Liz Staley's Art

The title says it all really. So if nothing else, please share and reblog this post to raise awareness for those that might be caught out - both artists and followers. For a TL:DR, please look at the bottom of the post

What is happening?

Right now, there is at least one person actively impersonating multiple artists across tumblr in an effort to scam their followers into paying for fake ‘cheap commissions’. The scammer will clone a tumblr, usually using a slight change to the url/account name to look like the real deal. They will then message people directly through Tumblr with messages along the lines of “Hey, i’m doing cheap commissions right now. DM me to get one”. Naturally, this is ends up just being a way to take their money without giving anything back in return.

Who does this affect?

Everyone. Simple as that. As long as the scammer in question works unopposed, they are free to spread their influence and continue to scam more people. Even if you haven’t been targeted yet, it does not mean you are safe or immune. Several artists have already fallen victim to this scammer, and I encourage any artists that have to reblog this post with the details of their affected account(s) and the ones the scammer has set up.

How can we stop this?

Tumblr, like many other social media platforms, seems to care very little about ‘minor’ occurences like this one, and despite reaching out directly to them over a week ago through multiple avenues of contact - they have refused to comment on the situation, provide a recommended response for users, or take action on behalf of those already affected. Despite this, there are still tools at our disposal that we can use to make this scam more difficult, and to increase its visibility to those within Tumblr staff that are required by policy to take action. Tumblr has the following to say on the topic of impersonation: Confusion or Impersonation. Don’t do things that would cause confusion between you or your blog and a person or company, like registering a deliberately confusing URL. Don’t impersonate anyone. While you’re free to ridicule, parody, or marvel at the alien beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you can’t pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. They then provide a link to this online form that you can fill out if you suspect someone’s identity is being confused. Unfortunately, this can only be filled out if you are the victim of impersonation. In other words, only the artists can fill this out legitimately. So, what about the followers and users of tumblr whom aren’t being impersonated? Our most valuable tool in this online platform is the platform itself. It enables us to spread our word near-virally across all the many sub-communities on Tumblr with remarkable efficiency for a user-driven system. We can take advantage of that effect to increase awareness of the situation. Even if you - the one reading this right now - aren’t an artist or don’t know an artist, the act of reblogging this post or sharing it directly with friends improves it’s ‘ranking’ in popularity increasing its chances to be seen by more people. We don’t need everyone on Tumblr to see the post for it to be effective, just like we don’t need the entirety of the human population of the world to be immune to a disease for that disease to be rendered ineffective or eradicated. If enough people are aware, the likelihood of pulling off a successful scam increases dramatically reducing efficiency to a point that it no longer becomes profitable to continue.

Why should I care?

It disheartens me to say this, but of the many artists I contacted directly over the past week to warn about this issue many of them refused to listen or dodged the responsibility with lines like;

“I’m not being impersonated, so it doesn’t affect me”

“I’m just one person. I can’t make an impact”

“I need to take care of my community. Other people can look after theirs”

This is honestly disappointing that so many artists or art-rebloggers care so little as to intentionally wave the responsibility of keeping their followers and fellow artists safe from this, that they cannot spare 10 seconds of their time to share an informative post. I’m not here to bash artists, but it is time that everyone takes responsibility for their own communities, and of those around them. Artists: You have a responsibility to ensure that your followers and fans aren’t being abused by someone who may impersonate you. If they succeed, your reputation will be damaged, and your followers will resent you. Your followers are also almost guaranteed to be following other artists meaning your efforts can spread beyond your own circle of influence, so don’t be naive when you think you have little effect. Followers: You have just as much responsibility to be aware of those that might try to scam you or your fellow followers. Don’t just sit in silence when you see something wrong: Ignoring the issue only makes it more resilient to our efforts to stop it. You are the vocal majority if you just use your voices to be heard!

TL:DR

Finally finished this birthday gift for my friend. She and I have an AU role play game with the Voltron characters in the Supernatural universe and I had to draw our Sheith from it (which is why Keith is holding a gun and not a bayard or something, and the different clothes)

Tried something new with the coloring this time. I think I like it. 

Background is a texture from Clip Studio Paint’s materials library, I didn’t paint it.

I think you’re thinking about it wrong…social media is a game, not a chore. Think about it as a video game, except the loot you’re collecting is likes and shares, and the big boss is the evil algorithms trying to bury your art. 

As long as you think about self-promotion as a chore, you’ll never do it naturally or genuinely. 

Note 1: You don’t need to invade your privacy. You put up what you want to. You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to…except your art and the part of your life involved in making it. And if you don’t want to share that, then you probably shouldn’t be a professional artist.

Note 2: You saying you “hate yourself” later is one of those interesting phrases that makes me think there’s more going on here. It shows there’s a conflict, that you’re struggling with yourself over this, Think deeply about why sharing your art seems like a burden and you’ll probably find some barely-buried baggage you’ve been carrying around about not being able to talk about yourself without it being considered bragging, or maybe the baggage of a family member or teacher saying you’ll never succeed as an artist, or the fear of putting yourself out there and being rejected. That’s why you want to hide from it. Dig that emotional shit out into your conscious thought and examine it and you’ll see it’ll stop getting in your way.

Note 3: On Multiple platforms…don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to be everywhere — you don’t — just find the platforms that feel natural to you and stick to those. Better to do twitter really well and nothing else, or Instagram, or Tumblr, etc. and be nowhere else. With the caveat that you don’t know what “feels natural” until you play with it a little (refer back to video game analogy) - feel free to make accounts, test out for a few weeks, then if you want, put a note on that account’s profile saying go look for you on a different platform, and move on.

Gamify it and you’ll enjoy it a lot more…and be a lot more successful at it.

—Agent KillFee

You have no idea how many people lurk on your work. No idea how many times people go back to revisit your work. How big they smile when they simply think about your work. How fast their heart beats, how excited they get when they see that you posted something.

People are shy with their feedback. Sometimes it’s because they’re simply shy. Other times it’s because they assume you already know how great and talented you are. Could be both.