@frgmnt @incognito-burrito @euphisa The brazen attitude to come to a thread where the OP, myself, has actually gotten their stuff stolen, and then turn around and claim a similar thing happened to you only to be the perpetrator of art theft... Like, excuse me! Why? Were they trying to get caught?! I wish I screenshotted their original post, if only I'd known.
They are most certainly young and naive. When you're online, it's fun to make up a persona about yourself (which is what this person did; the clues in their posts are obvious), but you draw the line when you steal others' works and claim it as your own. Even if the person erased their tracks, there are ways where it can still be found (waybackmachine is one).
One of the huge red flags was definitely the skillset, but also the wide and varied styles. People can have more than one, but none of theirs carried a similar feature that defines an artist's signature, you know? Another thing was, if they already had such an amazing art skill, it seems odd they'd often ask for collaborations with comic/concept artists etc to draw for them.
I feel badly muiskeeter was taken advantage of then hoodwinked by the actual culprit into thinking they were the good guy, but she's moved on and has since taken extra precautions with her work. Would pulling her back into this mess and telling her that her initial assumptions about them were right do her any good now? I don't know...
It's crappy that artists have to go through such lengths to protect their own work from theft. You'd have to put watermarks everywhere now. 🤦♂️
What's funny is that they've posted about one of their written works being posted on one of those... novel sites without their permission. It wasn't stolen, per se, since their name was still credited as author, but it was just hosted there without their consent (and they often have a written statement on their bios that they do not want their works to be reposted elsewhere... the irony and hypocrisy...).
But obviously, they didn't want to be caught and that was their way to deflect their actions--make up a fake person to take the blame, look like the hero (claiming to have helped the twitter artist muiskeeter (the artist that they stole from) confront the 'art thief' after muiskeeter confronted them about it. Unbelievable, really...), and also be the victim at the same time, since they were being rightfully blamed as said art thief.
Screenshotting the actual 'art moots' post might be an extra boost, but all their posts are littered with evidence (I've also just screenshot a lot of their threads with their currently changed username (AGAIN--two in one day it seems) to seawater. And as I'm typing this, I've also noticed they've changed their avatar). Unless they decide to actually make up an entirely new account, they would be sacrificing the views, likes, and follows on the novels that they've already posted on Tapas. And seeing how often they've promoted their works (particularly Purple Shades of Blood), even under a different username, it would be clear who they were.
Yea, I notced the name change, but they didn't change the PFP, in another thread where they were asking for a critique. So, do you know if the art is the only thing stolen? Cuz I'm suspicious of any content they claim to be theirs.
Edit: Oop, they cahnged their name again, now it's emo_infp, qith a different PFP. Since you can't delete topics, and even if a mod closes it anyone with a link can still access the topic, this will never go away.
I haven't read any of their works, so as far as I can tell, it's only been the artwork. I should DM you the things I've taken note of bc every time we post here, they go ahead and change their details, lol.
I noticed them changing their username again, too (THREE NOW), in addition to them changing their Tapas name account. The links to their novels no longer work, so I don't know what their actual Tapas username is now. And I did not know that bit about forum topics! See, this is why it's best to be truthful about your own creations.
I'll DM you in a moment as I'm trying to organise my findings, lol.
If anyone else would like to see the evidence I've gathered, you can DM me. I'd actually prefer if I could just post it in a private Discord chat so I don't have to repost everything to each person 
. Thoughts?
Now i feel bad because i thought they did all the art (i even commented on some of their wall posts). I believe they deleted their profile now... By their actions (changing names/deleting acc) they probably are young 
I hope they realize what they did is bad and are able to start fresh without getting hate
Don't feel bad, no one would have known without proof. They've changed their profile name is all. If you can't access their account, they've most likely blocked you, as I've realised that's what they've done to me, lol.
I'm not out to demonise or (what seems to be the norm nowadays) 'cancel' them. All they need to do is show real remorse for their actions and apologise for their mistakes, then they can move forward from this without hiding.
I've seen something similar happen on Tumblr where someone traced a pretty popular artist's work, but it was recognised pretty soon in that community. The person apologised to the original artist and owned up to their mistakes, explained that they admired the artist's work and were trying to get better at their own art. Now they were going to put in the work by actually studying and practising (I will note that it's okay to trace and reference from others for practise on your own time, just don't post it and claim it as your own, but if you do, credit the original artist). The artist admired them for that and told them all she wanted to see is them putting in the effort and improving. She encouraged them to tag her to share their progress (I believe she'd share her work on her blog at times too? I wasn't too involved when that incident happened) and everyone learnt and grew from that. In some areas, the art community can be pretty harsh and damning, especially when things like this happen, but as a whole, it is supportive and encouraging. Everyone wants others to grow and succeed in their own way, even from a blunder like this.
Yeah, i agree that tracing is okay for practice.
I didn't interact much with them, they subbed to my work and i subbed to their ( i believe we commented on each others work), but as you said i don't want them to be canceled since it won't do anything to help them nor us (well the community)
I'm not sure if it counts but I've found my art used as part of a signature banner on some anime forum, as well as inside a fanvid. People also keep taking an icon I made for a blog, but I don't really feel much about it because despite depicting a fairly obscure character, it's kind of a generic cool-looking icon.
On the other hand, a person made fanmusic for the characters that I draw and they used my art as covers with credit, which was very cool of them.
Otherwise I don't really look. What pisses me off however, is that whenever I look up the characters i usually draw, what pops up in google images is usually those stupid automated tumblr clones instead of my actual blog, while to get an image from my actual blog you'd have to scroll for a while.
it angers me cause Tumblr is the only mainstream site I use, others wither didn't work out for me, or straight up treated me as malicious traffic due to my location.
Well more like another, less egregious situation has arisen.
It doesn't matter if the individual somehow finds this; it was a pretty poor plan if their goal was my art. They have haven’t stolen anything. They sort of tried to and there's always a chance they might steal something anyway, though I think it's unlikely. I also don’t think too badly of them since they're probably young. I have pictures, their pfp isn't something you’d be able to recognize them from and their name is nowhere to be found. So here are the pics, my dialogue is on the right:
I hope they don't ask this of anyone else. It just didn't sit right with me.
...that person is a child. Today's youth need to be taught about integrity and morals as well as self discipline and pride. I don't know how they'll ever feel proud of something they got someone else to do for them, especially if they'd claim it as their own and don't credit the original artist/creator. If someone does take up their offer, I hope they'll be ashamed of their actions. If not at first, it will eventually catch up to them later in life. No one is living their life for them. It's like getting a job and asking someone to work in your place but you pocketing all their earnings. How does that make sense? You'd get fired for that immediately.
did they try to make you draw comic with their idea?
Also it really is weird to ask someone to do (not even commission them) make art for competition, it gives me vibes of adults making projects instead of kids in cartoons and tv shows lol
I really hope that they are child
No, no, they gave me the idea, but wanted me to draw some that would use in a competition, no compensation, though.
i know its like the tiniest most petty nitpick ever but that emoji makes me go absolutely berserk for some reason lol.
Not that I know. I personally don't mind much... maybe something like "hey! Glad you like my pic and are using it" or if it's a recolor "Nice edit of my pic, I like it" and something like that, mostly joking but definetly stepping and making presence lol.
But I won't deny I'll go feral if I ever encounter someone trying to profit out of my art, be it making false advertisement with my commissions or tracing up my stuff to give to other people.
I also happen to be an enemy from the Ministry of Culture of my own country since I participated by providing information against a local painter5 who was copying/plagiarizing/tracing anime art and using it for Exhibitions, Contests, fanzines and straight up selling them on Artsy. (But mostly for her political agenda)
