"Art" by Mike

Okay, I was looking for an image of a big-horn sheep. I wanted to stylize it in Adobe Illustrator for a project I was working for. This is something that I don't mind doing because I am not an artist, nor do I try to make a living (or a buck) taking credit for it. There are two images on the first page of a Google image search that just looked a little too similar.


One of them is from a site called Art by Mike. I thought, cool, he did a good job copying that picture! However, the quote from his website says:

This is another first for me. I finally have a drawing of a big horn sheep. This is another image that I have had a bunch of requests for. This drawing took me quite a while to do because of the amount of detail I put in. I tried to make this fellow look as regal as possible.

Since this appears to be stock USDA footage, there probably isn't a copyright concern. A framed print is $335, and there appears to be nothing on his website describing his technique, except that he is "best know [sic] for his ability to grab a moment in time." He seems like a nice guy.

I've read that camera obscura(black box, before film could capture an image permanently) was the secret weapon in the 17th and 18th century. However, no one really wanted to fess up to it. I guess copying images off the web is the new thing, and I am an active participant.

--gh