdesign/gallery/t-shirts/shirt29.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cqpo8-qpr7RDZH_vSs5RMiEmTCGIi7FzT8oi1yvvpk5UmRqN1nFmVAfq1gBp0DyjWoZhR6MPz9wMz8TjcZAGxFkLgFjxM8IWEi9Y3YcvP3k7lLZ61nr2855vUqbGsOB90egXPIfcqlxUmKw-YQumNt1AXNu0A7AVVvXynsCs_2XBQsBBOhEkZF3Nyv2ht_2833NqBle4m-ONq3BcNoQiUOrky0c2KM4tZsntX2k317pzpc8kZk%3D&attredirects=0
“Dracula’s Dog” poster:
http://www.moviepostershop.com/draculas-dog-movie-poster-1978/EH8604
If I paid (what I’m sure would be a nice chunk of change) for an original design from Osbourne and got this I would immediately be like “That’s fucking Dracula’s Dogs head pasted on some body! WTF!?” I’d hit him up right away and let him know that’s pretty crappy…but I’m just some fucking nerd who actually reads the comics and watches the movies he takes his images from (apart from holding a BFA in illustration, that’s gotta count for something right?) It seriously probably takes him a half hour to do some of this shit. Find 3 or 4 images, slap a high contrast filter (i.e.= torn edges,stamp) on the images in photohop, put em together, slap the band logo that’s probably supplied to him on the top…presto! All done and ready to ship to some trendy fuck wits who don’t recognize their being ripped off because they’re really not into what this imagery represents anyway.
…and that is the sad thing, why this type of work will be around forever: a lot of people/bands DON’T CARE where the art comes from, or how it has been put together. Often enough they’ll probably just say “just make it look cool”. As long as it looks cool and sells, it’s OK.
The update you put up Rodney makes this whole thing even worse. So blatant, so lazy…Holy shit, I work way too hard.
Just wanted to add a couple of things. I’m not a lawyer but this is what I was tought:
-copyright lasts for the life if the artist plus 75 years. Music, visual arts whatever.
- the fuzzy line between “inspiration” and straight theft is actually quantified legally. Basically you have to change it by no less than 30%. This includes the whole composition. Logos, format, image and all. So technically, none of this is illegal. So there won’t be any law suits or any other legal repercussions.
Ethically it’s so wrong. I hope no one holds the bands responsible in any way.
Maybe Slasher can come out with a “prove it” piece and start the process of putting this behind him.
Respectfully that percentage thing is a myth that’s been twisted out of the Fair Use application. It’s not correct at all. Please read this: http://painting.about.com/cs/artistscopyright/f/copyrightfaq6.htm
And Google it. Basically Fair Use is for journalists and reviews etc. Firstly it doesn’t really apply to art per se, second it’s limited to specific purposes. One of which is NOT THIS.
“if your painting were put next to the painting or photo you’re copying, would someone say you’d based it on the original? If so, you’re risking copyright infringement.”
This guy is in deep crap for tons of copyright. lmfao
Just in case that came across as “know it all”, the above post regarding the legal might not be entirely accurate. I forwarded this post to my guy that handles my contracts. He knows his shit, and he’s a huge art fan. Hopefully he’ll come her and get all snarky on our asses. And have a good laugh at how preposterous this is.
Thing is people want the classic art produced for a quarter of the money and quarter of the time now. The old artists on the 70s epic covers would have been paid in equal measure. I can guarantee these bands had so little cash to work with, The same goes for the T-shirts. There’s no money in the industry for people to make a living off of these days. So its like cheap burgers you pay cents your guaranteed to get some offal shit thrown in. (Pay peanuts you get monkeys), everyone wants something for nothing!
All this bitchin’ about digital art is BULLSHIT, weather you work with photos to illustrate or not. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING! i dont know what you class it as apart from cut and paste of other artists work with a colour change. The guy should have spent more time and asked for more cash, then taken his own photos to work with (like most comic book artists cover do). The compositions are good, even the use of the hands (which could easily be replicated) on Phantasm suggests a rushed budget.
I’m pissed beacuse he’s bringing the name of digital art into disrepute now and making people talk shit about that.
It sucks no doubt but lets not turn this into a general which hunt!
You are correct about bands not having much money.
Often times I get bands that write me and only have 300 bucks to spend on merch. I’m sorry to say, but that just isn’t enough for a fully painted piece. If you want the “painted look”, you should expect to pay higher for it.
What he has done here is fill a void in the market. He’s realized that he can get fully painted art by just compiling other painters and give people the illusion of original art by doing so. Much faster and (most likely) undercutting the price of everyone else that would charge standard (and fair) industry rates for a full painted cover.
I can’t deny that he isn’t smart for filling that void in the market, but it doesn’t make it right.
This is what I meant by saying that it hurts the industry. People see that they can get a “painted cover” for much less than a painted cover actually costs. The market gets skewed and prices go down. Then all of the real painters (digital, traditional or otherwise) actually can not get work because bands hit them up for their rates and see them as ‘extraordinary” or “gouging”.
When in fact they are not gouging at all, they just expect to be paid for their time.
It’s a huge shame. Days later and it’s still bothering me. I don’t want to see the guy get any real-life pain from this, but I do want to see him change his ethics and hopefully get less business from it.
At this point it’s clear all his stuff is lifted bits by bits, I myself have founds tens already so I’m only uploading the large ones, like this :
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9999/searchdestroyj.jpg
Please post all of them because I’m interested in seeing how many things he has ripped off
I will not be posting anymore images…I think the point has been made
The fact that he flipped the SEARCH & DESTROY poster image should let anyone know he was well aware what he was doing was wrong and was trying to do something clever to hide it from careful eyes.
Flipping an image is one of his oft used tricks. Look at the trees in the Boggy Creek piece he did, they are the trees from the Swamp Thing cover just flipped. But sometimes he is so tired and overworked he just doesn’t have the energy left to flip an image and says “fuck it” and uses it as is…
Amazing that there are still comments saying “this guy is very talented,” (mostly over at Metal Sucks). Seems like he has zero talent but Photoshop. If he has ever created anything, he (or someone) should have the orignal pieces somewhere, not just digital reproductions. Someone should crash his studio and see if there are actually any drawings/paintings there.
SonofSunn dont be retarded.
Well Vertebrae You have definitely ruined his carrier and any future job prospects in design that’s for sure! even if some of his latter bigger (not budget) jobs are more original creations, and lets hope not beacuse he’s never going to shake this stigma now!
He doesn’t deserve a career.
Did you ever heard about the word, responsibility?
Thanks for the intelligent comment, Seth. I’m curious which part of what I said you disagree with. This guy is not advertising himself as a digital manipulator of photographs, he’s claiming to have created original drawings which are nothing more than cut and pastes of some of the most renowned fantasy artists of all time.
If there is any proof he can actually create anything other than clever forgeries, I’d like to see it.
Well Son, for a start the whole break into the studio was stupid. (the which hunts really picking up steam).
But mostly you can draw on a computer in photoshop, you know! you dont need to do it on paper. 90% of people probably do do it on a computer now and if they dont it will still get scanned in and manipulated (color etc) so EVERYTHING ends up as digital artwork in the end now.
I always thought “crash” meant to show up uninvited, not “break into.”
YMMV though.
I know it’s not EXACTLY the same, but has anyone thought about this in the same light as sampling music? At what point does it become more than a “sample”? Is there even a metric for judging what is considered plagiarism for art?
On that note, I’m on the “he’s straight up stealing” side of things…there aren’t any changes made to shading, details, etc. to remotely consider his pieces new art.
Well, when people sample music, they typically credit the original song and pay royalties. If you just sampled a chunk of a song without permission, you could get in some serious shit.
This happens to a lesser extend on comic covers sometimes, where an artist with recreate a famous cover with some slight alterations, but again, they credit the original, with e.g., “After Joe Kubert, 1973.”
The other difference is that music has finite limits. There are only so many notes you can play on a guitar, only so many beats you can play on the drums. Illustration is infinite, it’s creative boundaries only created by the artist themselves in their own brains. Or at least that’s the way it should be.
Wow. #1: I never said “break in,” that’s ridiculous.
#2 Of course art gets scanned/manipulated. Many of these: the Frazettas, Vallejos are obviously painted. I seriously doubt this type of art could be created digitally.
Yeah, that’s sort of the problem here.
Photo-manipulation should be of actual photographs. When you just splice together other peoples’ paintings it gives the impression that you actually painted it.
Now it’s looking like he doesn’t paint a single thing at all – he just compiles everything from a vast library.
There is *nothing* wrong with digital art or digital photo manipulation – if you respect what you are taking from.
And that isn’t happening with most of these.
There are as many different kinds of digitally created art, and techniques as there are digital artists. Yes this kind of art can and is painted digitally. In fact you’ve probably looked at tons of it and couldn’t tell that it wasn’t pigment on canvas. Digital painters still paint, there are no tricks, the medium is simply pixels rather than paint. While I’m sure you mean well your argument is a red herring and only clouds the issue. A lack of a hard copy on canvas isn’t the proof that he copied. The proof is the proof. Right there before our eyes.
This is just lazy. Come on! http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5PnnkZV73bo/UTeZ6x7rp8I/AAAAAAAAAMQ/UITxiWllzp8/s1600/StarwarsVektor.jpg
Obviously fake in the way it’s not a real cover made by anyone at all. Posting this there is rather seem to be an attempt to defent him (or yourself Justin), trying to divert the seriousness and/or authenticity of the other ripped off covers posted there.
It was a joke. Just uh, you know…kidding.
I loled
Seeing at least one band take a stand of “i am sure justin meant no harm, and he will bounce back. He is a good guy.”
That irks me more than it should.
It’s a good thing he’s a nice guy, though.
I wish I could get paid for being a nice guy.
I see here this has been going on for several days now… each day people are finding more and more evidence against this poor kid. The fact is, he can draw! I believe (and I don’t know him personally) he is trying to make a living as a graphic designer and, like everyone else, has fucking bills to pay. For some of his work, he clearly draws it (Lifeforce, Friday the 13th). His other work, he lifts.
Define “clearly draw”.
Have you seen the sketches?
Have you seen the WIP images?
Because at this point it’s looking like people just haven’t figured out what the source material is yet. He seems to literally rip everything (again – the Phantasm shirt is a composite in every aspect).
My question to you is: If he can draw…then why doesn’t he?
People pay you to draw and paint, shouldn’t you…yknow…do it?
“poor kid”… “has fucking bills to pay”
How could this justify anything?
You think we don’t have bills to pay?
Other artists who put real effort into their work don’t need (and deserve) money?
He’s not only stolen HUNDREDS of paintings claiming to be his own…
1) he ripped off the bands taking their money for non-existent working,
2) he took away chance from other artists who would get the job otherwise.
Real painters, designers, bands… everyone losing there, and you have the balls to defend him?
Sorry, but I guess I missed the part where it is clear that he has actually drawn anything. Please elaborate.
I’m sure Tony (Howling) and Steve (Impetigo) would have very different opinion if they weren’t part of the ever changing Razorback mafia.
Respect lost for you guys condoning this.
Regardless of how many people do it, it’ll never be right and acceptable.
I left a message for the dudes in Hester Prynne. They’re none too happy, and whomever I was talking to considers this guy a friend. I also have tried telling Fright Rags about this too, but Kristy didn’t check the link the first time (calling Justin a ‘mad genius’) and then when I asked her if she read it, she said no, and then told me if I had an issue with Justin I should try and resolve it directly with him. So, in my third email I just sent her the picture showing the blatant rip off he did for their Phantasm shirt. Maybe she’ll get the point this time.
Yeah, I actually think some of these should be put towards the bottom.
Not saying they are LESS bad, but the Phantasm and the Hester Prynne ones are really damning.
I mean, he didn’t even try to edit out the cat’s tail in the Hester Prynne one. He just made it a gash in her neck. Embarrassing.
So to get it straight, a fan (or Justin himself) now pulled out the “remove-your-post-or-spam-will-flood-you” card, suggesting that the sudden plus attention what the scandal received pushed the site into several spam databases, hence the relatively increased traffic.
While it could be possible, it’s too obvious that way. Instead of passive “fighting”, you should grow some spine and confess, Osbourne.
More Pics!!! More Pics!!!
This is like a scavenger hunt!!
There you go:
http://imgur.com/mBtQdcC
What’s even funnier here, is that PSYCHO cover image is itself a swipe of an image from an early Prince Valiant comic strip!
Do you happen to have that strip available? I’d like to see it. Thanks!
I’ll throw in another one:
http://imgur.com/kYp3VVT
Source images:
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjA4OTgxNjkyNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTEwNDc1MQ@@._V1._SX485_SY323_.jpg
http://a1.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/136/c0f5e8d3d5014333bf919fe7b84961d6/l.jpg
Idk I always thought his “Behind the Mask” retro poster looked alot like the “Geek” VHS too.
BTM poster:
BTM retro Poster
Geek VHS:
Geek VHS
And the obvious “homage” is of course “The Mutilator” tagline.
Vertebrae33 can you post the Phantasm picture at the TOP on the images as people are not seeing that and not then making comments until you show them that one.
you might also want to post up the original colour version of the phantasm artwork for comparison:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_lo7DiBWyRJ4/StInepmL4mI/AAAAAAAAAyk/dNNbqLfv9GE/s1600-h/doctordruid.jpg
I have seen that exact “Boggy Creek,” image, with the silhouette somewhere as well. Can’t quite place it. Probably another Swamp Thing.
Well, there is http://imgur.com/mBtQdcC.
Is that what you mean?
The Danzig horned skull comes from a comic, as does the Misfits Die, Die My Darling cover. The Mad Marc Rude cover for Earth AD took him a lot of hours though.
He certainly has some balls to use a well known piece from Beksinski.
That’s not the first time that Beksinski has been stolen from; you can find several examples on this blog. There are also hundreds of other examples. I wonder if any of Slashers covers can be found on here.
http://archivesofkhazad-dum.blogspot.ca/
The article is interesting, but for myself, I do not see anything interesting. Well, except that only the second ablozhk Bathory, where a Frazetta painting.
Now nothing has changed. All objects are taken from the internet. Rearrange them, painted in a different color, add another and another and so on. And the cover is ready. But! People are trying to make something of themselves, and not to put your logo on someone else’s picture.
Jaysin at City of Horror brought this our attention and I thought I would echo my response to him here as well.
We have been working with Justin for a few years now and the first shirt we ever printed from him was the Phantasm design. That particular piece was one he approached us with, (i.e. we didn’t commission it) and we bought it from him already complete. It wasn’t until recently that I found out about the original image he used to lift the Tall Man face and sphere. To be completely honest, I thought it was an isolated case. However, it has caused me to reconsider any future printing of that design because of its origin and we will most likely pull it it once the remaining stock has sold.
I have looked back at all the other designs he has done for us so far I have not found any further evidence of lifting — at least with not our commissioned designs. With all the rest of the work he’s done for us, the images he uses are from the film, or poster artwork for the film, and used in context to the property he’s referencing. However, the article was definitely an eye-opener, and it is pretty clear on those album art covers that images were taken from other sources. I think the main difference here is that his artwork for album covers is supposed to be original, whereas the work he does for us (aside from the Phantasm design) should be using images/reference from the films.
I’m sure you can agree that Justin is talented, however I do not condone what he did. My only hope is that he enters the conversation started here to apologize and explain why he did what he did. In the meantime, I will be opening a dialogue with him in regards to where our designs originate, to ensure that this doesn’t happen with the work we commission from him.
Ben
FRIGHT-RAGS
Ben, thank you for participating in this conversation. As you can see, this recent story has other artists and bands really upset. While some of us are entirely convinced he cannot really draw and simply “lifts” from others work, I myself am still on the fence. I am assuming he does a lift here and there to save time… but I could be wrong.
I remember Jeff Zornow stated in a horrorhound issue that Justin’s work “is so good that I hate it. It makes me feel useless”.
But this is just my point. If Slasher is as good as people believe him to be, why take anything? Granted, it’s to save time, but I would think when a person can draw on that kind of level, then they do it… they draw. They don’t waste time trying to find other sources.
As far as your other designs. Consider these…
The Poster for Behind The Mask is derivative of this:
http://www.silverdisc.com/images/80/812592010318.jpg
The new design for Slaughter High is derivative of this:
http://serialkillercalendar.com/VHSWASTELAND/HIGH-RES-VHS-COVERS/SLAUGHTER-HIGH.jpg
The girl’s face in the knife is from this:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GOncPg_p_oQ/T5ilgD9KbhI/AAAAAAAAA8I/0BJsMijH6nA/s1600/Don't+Panic+US+Mogul+VHS+Front.jpg
The moon in the Friday the 13th shirt is from this:
http://cf.drafthouse.com/_uploads/galleries/3926/mm_monsterdog_poster.jpg
It’s a little here and a little there… and the end product is so amazing… but it does make me wonder, how much is drawn by him…
“I remember Jeff Zornow stated in a horrorhound issue that Justin’s work “is so good that I hate it. It makes me feel useless”.”
This is a good point to make.
What is it about his work that Zornow respects? Is it the composition or the incredible painting skills present in the designs?
I am willing to bet the latter.
And if that is the case, Slasher can not take credit for any of that. This isn’t to say that composition skills are worthless – in fact they are one of the most important parts of art. Composition is only structure, though and in general only other artists are really going to notice how his composition is.
DETAILS are what will make him famous. And he’s stealing all of those from much better artists.
No, DNS666, I have seen the exact silhouette pic before. I asked my wife who is the comic nerd between us and she has definitely seen it before also. I’m sure not all the images he uses are from the web. He probably has a scanner and a stack of old comics. I’ll check our collection cause it’s starting to bug me.
Thanks. What silhouette exactly are you referring to? I’d be interested to know if you can dig up the source…
Meanwhile, we have another winner:
http://imgur.com/kYp3VVT
Originals (ahem, at least one original):
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjA4OTgxNjkyNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTEwNDc1MQ@@._V1._SX485_SY323_.jpg
http://a1.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/136/c0f5e8d3d5014333bf919fe7b84961d6/l.jpg
It is the arms and legs from that Pscho mag exactly it’s the head I’ve seen before.
The head is strongly inspired by
http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/covers/the-legend-of-boggy-creek-dvd-cover-67.jpg
IMO, but may not be an exact copy. Not sure yet.
I’ll keep looking. I think it from Swamp Thing.
Found another one. Under Slasher Design T-shirts, a design for a band called Bonded in Blood, design elements completely taken from Raw Power’s “Screams from the Gutter’.
The sewer pipe and the the sewer water.
*yawn*
Man, going through these I wonder just how many more of his art contains pieces from other works. I just picked up the Howling album and the artwork is incredible. Still is, but now every time I look at it I’ll probably wonder. Same with the Aborted. If it hadn’t been pointed out, I never would have guessed. Another one I won’t be able to look at the same way anymore.
Aw man, it doesn’t stop. The cabin in
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/41/72/4172735600-1.jpg
appears to be snatched from this 1991 cover (art by Andreas Marschall):
http://metalarea.org/images/audiocovers/2012_Feb/acov_uid94243_e6377948edb394d0ebfadfd1561e4d73.jpg
This is the equivalent of DJ Shadow stealing a million pieces of music and making a new track with it. What is the problem here ? If you all think originality is the most important thing when it comes to creation, then be original. But you’re wasting your time with witch hunts like these.
Music is not the same as visual art. It’s been explained plenty in this thread if you feel the need to know why.
I don’t think it’s wasting time at all, because many bands and clients of Slasher Design are coming to realize that the “original art” that they paid for is not actually original at all.
“What is the problem here?”
What is the problem with being a swindler?
What is the problem with taking money from bands, claiming that you’re working hard (read his blog), disrespecting the whole metal scene, fans and musicians alike, causing problems for publishers / merchandise distributors with harsh copyright infringement… oh, did I mention taking money for nothing?
You’re right, that’s absolutely OK to deceive everyone so blatantly.
The hammer in this Skeleton Witch shirt:
https://91576663-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/slasherdesign/gallery/t-shirts/shirt30.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cqSblfQVPqenK9JrdAiqj4hVRVOW03ptBArKSFRDTEEw-VSmayfr4_KR8vMs1Y1U0EIO1Ne1mubNyRUBam0FlSdoJ8r6htSWsLcGDP9vQvj-Qy193HjFnsga2dI7-dg9Z-EF6gAQXmlVRryGKuftIqFa8akT6lMWNrrmFYnbSqaBONRfzCnJWeycPh8_j-kK7mLs5sbFuFLHR9JUWIZwDBJUzfIvY-8XtJBU3WvAOe9Hwdj2us%3D&attredirects=0
Is stolen from the poster for BLOOD AND LACE (naturally, he reversed it):
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dl8K3CnX_iE/UFy0d7BXTnI/AAAAAAAADN8/zQmSXCk78Hs/s1600/blood+and+lace.jpg
This composite I made shows it better. I flipped the BLOOD & LACE image so you can clearly see it is the same hammer. The guy’s face is stolen from something too, but I can’t place it.
https://prnymq.bn1.livefilestore.com/y1pDaDnf1Mv4xxMiItFwSW5yNmDx6BQ3elcueJeJDn57ufpSGGOCQ48rWLYnq0ECsR9huaJyEB6y2Y/skeletonwitch2.jpg
He uses that face a lot:
http://www.yellmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/FRIGHT-RAGS-Silent-Night-Deadly-night-T-Shirt.jpg
“Troglodite” and “Malignancy” aren’t bad at all. On those, it can easily be said that he just used them for reference (heavily). Even where he’s copied Frazetta, it’s so minor that it could easily be defended as more of a tribute, than underhanded theft.
But the others show overwhelming evidence of simple plagiarism. It’s really sad because while is probably a talented artist, it casts a shadow on all his work. There’s an instinctual assumption now that something in any of his pieces was probably lifted from another artist.
Really a dumb move, especially given the accessibility and viral nature of the internet, and the fact that most of his horror audience is probably familiar with these classic sources and references.
A dumb move… rather hundreds of moves if you look.
Check this out for example, the Hester Prynne shirt “design” at the end of the list:
http://www.metal-archives.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=97114
Can you imagine the whole process, as he get hired by the guys and start to say, “Now this kind of work usually takes a month to do, but I do it for you in a week”… then he goes home, cut out parts from a couple (or dozens, as the Municipal Waste cover shows) sources, finish his “Ctrl-V Fest” in a hour, fap for a week, then grab the money?
Probably a talented artist, you say, but seriously… how so?
Just because we not recognized every source yet, it does not implicate that he painted even a single stroke in his life.
Hard to believe, but why? Because the produced material is top-notch, obviously, since he blended together already existing retro posters, comic covers and hellknowswhatelse from the ’70s and ’80s.
Not so hard to mimic painting style if all the works you mix together are paintings already.
The Troglodyte thing is worse than you think. Compare the cabin in that cover to this one here, from 1991:
http://www.mediaboom.org/uploads/posts/2010-12/1292351279_01.jpg
Attention to all those artists out there participating in this guys witch hunt. Ask yourselves, if your work was put out there for everyone to dissect, would you be guilty if a little something?
I’ve already brought this up earlier, I think you should read the thread.
I am an artist, link is in the name.
I am not ashamed that I use reference (no artist should be ashamed of that). I have definitely taking photos of my hands to see how they should be shaped. I have gone on google to see what all kinds of architecture, cloth folds, and muscles look like beyond what I can take pictures of myself.
But I *never- EVER* CUT a piece of artwork, PASTE it into my own, smudge over some seams and call it my own painting. The reference is always over to the side of my work canvas while I draw.
The reason you are seeing so many artists speak out about this is specifically because they follow the rules and it’s upsetting to see someone clearly disrespect other painters by using their work and calling it his own.
I’ve spoken enough about this through the week to write a novel. If you don’t get why it’s a bad thing, you don’t get it. But it is a bad thing.
Also – people like you keep calling this a “witch hunt”.
I’m not hunting anything. I don’t want to see the guy suffer. I don’t even think he was trying to be a dick about it. I think he’s a kid who doesn’t know any better and doesn’t understand basic artistic integrity and ethics. I’m sure he’s sitting at home going “WTF?!?!?!?!”
But when you take from legendary artists’ paintings, paste them into your canvas and say “Check out my awesome painting!” you are gonna get shit for that.
People are upset that he’s making a name for himself on the shoulders of others’ abilities. That’s not a witchhunt. That’s just vocalizing that you think something is shitty when something shitty happens.
Also…something that I forgot to say in my reply.
You said “If you work was out there for people to dissect…”
It is.
That’s what being an artist is about.
That’s why artistic integrity is important.
Because once you finish a piece and it goes out there into the world – the WORLD can then dissect it.
Most of the time they just dissect the quality of what you do. And trust me, every artist in this post as well as every artist in the world has to deal with that on a daily basis.
That’s why stuff like what Justin did is so perplexing. You already have to put up with a lot of criticism as an artist – why steal from other, better artists to make yourself look better than you are?
All artists should just do what they do – warts and all.
I’m sorry, but you can’t take painted strokes from Bekzinski, Frazetta, Bell, Vallejo, and NOT expect some backlash. You just can’t.
Yeah, I’m an artist as well and I’ve done plenty of stuff for bands and there’s no way you would find any outright copy and pastes of another artist’s work in mine. I’ve used Wrightson and Wood and others as references to see how they draw the shine on a helmet, or how they shade or texture a certain object, but I’ve always drawn the finished product myself, and I certainly never just stole something the way this dude did. And I don’t even think this would really be that big a deal if he was honest about how he made these images in the first place. He wouldn’t be able to charge a bunch of money for them, but at least people wouldn’t feel ripped off or tricked.
“Nothing is sacred,” indeed.
100% sure it’s copyright infringement:
https://securecdn.disqus.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/448/821/original.jpg
So weak and blatant, yet there are people still believing he only “supplemented”… not a single original line or effort.
That’s why I like this site (and knew about it way before that post) – the fact that this jerk is an exception, and not the general attitude.
It is most sad to me that despite all of the evidence, some people still seem to think this kind of stuff is totally cool.
“The only thing that matters is the end result”
“No rules, just tools” (I saw an acclaimed artist say that elsewhere).
I just don’t understand. It’s even more bizarre when actual artists defend it. I can guarantee if I took said artists’ work, shifted some hues around and added a new logo, THEY would be pissed beyond belief.
Is it because these are “old paintings” that they for some reason are excusable to these people?
Is it because some of the artists don’t have well-known names associated with them?
Or perhaps because ppl take granted that if something looks like a straight-to-canvas painting, then it can’t be digital.
Somewhere on a forum I saw a guy’s reaction to this whole misery, he constantly called the theft to be “tracing”… no sir, it’s cropping then pasting, nothing more.
While I’m still building my portfolio and I’m not a practicing designer yet, my preferred and most used method is photo-manipulation, starting from stock (raw) photos, pushing the hell out from them, to turn those generic photos into something visually appleasing. It takes time and it takes effort to make them artistic, even if the word itself sounds swell-headed.
Just saying this, because I’m not against digital approach at all.
Be original, put labor into it, be honest with your work. Make effort, push your limits.
No matter what style you prefer.
Someone else said the kid had sense for composition, but they forget that with ripping of those painted parts as starting points, the composite gives themselves already.
Just look for the Troglodyte cover in the post, he stolen the backround from this another cover, as DNS666 pointed it out:
http://www.mediaboom.org/uploads/posts/2010-12/1292351279_01.jpg
What sense of composition are we talking about then?
If you were to report it to the company or the owner of that film, that’s infringing hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Possibly millions. Let me make up a completely a fictional scenario just to show you how this guy could put in jail, IF that is he truly is stealing and not borrowing or ripping off without permission(and with how quiet he is and silent he’s remained, it’s clear he’s probably realizing he’s in deep shit) – but any who, back to my scenario: lets say you were using the image of Scooby-doo and using that image for your own product(in this case, album art) and you sell you it(in this case)and now it’s being used. If the owners of scooby-doo(sorry, I didn’t do my homework, IDK who owns scooby-doo) they would sue this guy for hundreds of thousands of dollars. If this guy ripped off any movies that sold and made box office millions, he could be sued for millions.( I might be wrong, a company can sue for whatever they please really) – but my point is, this guy is entering a world of copyright. And now this guy better get his story straight. As a musician and as a artist, this is unacceptable behavior. He won’t answer any questions or give us any feedback. I’d have more respect for him if he just told us the truth.
Given the fact that we already collected 20s or 30s of examples detailing his stealing, and how many lawsuit will it generate, I would say there’s a good chance it will escalate into prison sentence if you add everything together.
And you know, I’m not sure if I could feel pity… perhaps only a jerk who did everything for easy money. But how many bands, publishers or merch distibutors he screwed over?
How many problems or financial mess will he cause for smaller bands, who can’t throw money out, and their commisioned stuff pending in printing houses as they only got informed now?
He “produced” shitload of “artworks” recently, and not always for large studios or branding groups. Sometimes for small Daves and Johns, having only one shot to invest their money.
So yes, I do believe there’s difference between being reckless, or being straight harmful.
He deserve a visit to jail, where others will make the rip-off part… namely his clothes and pants. *nudge nudge*
I think the bands who’ve been using his “work” aren’t any legal trouble or financial disposition. They were unaware of what was going on, they were blind sided by this and I’m sure any band who has “artwork” from this guy will be the same way: shocked. If legal action is taken towards the band(s) having “work” done by this guy, I’m sure charges can be dropped if he takes full responsibility for his actions. Law is the law.
Although his act is not justifiable. He has a talent for composition and to assemble in the cool visual concept at the end.
Sorry for English is not my native language.
I am preparing another post with some of the examples from the discussion as well as band and artist statements..looking to get it up Monday as I wait for some replies…I was willing to move on but there is so much stuff and so many people are upset, that I feel it needs it…
It’s the right thing to do.
To help a bit with the process, the Hammerlord response:
https://www.facebook.com/HammerlordKS/posts/10151461806008270?_fb_noscript=1
“We were blindsided by posts regarding album covers designed by Slasher Design. Unfortunately, one album art in question was our “S/T” release.
To our knowledge, we purchased original art. To our dismay our art may have not been 100% original. We apologize to any artist, and or artists, whose work was used without credit and without our knowledge. We intend to cooperate with any issues due to this.
This has been a real bummer for all the bands affected.”
Make sure you add that Grinder cabin too. I think some of his defenders are like “Meh, he stole the monster. It’s not that bad.” When in reality, he stole the monster, the cabin, the girl from the yesweekly picture and most likely everything else on the cover. I’ll make a bet all of “his” backgrounds are on Deviant Art or something too.
*sigh* I give up. Check out this from 2009
http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/imgs/media.images/2708/art7662.widea.jpg
(cf. http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-7662-woods-of-terror.html)
and then once again see this from 2011:
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/41/72/4172735600-1.jpg
I’m gonna stop looking at this stuff at this point. My mind’s made up by now.
I knew I recognized that chainsaw too:
Sorry about that.
Chainsaw:
The guy has had the kind of career opportunities most artists would chew there left arm off for, and he’s blown it by pulling a stunt like this. It’s sad.
The Slasher Design facebook seems to be gone now too.
Ok, I think enough is enough. We got people here talking about jail… I think it’s time to knock it the hell off. People are mad… I get it. But in one week no one will care. This fella is trying to make a living. I’m sure his talent will come to light and hell have to change his method a bit. But leave him alone… Seeing him take down his FB page is upsetting to me. You guys act like he was raping children
LMFAO, ” You guys act like he was raping children” – you’re already off your ball on this one, guy. You’re telling me somebody should get away with breaking the law? This guy infringes copyright of other artists, and it’s pretty damn obvious he stole the shit, too. He could get away with this, if he obtained permission from the original artist, has issued credit to the original, gives exclusive rights to the portion of the artwork he’s doing to the original artist. None of which, has been shown at all. And with fact he took down his facebook page, I bet he’s just gonna call it quits cause the jig is up. No one is harassing him, there isn’t millions of people bothering him. I bet only 10 people have asked him why he’s stealing artwork. But obviously, if less than 20 people is enough to break him, it’s pretty obvious he has nothing to say of the matter. When I’m in a situation where I know I’ve done something wrong and I realize it, I try to run away from it and keep my mouth shut. Exactly what he’s doing. But there’s no telling how much shit he stole, he’s already used bits from movies in “his” “art”, and I know it’s pretty damn hard and expensive to obtain some image rights from a movie… and stealing that is a federal crime, is it not? Cause I’m sure those FBI warnings at the beginning mention copyright infringing is punishable by law.
I think you are actually the one blowing it out of proportion.
“raping children”? Come on. No one is saying that. Even for hyperbole, that is in poor taste.
“This fella is trying to make a living. I’m sure his talent will come to light and hell have to change his method a bit.”
Sounds like something Osbourne would say to defend his own ass.
Fella… so much euphemish here, while it became obvious that he had ZERO talent to even start with. I mean, you look at this cover:
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/41/72/4172735600-1.jpg
…you would say, hell, fucking cool. But not a single part is original, everything is stolen from other artists.
Background:
http://www.mediaboom.org/uploads/posts/2010-12/1292351279_01.jpg
Woman:
http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/imgs/media.images/2708/art7662.widea.jpg
Monster:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NQpXg0cx98Y/TQrFbjQacoI/AAAAAAAAAJE/YK4Nh0PsUfA/s1600/Nightmare_10+copy.jpg
And dozen of other posters, covers, comic books you could find if you look for… so seriously, the way as you try using euphemish here make your whole statement suspicious.
“Our high-quality merchandise designs include Album covers/layouts, Movie posters, T-shirts, Hoodies, Book Covers, Business Cards, Logo design and more.We are not your typical “slap some clip art and a lame font on a shirt and call it done” design company. Endless amount of attention and detail is put into the designs. The designs contain emotion and/or message the client/band is trying to portray, and often tell a story all on there own, thus making them some of the BEST in the industry. ”
LMFAO…
A little late to the party here, I too believe you guys are getting a little carried away here. You’ve got “GOOGLE” saying jail him, sentence him to the gas chamber! You’ve got people spending hours looking up his work, trying to dissect it. How in the hell are you guys finding this stuff?! Anyway, while I now realize that Slasher may not be as good the painter he is, he still is one phenomenal artist. And i still plan on using him for my bands upcoming album…. Why? Because he’s awesome.
I feel that I’m being fairly level-headed about it despite the fact that I have commented a lot.
I don’t want the guy jailed or anything. It’d be nice if he came out and apologized, definitely, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.
That said, what you just said is why people are freaking out. You can’t really say “he’s a phenomenal artist”, because so far people are finding that he doesn’t do much ‘art’ at all. He just collages.
If you were to show an example of something that you felt was “awesome”, the parts that you think are awesome were probably done by someone else!
So that’s why people are upset. You are still willing to hire him despite this. That tends to irk other artists quite a bit because many artists would like to be hired as well – many artists that actually draw and paint as opposed to cutting and pasting.
He’s lost my trust as a consumer and a fan. I won’t buy any of his shirts ever again because of the Phantasm shirt.
Since you missed the chance to show dignity and grow balls to confess Justin, it’s too late to heal anything with a few sock-puppet comments here.
And if that was a serious comment…
“phenomenal artist” – really? He cropped everything from retro posters, covers etc., not even the angles or composition is his own. You can’t find a single part which is not pasted from someone else.
Look at that:
http://www.mediaboom.org/uploads/posts/2010-12/1292351279_01.jpg
Using another artist’s background so blatantly, then stealing the woman, monster from other sources is only make him a phenomenal swindler.
Saying that anyone should hire him and cause even more trouble is utter retarded, sorry.
No one wants this guy in jail, but unfortunately he’s violated several laws and has violated a copyright law on a movie which is a federal offense. You think this guy is gonna get away with this with clean hands? Obviously not. I’m sorry I’m pretty up jail time, is that too real for you? Welcome to the real world.
Okay, I feel the need to weigh in here one more time.
By now, the posts defending him are sounding weaker and weaker as every brush stroke and pixel seems to have been lifted from some copyrighted material. It looks like the source material has simply not yet been located for any portion that still seems original and as time goes on, countless more examples are coming to light. There is still the odd comment “he’s still awesome, he just samples, like a DJ,” followed by detailed descriptions from real artists about why this is bullshit.
Let me tell you some stuff I know based on real copyright instances. Two punk bands come to mind; SNFU on their “…And No One Else Wante To Play,” album used a photograph of a boy holding a toy grenade. It turned out to be copyrighted material. They were threatened with a lawsuit, had to go to the effort and expense pull the albums from the shelves, then have a new cover drawn. Dead Kennedys on their “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables,” album used a photo of some old fogies in a band and pasted their logo on the bass-drum. Someone called them up, this time saying “I don’t like how my likeness was used.” Again, great effort and expenses to remove the albums from stores and alter the artwork.
Both these albums became collectors albums after the fact but still…
(Now that I think of it, The Rolling Stones had trouble with the cover of “Some Girls,” as well.)
Regardless of what happens to slasher himself, at least one of these bands will get a letter from a lawyer saying “I am the owner of this copyrighted image, I want you to cease and desist using it or I will take legal action.” Many, many more bands and labels will be scared shitless of this happening and pull the albums themselves.
This will not relate only to the unauthorized use of the image but how it is used ie; “I don’t like what this band represents and don’t want to be associated with it,” or “I don’t like how you hacked apart my piece and pasted it together.” It should be noted that in none of the above instances did anyone else sign their name and claim to have taken the photograph themselves.
During this discussion, I have been very tempted to contact Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell for their thoughts on the Hammerlord cover and how it relates to “sampling.” I haven’t because I know that this will be a shit-storm for the band as the artists will likely be pissed that their art was cannibalized in this fashion.
Hell, when it comes to use and copyright, even Iron Maiden asked Frank Herbert permission to call one of their songs “Dune,” and he said “no, fuck you heavy metal guys,” so they had to call it “To Tame A Land,” instead. Any of these artists can say “I don’t wan’t my art associated with your devil music,” at any time and pull the plug.
Any artistic sensibilities aside, this guy has potentially legally screwed all of these bands.
Regarding the problems he caused (and will cause, I guarantee), here’s an example:
http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=208946&page=10
“This is Nathan Thomas Milliner. I am writing to end my name being involved in this terrible situation. Justin Osbourn has only done one cover for Scream Factory. The LIFEFORCE coverart. I provided artwork for Halloween 2, 3 , Terror Train, The Funhouse, The Burning, Deadly Blessing and The Howling. I can assure you that all of them were hand drawn by me using images from the film or from myself. The images used from the film were photographs approved by the studio. In the case of the H3 cover. It is not The Tall Man but Dan O’ Herlihy from H3 with drawings of hands I referenced from a photo I took of my own hands. The Dude Designs name was also brought up. Dude did the They Live cover and is not guilty of plagarism. This is all on Justin so please keep our reputations from being drug around in the mud with his. I am the one appearing at HorrorHound Weekend as I have worked for the company for five years. You can see my original Scream Factory artwork at my booth. I assure you it was all drawn by me and not cut and pasted from other artist’s work. I feel sad for the situation but when I saw my name getting confused with Osbourn’s I had to comment and clear it up. I will not have my name tarnished by the irresponsible actions of another artist.”
I wrote this on the forum this morning when people were unclear of which blu ray covers Justin did for Scream! Factory. People were under the impression that he did many of them–those illustrated by myself and The Dude Designs. Our names and covers were being mixed up in it and someone suggested confronting me about the plagiarism at HorrorHound Weekend in two weeks as I would be a guest. Basically they were mixing me up with him as we both did work for Scream! and I was trying to clear up the confusion.
wow some of these new ones are way to obvious! haha. This guy will get whats coming to him, there has been to much of a backlash about his work. I don’t think he will get sued, but his work flow will surely come to a halt, and it should.
Yeah, I’ve been seeing this topic at a lot of other forums related to everything from metal, horror, to just tshirts.
Unfortunately for him, silence is his worst enemy at the moment. Some of the defenders seem to think this will “blow over in a week and no one will remember this” and I am sure Justin feels that way, too.
But I really don’t think that is the case.
Oddly enough, if he had just made a comment in the first day, most people probably wouldn’t have found a lot of these really damning examples.
He’ll be threatened with legal action for sure. Bands like Molly Hatchet or Wolfmother who have used Frank Frazetta paintings on their album covers have paid a lot if money to do so.
If you use a Frazetta painting on your album cover without permission, the estate of Frank Frazette will likely sue the eyeballs from your head. If you cut up a Frank Frazetta painting, slap it on your album cover and call it your own, I cannot imagine what will happen to you. Guess we’ll find out…
After scanning the examples here, I’m impressed by the creativity of his mashups. Only problem I see is that they weren’t sold for what they are… No doubt because mashups would sell for less than “originals” (not such a good excuse), and/or the copyright legal minefield that would involve – an excuse that I sympathise a lot with, as I think existing copyright law is utterly broken. (No, I’m not an artist who has to sell his work to eat, and no, I don’t care if you are.)
hmmmm… a look into his process?
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m144/slasherdesign/MySpaceGens_4067730278.gif
As someone else has already pointed out, it’s laregely derived from this cover:
https://lh3.ggpht.com/_laMqVhe5lyU/TS3otyngGQI/AAAAAAAAAC4/6F2rf8yJa1k/s1600/Raw+Power+-+Screams+From+The+Gutter.jpeg
Year: 1984
He is probably just tracing over it and hiding that layer when he takes the screenshot. I bet you he will never have posted any real time videos of his process.
This one of the most damning pieces of evidence against him. He takes the Raw Power art and then deconstructs it in photoshop, just so he can show a more “unfinished” form of the art in the gif that is supposed to show his process. He is intentionally making the job more time consuming to fool the viewer into believing that, start to finish, the work is 100% his. To do this clearly shows that he was conscious of the fact that his ACTUAL process for creating images was unethical and would not be respected. His clear intent with this video was to deceive. Also, the face on the figure does look lifted from the fantastic cover by Gurchain Singh for “Gore Shriek” #1 (which, ironically, is probably better well known as a Carcass t-shirt design. No doubt “borrowed” from that cover.) However, it is not a direct rip like most of his “painted” work. It looks as if he clumsily traced or re-drew it. Perhaps this little detail also gives us insight into the real extant of his artistic abilities?
One thing that I find interesting is that some people keep saying that it’s basically really “sad” that people are sitting around trying to find the images that he stole from.
The fact of the matter, though, is that you are talking about other artists. Other artists that make artwork their livings and have spent their entire lives being inspired by other artists.
Most of us can just easily recall an image that is used if we think about it for a few seconds. I doubt anyone is sitting at home for 10 hours scouring the web looking for these images.
They just recall an old piece of art “on the tip of their brain”, check it out and then confirm that they were right.
To me, he doesn’t get credit for having talent. He gets credit for having good taste in old movie posters and classic fantasy artists, though.
I’ve been following this for the last few days (as a working illustrator this pisses me off to no end), and you’re right. It’s not a witch hunt, anyone with a decent visual memory and an interest in this type of art will pick it all out.
It should make anyone stark raving mad.
Anyone can do this, with a modicum of skill, hell all of the values and modeling are done for you, all you have to do is figure out a mildly new color palette and you’re off…
I’m surprised no one has mentioned his other less popular site https://sites.google.com/site/osbourndrawstore/
… which clearly shows off his “true” mediocre at best, drawing skills. This should tell you right away that NONE of “his” other work is his own. NONE!
That’s by ‘Brian Osbourn’, probably a relative of his.
I’ve wondered about that myself. Why are the two sites linked so closely? They share a landing page and on the Slasher Design webpage there is a prominent banner for Osbourn Draw.com that says “visit our partner sight”. The sight seems to be moderated by a “Brian Osbourne” but I do not see anywhere on the site who the art is credited to. It is entirely probable that “Brian” and “Justin” Osbourn collaborate on the work shown there. Maybe Brian writes the comics and Justin illustrates them? It’s also possible that they are the same person and the work shown on Osbourn draw is the actual work of Justin Osbourne. I know this sounds conspiratorial but considering these proven facts, so far, it seems entirely plausible.
1. He willing deceives people about his process in the way he handles the Raw Power art rip in the “Bonded By Blood” gif.
2. He has not issued a statement or any explanations. (One can assume that a person who felt they’ve done no harm would be fighting to save their reputation and thus their career)
3. He has already deleted the Slasher Design facebook page. (An attempt to disappear)
I don’t think it’s unwise for some who is knowingly participating in things like this to have multiple online identities. Because, seriously, with the attention and commissions Justin was getting with Slasher Design why would you even risk confusion with the two sites being so closely linked? One can easily tell Justin was very aware of his “brand” and was/is a rather savvy marketer. It doesn’t seem beneficial from a branding standpoint unless he was involved creatively in both.
It certainly couldn’t be financially because I don’t think Osbourn draw is moving to many units of titles such as End Trails, Melody Lane, Life After Zombies, This House Is Haunted, SeaFright, Tomorrowville and my personal favorite, Soldier Spook. Shit sounds like the CW’s new fall line-up.
http://reigninart.com/archives/slasher-studio-talks-about-the-troglodyte-art
Osbourn did an interview with Reign In Art a couple years ago, and the most he says of his process is basically “It was painted digitally in photoshop for the most part.”
“A specific instance was when I did the movie poster for Perkins’ 14. Although it wasn’t a huge movie or anything, it was incredibly awesome to be able to go see the movie in the theater and think “I did the poster for that”.”
You know, even knowing the obvious deceit and lying he made each and every time when someone hired him, it’s unbeliviable that he dared giving interviews. Some people not only adored his claimed works, but felt respect toward him, and his misdeed harm almost everyone related with rock.
He pretty much raped the whole metal scene, bands, artists and all those fans. I don’t think that a single slap on the wrist could compensate anything, with or without the financial part.
Here’s where the face for Bond by Blood comes from…GoreShriek number 1! It was the easiest one for me to spot out!
http://www.oocities.org/gore_shriek/gs1.jpg
Arm & shotgun in the Hester Prynne artwork
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-5wCMYTuL.jpg
come from the Outland movie poster (1981):
http://cinema-irregular.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/outland_1981.jpg
I knew I’d seen this before.
It’s clearly apparent his only talent is being a good thief.
He should probably issue a statement, now that it’s starting to blow back on other artists…
how so?
I’m waiting to see if anyone finds anything from that Howling album cover. Tony sounds like a real dick and doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. It’s probably cause no one hasn’t found anything yet on the Howling artwork… I bet he wouldn’t defend this guy if he realized if something(and there probably is something) from his album is stolen from another artist/painter.
You must be referring to someone else right? Because I’m not defending him. I may have come off harsh, but this guy doesn’t deserve any respect for doing nothing but stealing other peoples hard work. I have yet to see any proof that this guy has ever made an original piece of art.
I believe google is referring to Tony Proffer from the the band “Howling”, who left this rather insightful comment…
“This is the stupidest thing ive ever seen! you think he stole from these shitty things, they look nothing alike! FUCK OFF”
No no no, Tony, I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about Tony Proffer.. There’s a good Tony on here and then there’s that asshole Tony Proffer.
Oh, ok then. Carry on lol.
I made that statement because on the forum people were getting the artists mixed up and our names and art were being mixed up in the confusion. People don’t always fully read before they react (as we have seen) and other artist’s were being mistakenly associated with this terrible situation.
There is no association for people who actually time to read complete sentences…
hahaha…I wrote it as an incomplete sentence…sorry…very busy week
Sorry, yes, busy week. The forum I was referring to was the blu ray website where this article found its way. As I am sure you are aware this article is everywhere now. I was directed to a blu ray forum where people were getting the work of other artists who worked in the same companies as Osbourn mixed up. Since this story broke I have not wanted to say anything but when I saw myself and other artists being associated I had to say something. I apologize for any confusion I caused. Someone reposted the statement I made on the other site and I just wanted to clarify it.
no problem…feel free to provide a link to your work
When I reposted your statement, I started with the link to the blu-ray forum, and the quote itself was a reply for the copyright topic.
I felt Hammerlord’s and your responsees are important, because there are still portion of people who believe the whole “scandal” is overreacting.
What Slasher did is not a childish prank without consequences. Your example is one of the better outcomes, as you handled the issue in time before fans got deeper with associations.
(I think/hope.)
This could easily become a very long and exhausting discussion about plagiarism versus inspiration. It really comes down to the artist. While one could say that “no comment” is admission of guilt, I would argue that it is the response of an insulted artist.
I don’t think you’ve looked at all of the examples.
It’s not inspiration.
If he is “insulted”, then imagine how the original artists that he stole from felt.
Dusty is completely right
I don’t really see all of this as stolen… Unless he is marketing himself as an illustrator. He’s a really talented graphic artist. Bringing in so many outside elements and creating a unified look, making the clients happy. I mean the genre’s fit the market he’s selling to, and no one is saying if he had the original artist permission or not.
I get that its a bit overboard on using so many parts of other people’s work. But because he’s so prolific, I doubt he thinks he’s doing something wrong, and I’m not sure he actually is either.
When the first examples came out, and we believed he only used those parts as minor additions, it could be something similiar to the scenairo you described… but since it got proved (like the whole Hester Prynne package, or the Hammerlord / Troglodyte covers, inner pages etc.), that every single part is stolen, the situation became clear.
We can’t even talk about an artist, he’s a swindler.
I think he made it so blatantly because he approached everything with the same attitude as kids repost stuff on their Faceebook or Tumblr walls… they give shit but nothing about real artist’s work and effort, because they are OUTSIDERS to the the art world.
It’s not that he had balls ripping of guys like Frazetta.
He had no reason to have any regret of fear, because with no talent at his disposal, he had nothing to fend when he started it. He never spent years building up skills, so he pulled out unashamed tricks that no one else would dare to, nobody who have any artistic ambition or honest plans in this tribe.
Easy money he tought. It’s just like fraud doctors selling phoney medicine. Since they are not real doctors, they don’t have any medical carreer in hazard. They can’t get expelled. Problem is, after the immedient easy payments, he became greedy, but stayed stupid to keep it low profile… playing it slow or quiet… he went further and further, soaking himself and others in that deep shit.
If you missed to take a look at his site, chack out everyone who made business with him:
https://sites.google.com/site/slasherdesign/victims
Just to say a single example, each merchandise distributor will reach the point where they have to recall shirts from retail stores because the infringements, and that cost hard money, not even to mention the printing cost for all those shirts you can’t sell.
He was disgusting for ripping off, but straight idiot for escalate it into scales like this, and that’s why there are no defence for him.
He can’t pull out the Reckless-then-Regret Card.
I mean, Warner Bros, Century Media, and dozen of record companies? A Bruce Willis movie?
Or that amount of bands, magazines, retailers?
It’s always interesting to see the chasm of knowledge deficiency with people who don’t actually create graphics or do freelance work at a professional level. They seem to really think that “everyone does this”, or that “this is nothing unethical”, or that “it’s like a mash up” (or “sampling”, “inspiration”, etc).
Well that’s not what is going on here at all. These are images that have clearly been composed as digital collages of other people’s work. Somewhat skillfully collaged mind you (and then color corrected/ tied together with filters and “decayed” elements), but not drawn, or painted, or created in a wholesale manner whatsoever. This was not a “swipe”, and there was no redrawing (or tracing, or painting) from a reference — in every instance shown here so far, someone else’s original art was merely chopped up and slightly rearranged (likely in Photoshop), tweaked a bit color wise, and then sold as a final commercial piece.
Now if you don’t know how the business (or the mechanics) of this stuff actually works, you might think that this is all “okay” or “just how it’s done”, or whatever — and if you were making a flier for your garage sale or your sister’s birthday party or something, you might be right about the practice being fairly common. People DO steal the original work of artists all of the time and they usually DO get away with it, but generally NOT WHEN THE FINAL WORK IS FOR COMMERCIAL USE.
It also can be a bit confusing in a world where the playing field is increasingly level tool-wise, because the ability to manipulate the copy-written work created by others is easier and easier to do, but the laws and ethics around this stuff still aren’t as up for debate as many of the commentators here seem to think. They really aren’t.
So sure, some of you might “not get it” or “not see what the big deal is”, yes — but then again it’s highly likely that its not your JOB to “get it”, otherwise you would know better. Your opinions aren’t stupid or idiotic either, they’re just uninformed. Commercial art is a business, not a debate at a bar.
TL;DR: he’s screwed.
There have been a lot of excuses thrown out there.
The deadline thing: Say no. Know your time limits and only take jobs you can do on time. But you can’t use this excuse when over 50% of the time you are doing this.
Homaging/tribute/influence: Most artists learn how to do what we do by influence of our favorite artists. No doubt about it. We all take a little something from them. But we don’t LITERALLY take something from them. We may learn a technique, a brush stroke, a trick, linework, ect. But our idea of a tribute or an homage doesn’t mean cutting a pasting the artist’s work and actually using it in our art. It is about style. I may use an artist’s style to pay tribute but the art itself is completely original and the only resemblance it bears is the style not the actual image. That’s influenced by, what was done here is flat out theft.
A lot of people shrugged off the “smaller” lifts. The eyeball from the magazine cover for example. But to me, that is the most effective evidence. If an artist can really do the work–at this level–what kind of artist needs to copy an eyeball? What kind of artist can’t just draw an eye? Who needs to look up a reference to draw an eyeball? The answer: No real artist.
Many artists use photo reference. Especially when your job is to nail the likenesses of your subject–in film for example. Drew Struzan was the God of movie posters and he used production photos the studio supplied him with and even projected them onto the canvas and traced them. Norman Rockwell did the same.
I find the whole situation unfortunate and I it has put me into a strange place. I know a few other artists are feeling the same way who I have talked to. Many of us felt Justin was one of the very best and he some of us admired his work and found inspiration to push ourselves more to be better ourselves because of the work he was producing. To suddenly discover that this artist who motivated you to be better was a fraud does a number on you. I don’t want to see this kid extremely punished for this. He made some big mistakes and there is no excuse and he wronged a lot of people. An apology would be a nice start. But one thing is for sure, whether he was ever good at creating actual art or not, he has done a good job of ruining his name and has lost the respect of just about everyone in the business. I feel sorry for everyone involved, including Justin. Sorry, that is just how I see it.
What a great comment…thanks for that. A week later, I still sit here shaking my head and all just really bothers me on so many levels. Thanks and welcome to my humble little site.
“A lot of people shrugged off the “smaller” lifts. The eyeball from the magazine cover for example. But to me, that is the most effective evidence. If an artist can really do the work–at this level–what kind of artist needs to copy an eyeball? What kind of artist can’t just draw an eye? Who needs to look up a reference to draw an eyeball? The answer: No real artist.”
Best point in entire thread.
Fantastic comment.
I see these people as non-sports fans walking up to a group of sports fans and saying “I dunno guys…I don’t really see a problem with steroid use. I mean, they play better, right? It’s just a good game that I wanna see, so what’s the problem?”
All of these works are collages, basically. I used to do this for fun when I was learning Photoshop. If you look at any one piece you could probably track down every element there from another source (I can tell you right now that the woman on the “welcome to boggy creek” cover is Richard Corben’s work). Add some filters and masks and call it good. Never occurred to me someone would be ballsy enough to do this for money and call it their own work.
Can someone help out with this?
The band “Howling” just recently released their debut album a week ago… Not yet being exposed, they got Justin “Stolen Design” Osbourn to do the cover. Recently they responded to the news with this statement:
“This is news to us. Just yesterday we were informed about the goings on of his borrowing certain parts of art and reworking them into “his own”. So the only thing we can say right now is, how were we supposed to know, you know? Not sure if anything in this piece was stolen, borrowed, etc., but if anyone has the time to research they can. It’s unfortunate that this is the news we have been dealt, but it’s not something that we can take back or erase, nor would we want to because we initially loved Justin’s art and style; this was why we chose him.
The art is done, paid for, on our release, and like I said, we can’t take it back. Thanks, guys!”
Below I provided a pic of the album cover Justin did…
http://i1283.photobucket.com/albums/a548/xfmetal/Noscroll1/howlcov_zpsb2233db2.jpg
Does anyone know of any possible stolen/used artwork for this album? Looking at some of the examples of his TRUE original work, it’s painfully obvious that he does not hold the talent to create such an amazing cover…
Thanks!
I’m sure it is, looks just like his other ”work”.
I also wanna know where he stole the image of the girl with a tramp stamp for the “Seether” cover he did. Probably from a 90′s Bud Lite ad. Also, I don’t know what I find more disgusting, what Justin did or the band Seether.
In that Howling album art, am I crazy or is that an arm where that girl’s right breast should be? haha I know I’ve seen her on something before.
Yeah that breast man…totally a red herring of the collage. He started to get really sloppy. If your actually drawing that image you draw two tits..not one tit and then one mutated elongated leg thing!
That and he fact that she’s not looking at the thing that’s attacking her. It looks like she was being chased or being picked up by something in the original.
Here is the Howling´s “cabin guys”
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_L5fa2CwoCuY/TKuykc88tvI/AAAAAAAACJU/Y9E8QMTZUW4/s1600/MU+9-01.jpg
well, one of them at least. whit a hat.
I’m going to add that I have been following this article for the past few days, and echo the sentiments of most people here. More importantly, it has made me look at some of my own recent work and realise that I have been drawing from photographs found in several books I keep as reference, and that some of what I have created contains derivative art.
Just thought I’d add that I view this as a positive outcome from all of this, as my practices will be more informed from now on.
Good website; bookmarked.
What the fuck are you talking about Arrrrrrrach thats complete idiotic talk, of course artists work from reference and photos, its that type of reactionary shit, which is as bad as what the news papers do with stories. good luck drawing without referencing anything. As long as your not cutout other peoples drawings are you arrrraach
I’m talking about drawing directly from copyrighted photographs. You may say it’s idiotic talk, but the law in the UK says otherwise.
Get a grip, you can use photos for reference, dig out a car or buildings, this twat has been grabbing peoples art and calling it his, that isnt the same thing as drawing from a photo of the queen. but good luck if you think that. May your drawings look great, i wish you well.
Also are you creating big published works as i doubt some one is going to track you down and sue you for drawing a likeness of there cat if you are penning images for your own site, even the odd band t-shirt.
Well I hope to one day be successful, so will change my practices so that nothing can bite me on the arse later. You should google ‘derivative art’; most countries will have it included in their copyright law.
I understand that what I and I’m sure many other artists do is not the same as what Slasher has done here, I am saying that this article has made me look into something I had never really thought about before, and that as a result, I find that I have been creating art that is derivative of other peoples’ copyrighted photography.
The ‘UK law’ what the fuck man, your living on the edge there…
“breakin’ the law breakin’ the law”
lol; thanks for the well-wish.
well if people like you keep talking the same shit, its going to put a lot of young kids even attempting to start drawing stuff and art is something that should be open to everyone. dont start putting labels on it and being complete fascist about it.
Frustrated day?
Hmm, I didn’t put the label on it. Again, I suggest you read about copyright law, and the areas where an artist can fall into bother. Photography is a legitimate art form, just like drawing and painting.
If Slasher had drawn and rendered anew from these sources that he has simply lifted from, he would be less lazy, but would still have breached the copyright of said painters. Perhaps you do not respect photography in the same way, but the intellectual rights are the same.
And if people like me keep talking this same shit, I imagine it will remind the kids that are attempting to start drawing stuff that if they want to publish their work one day, they should be aware of this.
it depends to what level your talking about and what photos. the problem here is that he was taking other peoples drawing and calling the his drawings, if i took other peoples photos and called them my photos then yes. if your drawing a cat from a… oh forget it.
Yes, it depends. What you describe is plagiarism. What I’m talking about is derivation. I’ve been clear that these are not the same thing.
My point is that this article has made me consider copyright infringement much more thoroughly than I had previously, and find how easy it can be to be careless.
Haha, I forgot who’s the guy that does those “Obey” propaganda looking posters. You sound EXACTLY like him. He knew what plagiarism was, but he never thought how easy it was to infringe or do. Some of his work then became copyrighted, the word “plagiarism” then became more apparent to him and he knows the error of his ways. A lot of painters and artists I’ve met in my lifetime have copyrighted once or twice, cause they confused “Reference and inspiration” with stealing or downright copying. This happens with a lot of people, but 99.9% of the time they STOP what they’re doing and don’t continue doing it…..unlike Slasher Design.
I wonder where “his” current “Art” is from?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uQF7o6GXsvQ/USp3vugPS4I/AAAAAAAAFrE/NEO4doBlS9M/s1600/Cover.jpg
Probably some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde poster.
Only started to search, the dark parts around his eyes are yet again from this particular Scream cover (June 1974):
http://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/690931.jpg
Here’s the one guy in the background; spear and everything
http://www.comic-covers.com/Skywald/Psycho/images/psycho07.jpg
haha His own band (Vena Amori) t-shirts:
http://a4.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/124/b419acd128614b20a513f925f7e05157/l.jpg
The Night Evelyn Came Home:
http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-n/night_evelyn_came_out_of_grave_poster_01.jpg
The Night Eveylun Came Out of the Grave, I mean haha
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/885030_144249115743713_1613032316_o.jpg
There ya go, Doc.
haha
Once again his patented “flip it and no one will notice” move is on display!
if it was anyone else it wouldn’t be so bad. A lot of bands strongly reference (copy) cult films in their merch.
I am unclear how that is sometimes allowed, or under what circumstances…
http://lgoat.com/i/news/Deathwish_sampler_summer_2012.jpg
People really need to stop with the “this has happened before!” stuff.
Of course it has happened before.
What the problem is here is that literally his entire body of work is done this way.
His entire business!
i wanted to come on here and publicly apologize for my earlier comment! when this all started i did not believe this all to be true but after the mountains and mountains of evidence obviously its true and justin osbourn is a complete thief!! i did not understand the copy/paste stuff with art, but after all this i wanted to say me and howling do not support slasher design whatsoever! and wish we had never hired him for our cover! I was hurt and frustrated at first because i didnt understand what was going on fully and was pissed and lashed out! I did not want to come off as an asshole and i apologize to any one i offended by my comment! Please know that i no way endorse what he did! and hope bo one ever hires him again and im sure if razorback does a second pressimg of our album we will be gettomg new art! Again i apologize an hope know one looks down on Howling for having his art associated with our band! thanks for reading!
Thank you for coming here to make that statement. I will be including it in the follow up article coming out tomorrow.
Will the follow up have a nice extensive side by side comparison of everyone’s hard detective work?
Personally I’m more interested in the responses that the site’s owner received by e-mails. We already saw 2 statement by bands there in the comments (Hammerlord and Howling), but there should be more, since bands, fans and the whole metal scene deserve to bring awareness, not even to mention the original artists.
We talking about years, and hell lot of customers.
So, what would be great, is two section, one for those stataments, and one for decent list with added examples from the comments, because in it’s current form, some examples still misleading with their timid approach.
Take the Troglodyte cover for example – the single comparison with the head caused a lot of misunderstanding and DENIALS. Since then, it became clear that the backround, the woman, everything is taken from somewhere (and someone) else.
Thank you for making a sensible comment.
Respect for doing the right thing.
http://oi47.tinypic.com/2di1q1h.jpg
What’s this? If anyone recognizes the poster on the right side to find the right because this has already been processed.
Poster for the 1969 flick “Night of Bloody Horror”:
http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-n/night_of_bloody_horror_poster_01.jpg
Artwork by R. LaManna.
Night of Bloody Horror poster
http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-n/night_of_bloody_horror_poster_01.jpg
That is actually lifted from The Night of Bloody Horror… I would know, because I have it framed on my wall right next to me.
http://wrongsideoftheart.com/wp-content/gallery/posters-n/night_of_bloody_horror_poster_01.jpg
Haha yeah I remembered it from the Paragon VHS I think.
Rearranged and properly attributed so it can be used on the follow-up article:
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/5660/shockertshirt.jpg
Has any one confirmed this as a Slasher design? This isn’t really his MO. He usually doesn’t use things so obvious and “unedited”. I don’t see this on his website either. It looks more like a “homage” usage case where the person who made the flier isn’t intending for people to think it is their original painting. They want people to recognize what the image is from. I see a Lunchmeat logo on there and this looks more in the vein of the design they do. Also, frankly, Justin Osbourne’s “work” usually has better use of text than this and a more cohesive overall design aesthetic.
Just something to think about. It’s important that other artists don’t get drawn into this anymore than they already have.
@Zyklon-T
See https://www.myspace.com/slasherdesign/blog/302138800.
Wow…ok now I understand what he was doing. Thanks. I see someone else was comparing his “shocker” design to the NY horror fest poster, not saying he did that.
I’m sorry though, if your fucking dumb enough to spend that on one of those “custom” shirt designs for your shitty band you get what you deserve.
You can’t place the blame on the band.
How would they know? They don’t keep up with what he’s stealing from.
They just see a cool image and a cheap price and are happy to spend it.
Osbourne clearly has it set up so any one who’s willing to pay the money can use these designs. He makes no illusions that these are custom for one individual band. So if your willing to do that, just purchase some “brootal” design cause it looks sweet, your band is as unoriginal as Justin’s art and you get what you deserve.
If Justin sold designs to bands and told them they were original for them and only them, that is a different story. Those bands got screwed and that sucks. Otherwise it looks like he’s pretty up front about his business practices, however one may perceive them.
“He makes no illusions that these are custom for one individual band.”
Zyk, bands like Howling and Hammerlord already made statements that they DO wanted original art.
I’m referring specifically to the three designs (Shocker, Street Thrash, Beer Bash) he has available on the pretty much “buy it now” link provided by DNS666.
Like i said, if a band paid for what they were told is original art and did not receive that, I totally sympathize with them. They had no way of knowing.
That’s different than a band who doesn’t give a fuck that ten, twenty or even a hundred different bands are using the exact same image for their merch/album with just their own logo slapped on. I’m not sorry if I feel that that is a testament to a band’s lack of creativity and therefore uselessness to me.
I enjoy bands that are strong and confident in their OWN sound and aesthetic. Leaders not fucking followers!
In the words of Sarcofago “FALSE…DO NOT ENTRY!”
“He usually doesn’t use things so obvious and “unedited”.”
That cracked me up, just look at the poster for his own Kansas based band, Vena Amori:
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/885030_144249115743713_1613032316_o.jpg
What I meant was “obviously unedited”. Even if he is ripping paintings off he usually has a few more elements changed or added in. Even in the Vena Mori design the image is flipped and there’s a few different design elements going on. I wasn’t in any way trying to support what he’s done.
Trust me, I know many of the images he uses are obvious to true fans of art genre he’s taken his source material from.
150.00 for 30 seconds of work!!!!!!!!!!
What a piece of shit this kid has turned out to be… Glad Slasher Design is no more…
Only a week passed, he still have pending commissions, and no legal action taken yet, so it’s too early to say that Slasher Design is no more.
That’s why it’s useful to collect even more overwhelming evidence.
Step one, prevent further theft.
Step two, force him to take responsibility, which ios not a single “oh sorry, I regret now”. It’s not a childish prank.
Someone over on reddit posted this nice illustration re. the Hammerlord cover:
http://i.imgur.com/qvW6AKm.gif
Original thread here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/19wr22/popular_horror_artist_justin_osbourn_slasher/
I was wondering when a reddit thread would happen. I assumed it would happen in /r/metal, but graphic design subreddit is even better because you have a higher volume of actual artists weighing it on it instead of a bunch of knuckleheads that just like the end result, therefore all’s well.
My husband is a member of a band who purchased what they thought was original artwork for their album cover/interior. When he first showed me the comparison pictures I felt a sinking sick feeling in every fiber of my being. Are you going to get sued, is this going to effect our personal lives were my first questions. We know Justin, we live in the same area, we have spent time with him, and I can never forgive him for putting us and so many others in this position. It’s wrong on more than just a stealing is not right level, this could impact people’s personal lives, the lives the lead when they are not out there making music. Selling what you call “original artwork” for $500+, and it not being original makes me angry in a way that I cannot fully express. It sucks, it makes me sad, and I hope he never gets paid for making art again.
I visited his site and even the damn Slasher Design logo has something stolen in it.
Logo:
https://sites.google.com/site/slasherdesign/_/rsrc/1288995512656/config/customLogo.gif?revision=7
Jess Franco’s BLOODY MOON:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516Zrl6WLHL._SY300_.jpg
Well, Thought of not replying because Justin has always been real cool to us and a good friend when I met him, however, I have to say we feel a bit tricked and fooled after seeing all this, especially since the gross of the artwork for global flatline is straight ripped off from other work… We did pay a good sum of money (it wasn’t cheap trust me) for original art, and now I know why upon requesting higher resolution of files for merch printing he was unable to send it… I feel really sad about this and really don’t know how to respond, Justin is talented, but this will surely prevent any further collaborations to say the least… I think you guys even missed a few of the copied faces on even the pictures linked on there btw,…
we have used the original Beksinski painting for our debut album fully authorized by Sanok Museum In Poland which holds Beksinski rights, it sucks seeing such a masterpiece “raped” that way…
As someone who pays artists on the occasion we need artwork for a cd release we do, I always insist that the original artwork goes to me. It would be a good call for others to do the same as a way of safeguarding your integrity.
Pretty disgusting thing to do, BUT if thats what you advertise you do then I see no problem, but this guy is an obvious rip-off artist who uses cut and paste, then pushes it off as an original illustration.
Not a bad idea, except there are plenty of responsible digital painters out there that do not steal from others. And those artists don’t have original art to give the clients.
I just want to point out to any artists reading the above comment by Mark… don’t EVER give the original art/painting to a client. Maybe if they pay you extra, but even then it’s a bad idea because you can probably get more for it later down the road, especially if it becomes well known. This is just another way for the client to take advantage of artists.
Have you heard Marvel Comic book artist Greg Land? This man famous for swiping female poses for ads and movies. Its so blatant there’s a thing called Swipe File that breaks it all down. Many comic book artists do this with photoshop tracing and other computer drawing techniques. They aren’t all hacks but still its pretty blatant and disturbing trend.
Absolutely.
It’s primarily the reason that I have been so vocal about what he’s done on this site because that ‘style’ of art in the comics industry is essentially accepted at this point in time.
Everyone always cites Neal Adams (I have myself) as the pattern for why it’s okay. Except Neal Adams took his own photos, traced them, but added his own style. People like Greg Land and Salvatore LaRocca just straight up trace and leave it as is.
And people are cool with that.
“That’s how the industry is”.
The more leeway we give artists, the more they’ll take shortcuts.
We need to draw the line somewhere and I think it’s definitely at taking other peoples’ art and using it as your own.
Are there any new updates regarding this? Has Justin stepped forward or acknowledged this anywhere else other than this forum?
He has (in the other thread called “Select-Copy-Paste”), but it was a very shallow apology and diverted the blame away from himself and placed it upon a “technique he learned in art school”.
Still, he did come forward about it, which is something at least.
I think most people are still pretty much at exactly the same opinion of him. If he is going to redeem himself, he’ll need to prove it with his future artwork.
Could you explain how you found these matches? Did you already know about the source material, or is there some sort of image-search software you used? Because I’ve seen some other album covers that are even more obviously photoshopped/copy-and-pasted than these, and I’d like to track down sources for them.
Wait a minute. From looking through all of the examples of theft here, (to me) it seems as though the guy just used other peoples artwork as ‘models’ for certain figures in his artwork. Much like an artist will use a person to paint a figure in a sketch, or painting. I think some of you are going a little too far with the accusations. If the guy is clearly talented, and doesn’t NEED to steal from other artist’s work, couldn’t you assume then, that this may be the case?