Exposé: Eric S. Sycz A.K.A. sycz33 FRAUD Hack "artist"
Intro:
I'm publishing this exposé to expose someone for the fraud, hack they truly are.
As an artist, I have spent my ENTIRE life since I was a child to develop my skills, work with my own natural talents, and I have worked VERY hard on many of my REAL artwork. I'm also a mentor, and a teacher, and I've created numerous tutorials and help materials since the internet became a popular mainstream household item in my own country, let alone the world. I have done countless good deeds, and charitable gestures for FREE, because I believe in the better side of humanity, art, science, education, philosophy, and more. And, I generally don't even ask for anything in return.
I'm also usually very lenient on my fans. (And, sure, I've had some crazy mis fortunate interactions with some unhealthy fans in the past, but that's a whole other story.) But, I generally don't sue my fans.
Let's face it, there's always going to be fan kids that use my work for their RPGs, maybe even change the colors, or post 'em in their New Ager message boards... You know what, that's OK, I can let that slide. I'm NOT going to sue some kids. And, it's not like they're making money off of me without paying me, right? It's more like borrowing it because they loved my art... Yeah, I get that...
I also am pretty decent with my fans & admirers. I've often licensed my art/publishing for artists to use my line art to practice coloring, or I've even instructed people to try tracing a picture of mine a few times to help their brain understand it a little better.
You know, that's all fine. Education, and so on... That's what we call "Fair Use" it's legal, and I permit it. In fact, It makes me happy when people like my work. I worked so hard my whole life as an artist.
But, now, I'm going expose this person Eric S. Sycz A.K.A. sycz33 as the FRAUD he is!
This person, Eric S. Sycz likes to publish pictures, and claim he is the artist whom created them.
But, sad day for you, because I'm here to PROVE this guy is a Photoshop HACK!
This guy took clippings of my artwork, and NOT just ANY of my works, but from 1 of my MASTER PIECES of my ENTIRE LIFE'S WORK CAREER as an ARTIST, then did a Frankenstein hack job with MY ART, and spliced it all together in Photoshop and claimed it was HIS art!
It's My line art!
Not only this, but he might also be using other artists' work whom I don't even know about YET!
You know what? Eric, if you wanna claim "Artistic Interpretation" that's one thing, and yeah, it's legal... but, that's what "Pop Artists" and "Modern Artists" do. But, at least they own up to it, and tell everyone that's what they're doing! But, you went and claimed it was ALL YOU!
And, now, I shall proceed to rip you to shreds!
I got your name!
I got your E-bay Profile!
I got Your Flickr Profile!
I got your alias!
I got your stats!
And, now, I get to teach everyone, and all the people I've mentored about what NOT to do!
_________________________________
Eric S. Sycz A.K.A. sycz33
It first came to my attention from a pretty nice friend of mine, someone I'd mentored since she was a young person whom I love dearly, that someone was using my art. Now, I get this sort of thing from concerned friends at least a few times a year. If it's someone selling my art, or claiming to be me but isn't, I snuff it out rather quickly, if it's fan kids (which are generally harmless) I just have a look into it, then I generally let it slide.
But, this was something altogether a whole other ballgame.
So, I'm gonna "Santorum" this guy! (If you know what I mean. If not, Google it.)
The first thing which I found was this link right HERE:
From HERE: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/sycz33/
It's from the Furry/Anthro (see anthropomorphic) Community. A website which gives a free internet publishing & socializing experience to people of the Furries Fandom.
(A Community of which I still very much love, referring to "Furries", and I've also done artwork of this type/style before, including as a dealer in the convention known as Anthoro Con)
But, that's the beginning of this guy's mistake. I'm still friends with lots & lots of Furries, and they're REAL artists like me too!
So, let's take a look at this guy's profile stats:
He has self professed to list his "Artist Type" as "Photographer"
See:
Artist Type: Photographer
A Photographer, huh? As in You know how to use Photoshop?
That's interesting!
Oh, and for "Mood" he's listed as "Grateful"
Really?
Could it be he's grateful he knows how to use Photoshop and dupe everyone into thinking He's a some really great artist?
Hmmm... Could be...
So, if you're a Photographer, then WHY all these sketches?
Now, let's look at the main image in question:
Now, doesn't THIS look somehow familiar to you somehow?
It looked pretty familiar to my friend... wonder why?
Well, not ONLY does it look familiar to her, but it looks familiar to ME!
That's 1 of my Master Pieces! 1 of my best Commissions I EVER worked on! It's sort of something I'm, oh what's the word...???? ....um... oh, yeah! It's kind of 1 of those things I'm famous for... (on the internet)
Yeah... a REALLY great Couple commissioned me to do a series of GRYPHON artwork for their soccer team (because they do coaching) and then they had BUS Decal Graphics MADE for the their team's bus!
They also still own the originals, and I still reserve my right to publish & sell prints of it.
Now, hold on now... Let's examine & scrutinize this a bit further...
When you look at the wings, compared to the body, doesn't the linework look different? You know what it looks like to me? It looks like my line art! But, Photoshopped!
It also looks like other pieces of art hacked up and reassembled Frankenstein style in Photoshop! Maybe, that's because it probably is!
Fascinating! It says HERE that Eric DOES use Photoshop! It also lists his name "Eric" his alias "Sycz33", his birth date. (apparently he's older than I am... so wouldn't he know better? One might assume so...)
Not ONLY does he use Photoshop, but he uses CGI POSER! You know why????
Because he's a HACK!
(Oh, I'm sorry... for those whom never studied computer animation, "Poser" is a 3D/CGI Animation Program which already has pre-modeled figures, that you really don't so much "animate" as much as you "choreograph" when you're a SHITTY ARTIST and couldn't be bothered to actually model your own animated characters! Then, the program & the computer does all the work for you... except it also LOOKS shitty, fake, and everyone will laugh about you behind your back whom can actually use a 3D program. Yeah, so Poser user = Hack)
Now, when it comes to art, it's normal for an artist to be "inspired by" another artist, another artists' work, and so on. That's normal, and that's fine. There's also when you like someone's style and try to learn how to draw the way they do... you know, education!
But, something you NEVER want to do is take credit for someone else's work. This is how you get yourself black listed.
In Journalism, you are supposed to cite your references, and we have such things as bibliographies, references, and so on. Otherwise we get into something known as plagiarism. That's why you should always cite your sources. (That's ALSO why there's SO many friggin' credits at the end of films!) It just correct.
And, hey, I'm all for "remixing" and "re-imagining", and creating new content from old content... but, you still gotta list the credit for your sources, your references, and so on. It also helps alot more when you ask permission...
That's what I do. I even credit people whom just slightly inspire me. I've even credited things that inspired me even when my new work is nothing at all like the things which inspired me.
But, do you see ANYWHERE on here where he cites me? He never mentions me, he never cites me, no links, no credits, NOTHING!
If you go to Google and type in "Dynamic Wings" Guess who comes up!
ME! "Black UniGrphon"! That's ME!
Front page!
In fact, if you type in "Gryphon" into Google klick "search" then klick on "Images" My exact SOCCER Gryphon comes up in the TOP searches! It's #18 on the 3rd row, in the 1st search!
Not only THAT but the original images I made of these, including the W.I.P.s have my NAME & Alias ALL OVER THEM! So, you can;t claim you forgot the name (mine) and lost it somehow... it's deliberate! Deliberate 'cause you're a hack!
Funny how you like to just disregard that...
Now, lets look at the description he wrote:
"Polar Bear God God of all Bears
I made this one with a 75 years old drawing Leads from 1935
My" GOD i Love my Art work!
P.s for all my Watchers you are going to love the next one i am doing.
But, it gets even better! I'm not even done yet!"
Oh??? So it's antique "leads", huh? As in Graphites?
Funny thing about Graphite is that THOSE are kinda blackish... but, THIS is Brown! It's FUNNY because it's PHOTOSHOP!!!!
Then he goes on to say ,to God, how he LOVES his ARTWORK! No, I think you LOVE Photoshop! And, those wings are MINE! You didn't even bother to change them!
Not only that, but their proportions and angles don't even match the figure! YOU FAIL!
Then, finally, he tells his "watchers" that if they like this one that they'll LOVE the next one!
Oh, yeah, dude! I am SOOOOOO going to LOVE THIS! (In fact I've seen "the next one"!)
What I love the MOST about it is how I get to rip you to shreds with my Gryphon talons, online for all to see! FOREVER!
If you klick on his gallery you can find OTHER images he "created".
http://www.furaffinity.net/gallery/sycz33/
You can also find images of his pet dogs.
And, when you look at the different images, you can kind of start to notice there's no 1 particular style... I honestly wonder whether they're all some sort of hack-job of so many other artists' work, then slapped into this gallery and he sits back and claims it's all him who did it... I actually can notice there's some pictures that remind me of other artists, one I know, and it really vexes me!
(Keep in mind, this guy isn't even claiming to be a Pop Artist, or a Modern Artist. that's what those kinds of artists do. It's also legal. But, they own up to it... this guy still is claiming it's all him!)
But, also you can find yet ANOTHER series of W.I.P.s of a NEW hack-job he's doing, again with my wings!
This time, you can CLEARLY see he used tracing paper! (Yes, I know how to use tracing paper, I'm a traditional animator, and I know what it looks like when it's transferred onto paper which it clearly has been done HERE! I also HATE tracing paper! I like doing REAL art, because it looks BETTER!)
But, what's this??? The SAME BEAR HEAD! Exactly THE SAME!
Look, you're REALLY making yourself look BAD! It's all you!
OK, here! Let me show you something interesting!
In his NEWEST hack job using yet again MY WINGS, and Not crediting me, and also using tracing paper, he's also using THE EXACT SAME BEAR HEAD! THE SAME HEAD! And, THE SAME Mistake on THE WINGS!
You can find the W.I.P.s here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5602132/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5590108/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5584665/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5574124/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5568719/
Oh! AND, WHO WANTS TO TAKE A WILD GUESS IF HE CITES OR CREDITS ME FOR anything?
HOW 'BOUT SOME CREDIT FOR MAYBE ANOTHER ARTIST? MAYBE???
UM... THAT'LL BE A NO!
Now, let's move on to some more digging I did.
Turns out he's ALSO got a new account on Deviant Art!
Wow! Guess what Eric! That's my turf! I'm all up in there! And, so are my friends! Real artists, and Real Photographers!
Oh, check it out!
http://ericbear.deviantart.com/
( See also: http://sycz33.deviantart.com/ )
So, remember those dogs in his gallery? You know, the photos!
Yeah! Found this guy on Flickr!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20669440@N02/
You can see more photos of his dogs, and you can also find figures of BEARS on a table, or framed art of BEARS on the walls...
So you're "type" of artist is a "Photographer"..... but you're shooting on an HP PhotoSmart R607??? Are you kidding me???
Honestly, I think you're Photography is so-so... But, I'm no Pro... yet, I'm sure I know at least a few things....
Hmmmm..... I'm wondering if MAYBE you might not be a Photographer either.... You just really like the Photoshop...
Now, here's the BEST part!
Eric! I found your E-Bay account... inactive as it is... But, quite an interesting bit of data we have here!
Well, scroll through this guy's stats! You can see that he QUITE often not only sold things, but also BOUGHT things! Over a period from 2005-2007.
So, you don't have a problem paying people for goods, or services then, do you Eric? Well, you didn't seem to have a problem with it back then... (The economy wasn't so great back then either... so, what made you stop?)
Hey, I'm not asking for money or anything... but, I find that SOOOOO very INTERESTING that you're willing to actually pay for things, and even sell things yourself... but, when it comes to art... you not only won't pay, but Steal it, then claim it as ALL YOU! Couldn't even pay me my due by mentioning me in the credits... oh no...
That's OK, because you're PAYING FOR IT NOW!
See, there's this little thing called Credibility, and I'm kinda funny about that! Turns out most people are!
I wonder how many OTHER artists you did a Frankenstein hack-job with! {:-? Well, I guess they're all about to find out, NOW! Won't they?
Good luck getting a job someday! You know when Employers are hiring, they search your name on Google....
I wonder what they'll find....
Hmmmmm....
_____________________________________________
Conclusion:
Now, I hope that all of those whom I have mentored, and my mutual artists friends will learn about what NOT to do, if they don't already know.
The moral of the story is: DON'T be an Eric S. Sycz33!
Thank you to all of my fellow artist friends for all your support!
And, I hope you guys have as much fun with this guy, and passing this around as I am!
}:-)
My ART is MY WORLD! And, in MY WORLD I am King Odysseus!
And, I have appeared to restring my bow and smite you with my arrows of Truth!
(Referring to: "The Odyssey" A famous Ancient Epic written by Homer in Ancient Greece.)
You can lie all you want, and pretend all you want. But deep down inside you will always know YOU will NEVER be ME!
ONLY I Am The Black UniGryphon!
And, now so many artists emulate MY style since I started publishing it (and my gryphons) from 1999 on! No one can ever touch that, nor take that from me! I challenge my own limits, and I helped people/artists to challenge theirs. You just took what was mine, hacked it up and tried to be me!
You are just a donkey in a Bear skin.
But I am the reality...
Ok, the Goddess of Disillusionment has left the building...
Oh, and Eric, YOU GOT SERVED!
Get ready!
I'm about to expose someone "artist" to be the Hack & Fraud he actually is!
Oh, it is ON!
Fear Me! For my wrath cometh forth for thee! For mine wrath be just. My wrath be fierce!
And, lo, the readiness is all I have before I let loose this rubber band that I have pulled back so tightly!
Our troop is fairly new, made on the last minuet of 2 leaders and a volunteering Mom. We made a decision to form our own new troop (Now 3 leaders), and stick to some real Girl Scout Values, reform ourselves to do the most with/for our Scouts, and our community, as actual Girl Scouts, by actually following The Girl Scout Law, and The Girl Scout Promise.
So, we took our girls, whom had been Scouting for a few years, as well as took brand new scouts to our troop that no one else wanted (and will still accept others) and we proudly put our heads together democratically and came up with several ideas to improve the Scouting experiences for our girls.
We have added more time, for girls to have more hands experience for learning, to not only do their activities, and projects, but to actually complete them. We are teaching & training them to be benevolent leaders, to be sisterly to their fellow scouts, to be problem solvers, team players, to be handy, and we are also learning to actually follow directions such as lining up in squads, and circles without any problems. (In such a short time, it's already working above expectations.)
We decided to really be a good example to our girls, so we've been regularly having our meetings weekly to reinforce the values we teach our scouts about being a Girl Scout. This actually worked so well, plus the added longer time to meet & work together reinforces the bonding of the troop. In just 2 meetings, Our Troops could already sing 4 Brownie songs, and also some patriotic songs. We didn't expect them to learn it so quickly, but we were so surprised. Not only that, but we marched in the Veteran's Day Parade singing our Brownie songs, and not only made our own Banner, but the Banner for another Troop which also marched in the parade. We hope to go camping this year, and have a whole list of campfire songs.
We are so proud of our girls whom told us many times over they wanted challenges, including science, community, problem solving, and being as they put it " be real Girl Scouts". Our concern for them was their age, as we are always trying to figure out what their limits are. We've taken on basic sowing which was their most difficult challenge, book making, and basic leadership among their peers.
Believe me, our Girls have so much fun, and we've already had an ice cream social, but what surprised us the most was their work on the evening of November 19th.
Earning Brownie Badges:
We wanted the girls to earn a badge called "Earth Is Our Home" in which the 1st assignment is to create our own cleaning supplies which are safe and Eco friendly, made from common house hold ingredients.
We used basically, things like: Water, White Vinegar, Baking Soda, Oil
Since we're Girl Scouts, that means we take that oath we call "The Girl Scout Promise" and recite & follow "The Girl Scout Law" we know what these words mean. It's not some meaningless stuff we just have to put up with. No, words have meaning.
If you have ever used The Girl Scout House, which many troops do in our town, then you will know just how neglected and abused the place has been. Having used the place since last year in another troop, I'd seen the utter neglect and dishonorable, un-scoutly things people left behind for our old troop to clean up. Yet, we stayed true, and cleaned anyway, and as responsible scouts, we spoke up and said something. But, this year, our new Troop actually did something... and not just complaining... No! We took action!
The Bottom level of the Girl Scout house was so old & neglected that it was covered with thick layers of dust, grit, and was infested with all types of bugs.
There was a large, venomous, dangerous, spider (either a nurse spider or wolf spider):
There were actually a large number of large spiders there, and also large silverfish bugs.
There were cobwebs everywhere!
Then, there was an old unplugged freezer, with 2 large gallon tubs of ice cream which had been there for who knows how many years, since I'd seen it in there since last year, and with all the chemicals they put in that stuff, who knows how long it was there!
The girls were very squeamish, and nervous about this task, but we all decided to clean this bottom level. I was mostly expecting them to get the bare minimum done, and be done with the project, after all there was big bad scary spiders, and large creepy crawly things everywhere. So I set off with a broom to make the place less scary and creepy, meanwhile my other 2 wonderful leaders did their helpful motherly tasks as well praising their efforts, and cleaning. (And, a helpful mother also volunteered!)
As it turns out, the bottom floor of the Girl Scout House, hadn't been refurbished by a Troop since April of the year 2000, which actually turned out to be 2 Troops, which are written on a mural on the wall still. That's over 10 years!
But, the project took on a life of it's own! Next thing I knew, I had Girls asking me to clean the tables again but better, then to have something else to clean! Talk about team work! We had several teams of girls working on multiple cleaning jobs! Then, they all began begging me to sweep, and then to mop. I think I got the most begging to mop! I had to actually forbid people from mopping because we ran out of paper towels, and didn't want people slipping on the steps.
Not only did we get the stove cleaned, the counters, the tables, the windows, bathrooms, and floors, But, we cleaned out that disgusting old freezer! YES! Including those putrid, reeking tubs of what was formerly ice cream!
The entire meeting exceeded all of our expectations for our Girls! They worked so hard, and so well! For some girls, it was their first time actually cleaning. Not only that, but now, not only can we use the bottom floor for our own Troop assignments & projects, but so can the other troops. We just hope they will show the same respect to the Girl Scout House, as we do, as well as to the other troops that use it; and as well as to us for having taken on this task.
The Over-all Lesson:
Taking on challenges doesn't mean the work can't be fun, because this task we took on actually turned out to be so fun, that girls made jokes about their work the whole evening, and there was laughter ringing out all night! It's also what you take out of the experience of taking on a task, giving it your best shot, and what you take with you from building those memories & bonding in the end. The accomplishment of a good deed is its self its own reward!
The meeting wasn't all work, we also had cookies & juice, which were brought in by our assigned snack girl for that meeting, and 2 other girls donated to us some Hershey's Kisses which we passed out in the closing ceremony.
Altho' we are not wealthy, coming together and pooling our resources, time, and effort truly pays off! Believe us, we have very little, but we are very grateful to have what little we have, and as a team, like a Troop ought to be, we took what small meager things we had, and did something good, and made something great for the greater good of everyone. Now, we are becoming like a family, and truly becoming "sister(s) to every Girl Scout".
Serendipity has a way of making your work into a pleasant side effect, and we are so proud of our Brownies!
To View All of The Photos of our work, and our results See the Photo Album!
马祖 (Simplified Chinese)
or
馬祖 (Traditional Chinese)
[Written above in left upper corned in "Ancient" Chinese Script]
Mazhu (or Maju or Mazu)
A design piece, based on Chinese art/design styles from the 1970s.
Mazhu, often revered as an Ocean goddess, is actually based on a real person in Ancient times. It's said she became a Shenxian. Or the equivalent of a Saint in western terms.
Mazhu is the most widely known in South China, and even more among Chinese colony descendant cultures outside of China, throughout the Asian islands.
There are still reports of sightings of her out on the sea in a red gown, or saving the lives of people out at sea.
* Prints Available Here: http://www.deviantart.com/print/2958683/
* Original Sketch Here: http://blackunigryphon.deviantart.com/art/Angel-of-Self-Esteem-Raw-Sketc-80931254
* Original Sketch Cleaned/edited: http://blackunigryphon.deviantart.com/art/Angel-of-Self-Esteem-SKETCH-81296729
* NOTES:
This peice was hand drawn, then painted and colored in Photoshop.
I wanted to express something of female beauty without this modern ideal that woman should all look like 12 year old boys, or be meatless, and boney... that's totally unatural and against the true nature of a woman's biology.
I was soooooooo surprized at just how popular this picture turned out to be! I posted it, and in just afew min' it got 43 views & 6 favorites... it's more than that now!
I had so much fun playing with these colors! Especially creating a BLACK Mermaid/Undine. Usually Mermaids are depicted as fair skinned, and NOrthern European looking... but, actually in Greek Ancient Mythology, they depicted the Ocean goddess Calipso as being dark skinned... and in many films is played by a darker skinned woman sch as Vanessa Williams, and even recently the Pirates of the Carabean...
Surprizingly, I've seen other versions of Ocean goddesses being depicted as also having dark skin.
In Western Culture "white" is often seen as feminie" and "Black" or "dark" is seen as Masculine... but, in the Eastern Culture, it's the Dark or black side of the Yin-Yang whcih is called "Yin" that represent Female energies, and the White sides, called "Yang" which represents Male energies.
So, it's totally apropriate.
I would like to create more dark or Black Mermaids.
These are more of a rough colored ideals of my playing with colors and possibilties... lot's of day dreaming going into these... ironicly, Starbucks went back to their old Logo (for their New Logo) of a double tailed Mermaid...
Still unsure what I want to call them: Undines, Mermaids, Melusine (after teh famous ancient fairy tale), Nixies, water sprites, ellementals, etc...
