Jake Parker Explained

Jake Parker
Occupation:Illustration, animator
Known For:Inktober
Works:Horton Hears a Who

Jake Parker is an American comics short-story creator, concept artist, illustrator, and animator. Parker worked as a set designer for Blue Sky Studios where he contributed to the animated films Horton Hears a Who, Rio and Epic. Parker is a children's book illustrator; his work includes the 2015 New York Times bestseller The Little Snowplow. In 2016, he wrote and illustrated his first children's book Little Bot and Sparrow which was inspired by his "Robot and Sparrow" comic. He is the creator of Inktober, a popular annual ink drawing celebration during October.

Life and career

Jake Parker grew up in Mesa, Arizona. He developed an interest in drawing at a young age, influenced by cartoonists Bill Watterson, Jim Lee, and Mike Mignola.[1] After dropping out of community college, Parker worked as an assistant to animators at Fox Animations Studios in Phoenix, Arizona and contributed to the movie Titan A.E..[2] After the animation studio closed, Parker worked in graphic design, museum exhibit design, and video game design. He moved to Connecticut to work as a set designer at Blue Sky Studios where he contributed to the animated films Horton Hears a Who, Rio and Epic.[3] [4] Parker moved with his wife and five children to Provo, Utah to teach illustration at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Parker is also the co-founder and contributor to the illustration education website, Society of Visual Storytelling, a series of live online classes which now offers subscriptions to recorded classes.[5] [6] He contributed stories for three of the volumes of Flight. His comic "Robot and the Sparrow" was influenced by Calvin and Hobbes.[7] Parker has illustrated children's books such as the 2015 New York Times bestseller The Little Snowplow, The Tooth Fairy Wars, and The 12 Sleighs of Christmas. He wrote and illustrated his first book, a children's book called Little Bot and Sparrow based on his "Robot and Sparrow" comic.[8]

Parker and his wife have five children and live in Arizona.[9] One of his sons, Tate Parker, also draws comics.[10]

Inktober

In 2009, Parker started Inktober, a popular annual celebration of ink drawing (only in fountain pen) during the month of October.[11] [12] The announcement was made on his blog.[13] Inktober is a challenge to create one ink drawing every day for each day of October and post them on social media; Parker originally started the challenge to motivate himself to improve his own inking skills.[14] [15] Since about 2016, Parker has posted a list of "prompts" for each day's artwork. Artists are also known to plot out series of drawings on the same theme as part of the celebration. Participants have approached the challenge as an opportunity to practice and share their art, drawing in various art styles, and using a variety of media.[16] In October 2015, over 1 million Inktober drawings were posted on Instagram.

Parker also started an "Art Drop Day", which occurs on the first Tuesday of September, to encourage artists to connect with others in a physical way.[17] [18]

Parker registered "Inktober" as a trademark in 2019, following which some participating artists received cease and desist notices for selling work created during the challenge. Parker later clarified that using the word "Inktober" was permitted in a subtitle, but use of the logo was not. Prior to his clarification, people took to Twitter to boycott Inktober, stating that it had become popular because of the artworks of smaller artists, who were now being penalised for selling the works inspired by it. Others also expressed a concern over providing free advertising for Inktober as a brand.[19]

Just ahead of the expected 2020 release date of Parker's newest book, Inktober All Year Round: Your Indispensable Guide to Drawing With Ink, author Alphonso Dunn used his YouTube channel to provide a detailed comparison of his own work and parts of Parker's new book, alleging plagiarism by Parker.[20] [21]

Published work

Flight

Film work

Notes and References

  1. News: Lesue-Smithey . Rena . Provo artist offers a peek at raw art in "Drawings" . 29 January 2020 . Daily Herald . Herald Communications . June 19, 2013.
  2. News: Bulsiewicz . Michelle Garrett . 5 tips for creative work from a New York Times best-selling Utah illustrator . 31 January 2020 . Deseret News . Deseret News Publishing Company . December 19, 2017.
  3. News: Sheehan. Gavin. Jake Parker. 20 July 2016. Salt Lake City Weekly's Daily Feed. 29 May 2011.
  4. Web site: Animation and Concept Design-Discussion 40 . Everything Creative . The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . 31 January 2020.
  5. News: Taylor . Lola . Realize Your Creative Potential with Jake Parker . 7 February 2020 . SUU News . Southern Utah University . January 23, 2017.
  6. Web site: Society of Visual Storytelling. svslearn.com. 20 July 2016.
  7. News: McFall. Michael. Comic Con: Utah artist Jake Parker adventures into a gentler universe. The Salt Lake Tribune. 20 July 2016. 4 September 2014.
  8. News: Wilde . Whitney Butters . Utah illustrator Jake Parker's 'Little Bot and Sparrow' tells a story of friendship and acceptance . 29 January 2020 . Deseret News . Deseret News Company . September 25, 2016.
  9. Web site: I Moved to Arizona! . Mr.JakeParker.com . 18 June 2019 . 7 February 2020.
  10. Web site: Parker. Jake. Jake Parker on Twitter. Twitter. 1 March 2017. en.
  11. Web site: Parker. Jake. Inktober. Jake Parker. 20 July 2016.
  12. News: Means . Sean P. . A Provo artist started Inktober to practice his skills. Now it's an online art phenomenon. . 27 January 2020 . The Salt Lake Tribune . October 5, 2018.
  13. Web site: Bogle. Emily. October 30, 2019. Inktober Challenge Pushes Artists To Flex Their Creative Muscles. 2020-10-02. NPR.org. en.
  14. News: Cavna . Michael . #InkTober: Artists increasingly follow Jake Parker's lead by drawing every day this month . 27 January 2020 . The Washington Post . October 5, 2015.
  15. News: The man behind the Inktober viral drawing challenge . 27 January 2020 . BBC News . BBC . October 29, 2019.
  16. Web site: Wabbington. Dallas. October 29, 2019. Inktober incorporates various art styles. 2020-10-02. The Wichitan.
  17. News: Leaño. Dibs. 5 August 2015. World Art Drop Day. doodleartsmagazine.com. 1 March 2017.
  18. News: Wenzel. John. September 1, 2017. Art Drop Day invites Denver to play art hide-and-seek on Sept. 5. The Know, Denver Post. The Denver Post. 27 January 2020.
  19. News: Lee . Giacomo . Artists feel the heat as Inktober's future looks shady . Digital Arts . 20 December 2019.
  20. Web site: Rajadurai . Pooja . Inktober in peril? . The Stute . 24 September 2020 . 29 September 2020.
  21. Web site: Jake Parker Plagiarized My Book . Youtube . 29 September 2020.
  22. Out of Picture Volume Two: Art from the Outside Looking In, Villard Books, 2008,
  23. News: "Awesome Man" is Super, and Maybe You Are, Too . 29 January 2020 . NPR . NPR . September 25, 2011.
  24. Book: Pawuk . Michael . Serchay . David S. . Graphic Novels: A Guide to Comic Books, Manga, and More . 2017 . Libraries Unlimited . Santa Barbara, California . 9781440851360 . 2nd . 29 January 2020.
  25. News: Dobler . Elizabeth . These books will help young kids get back to school . 29 January 2020 . The Topeka Capital-Journal . August 19, 2012.
  26. News: Smith . Sarah Harrison . Bookshelf: Issues . 29 January 2020 . The New York Times . August 23, 2013.
  27. Bush . Elizabeth . Explorer: The Lost Islands (review) . Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books . December 2013 . 67 . 4 . 10.1353/bcc.2013.0938 . 145051196 . 29 January 2020.
  28. News: Sorensen . Marilou . Utah author, illustrator put a twist on the tooth fairy myth in "Tooth Fairy Wars" . 29 January 2020 . Deseret News . Deseret News Company . July 12, 2014.
  29. Web site: Rocket Raccoon . Trove . National Library of Australia . 31 January 2020.
  30. News: Rappleye . Christine . Book review: "The Little Snowplow" shares lessons of hard work, not giving up . 31 January 2020 . Deseret News . Deseret Publishing Company . October 19, 2015.
  31. Web site: Who's the Grossest of them all? . National Library Board . 3 February 2020.
  32. Web site: The 12 Sleighs of Christmas . School Library Journal . 3 February 2020.
  33. News: Rappleye . Christine . Association for Mormon Letters 2018 award finalists announced, conference March 29-31 . 3 February 2020 . Deseret News . Deseret News Publishing Company . March 10, 2019.
  34. Web site: Goldilocks for Dinner: A Funny Book About Manners . School Library Journal . 3 February 2020.
  35. Web site: The Little Snowplow Wishes for Snow . School Library Journal . 3 February 2020.
  36. Web site: The Inktober BOOK!. 2020-09-06. Mr Jake Parker. en-US.
  37. Flight Volume Two, Image Comics, 2005,
  38. Fight Volume One, Villard Books, (reissue) 2007,
  39. Flight Explore Volume One, Villard Books, 2008,
  40. Web site: About - Mr Jake Parker. mrjakeparker.com. 20 July 2016.
  41. Book: Montanari . Susan McElroy . Who's the Grossest of Them All? . 2016 . Random House . New York . 9780553511925 . https://books.google.com/books?id=FZnrCgAAQBAJ&q=Jake+Parker+Ice+Age+Dawn+of+the+Dinosaurs&pg=PT20 . 29 January 2020 . Back Cover.

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