Word has came to me that the work of our official artist, Too, has been heavily criticized for (apparently) showing resemblance with other published works. There has been a lot of discussion, either on some art forums and on deviantART (however I’m not giving any links, those people don’t deserve hits), and some people even called him “Fake artist”. Not to mention that when my brother stepped in one of the discussion to say his opinion, someone was bold enough to say “I feel sorry for you” because we were his commissioners.

Let me start by saying that the whole discussion reeks of extreme moralism, and I dare say even disinformation. The original drawing that started this mess was a tribute to the artist known as “co2a” and done with his permission. As for the images, for some there is a resemblance of similarity, while others are similar probably only in the dreams of the ones who posted it (Beautiful World is one striking examples). Also some people forgot to check the drawings’ comments, because in certain cases the inspiration was written and made public.

But calling Too a fake artist… exactly how “fake” are the drawings that illustrate our books? The characters did not exist except in my brother’s mind before he drew them… so please have first a respect of the man, then of his work. It’s original work, and even high quality. I reiterate that I’m very pleased by his work, and that The S.T.E.A.L. Saga couldn’t have had a better artist.

Personally I don’t think that there was conscious reference work, but even if there was… people, go and look at art history books. By your own definition, the Renaissance artists would be “fake artists” because for their work they inspired to works made by the Romans and the Greeks. If you want to express criticism, be constructive and don’t attack the person or call him a “fake artist”. It only makes you look ridicolous.