Scanning Around With Gene: My Father Was a Plagiarist

Regular readers know I’m a sucker for old art technique books, especially those that are hand-lettered by the artist. So I was excited to find, among some old books of my fathers, a 1950 edition of Drawing Faces and Expressions by Victor Perard.
A prolific author, Perard’s books on drawing are still available and used by budding art students around the world. Perard released books on anatomy, figure drawing, animals, hands and landscapes, among others. Click on any image for a larger version.

This particular book focuses on faces and expressions and is an entertaining look at people’s emotions, including those of children and babies.

In leafing through the book, though, I came across a picture of a young boy that looked very familiar. I recognized it right away as one of my father’s drawings from a time when he made classroom art for my mother, who was a school nurse. Below is the Perard version, followed by my father’s.

I suppose it’s a stretch to accuse my father of plagiarism. This is more a case of a student using his teacher as inspiration.

Go to page 2 for more images from Perard.