Another Bruton Update

Although he has taken down the last two drawings that I posted about, I keep finding more. This is another stolen piece of art that Mark Bruton STILL has up on his web page . . . despite being called out numerous times.


You'd think after all the embarrassing publicity, he'd go through his portfolio with a fine tooth comb and get rid of ALL the evidence. Instead, like a child, he continues to live in la-la-land where denial, and distasteful ethics are a way of life.

UPDATE - 10/10/10

Mark Buton's web page has been taken down! Was it voluntary or coerced? Don't know. Not sure what it means in the long run, but hopefully, at least for the time being, it means online artists are safe from copyright fraud.

Really, Bruton...really?

Dear Mr. Bruton,

After all that has happened, sir, you continue to fail at being an artist. Not becasue of your lack of abilities, but becasue of your lack of morality.


It is clear, through your continued malevolent behavior and refusal to comply with the simple requests of your colleagues, that you have no intention of ever changing. It leaves me with a simple question . . . a challenge if looked upon from a certain point of view. Can you, in fact, do any art that is truly your own? Only time will tell, my sad, sad friend.

The sales pitch on your web page promoting your services gave me chuckle:

"There is absolutely no better or lasting gift than a drawing by a caricature artist who can humorously reveal the true character of your friends and loved ones, colleagues and business associates."

Well, here's a line drive right back at'cha:

"There is absolutely no better way of revealing an artist's true character than to make readily available to his friends and loved ones, colleagues and business associates, the drawings he has stolen."

I hope everyone who knows you will eventually come across these posts. Just so they can discover who the real Mark Bruton truly is.


P.S.

Oh, and I figured I'd include your contact information for anyone who'd like to drop you a line and tell you how they feel about your "work":

m_bruton@sbcglobal.net
(620) 339 - 9240

UPDATE - Sept 8th, 2010

15 hours after this post, Bruton's web page was updated . . . excluding the above drawings for the inventory. Only time will tell if things remain this way.

The Art of Stealing - Update

Some of you are familiar with my recent run-in with a character by the name of Mark Bruton who was caught plagiarizing artwork from the internet. I was one of his victims, as he stole a John Wayne portrait of mine, altered it, and was selling it on his web page as his own art.

Following a fairly severe backlash from the online art community, and a cease and desist letter from yours truly, Bruton took down his web page, privatized his facebook, and seemingly disappeared.

Well, it's been about a month and Bruton is back. Two days ago he republished his web page and is back in business . . . and he seems to be up to his old tricks again. Or at least he was until he was called out, yet again.

This time around, the art in question is not mine so I won't post it here on my blog, however if you're interested, here is a compilation of works that Bruton has ripped off, one of which featuring a certain bodybuilder-turned-politician was involved in this current Bruton scenario.

Since it's not my art, I have little control over the situation, but I did email Bruton and assure him that the original artists would be informed. Soon after that he took the questionable works down. I don't know if this was because of my email or because one of the original artists came down on him. Regardless, the images are down and Bruton is no longer using them to market himself.

I'm not sure what it's going to take to convince this guy that stealing another person's art is wrong and illegal, but I can say that I'm beginning to loose patience with Mark Bruton and his childish antics. If anything, perhaps he will realize that he is being (and always will be) closely watched.

I really hope that anyone who is considering making an art purchase from Mark Bruton will come across stories like mine and will be inclined to make an educated decision as to whether or not the art he is selling is legit, and whether or not he deserves their business.

This is a call to all hard working artists out there to please help keep Mark Bruton and characters like him as honest as possible. Spread the word.