In regards to recent reposts (Patreon)

Hi people!

Today's a bit of an unusual post, and it's kinda of a vent one but this is something that's been bothering me for a while and seeing something today finally makes me want to open up.

As I'm sure you're aware (especially for fellow artists here), art theft is unfortunately nothing rare or unusual and you can say "it comes with the territory". I've experienced my fair share of it over the years, even before I started doing wlw artwork as my primary occupation.

But up until recently, I never felt like it has impacted me in any significant way. Well, today I was informed via DM's both here and on Twitter about someone reposting recent art I've made here for you guys - on Twitter itself. The person in question refuses to take it down or reply to my message kindly asking them to remove it, and it's someone of a significant follower number too, so that makes the situation more difficult.

Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I have no problem with the idea of sharing art itself. I think it can be a wonderful way to get reach and more people to know about you. I always held the belief that artists need to stick together and help and support each other out, it can be hard to get noticed out there. It only becomes a problem when you go behind the artists back and try and take credit for what you've drawn, or simply leak stuff without permission, which is exactly what's been happening. I've allowed reposts in the past and similar, as long as you ask me first and give proper credit. I will never make a problem out of it.

I never talked about this, but I've found art that I've made for Patreon reposted to other places, mostly virus-ridden 18+ websites and the like. Whole galleries of everything that I've posted here. It's been a blow to my self-esteem and there was nothing I could do about it, no matter how many times I'd email the creators/mods of the said sites, they didn't care, so I gave up.

But now I see art that I've posted here last month just openly being shared on Twitter without my knowledge or permission. I explicitly ask for this NOT to be done in any way shape or form, it's stickied right there in the rules of my page. This is a big deal for me because it's not only disrespectful - it impacts my livelihood, it hurts me financially, and also demotivates me to create more. All I ask for is mutual respect.

Art creation, as I'm sure you're aware of, is a very difficult, time consuming process that can absolutely sap all your energy and mental/physical strength. Despite that, I do this because first and foremost I love doing it and it's my life's calling, and I feel comfortable expressing myself through my art in ways I can't always do in real life. It's a deeply personal thing for me. Having this Patreon has allowed me to do it on a consistent basis and to keep a fresh, focused mind, because I have attention span issues, so it's been a great help.

For everyone here supporting me and enjoying the artwork - thank you from the bottom of my heart. For anyone that comes here with a purpose to steal and repost my art - you should be ashamed of yourself and I'm very disappointed in you. Please do better and reflect on how this might impact not just me, but every artist that struggles to make ends meet. The rise of AI/NFT's haven't made thing easier for us either.

This isn't a "I will now stop doing art" post - I fully plan on going forward with everything that I've promised and planned out. I just may take a day-two to reflect and to wait until I feel a bit better. Whenever this sort of thing happens it's a bit harder to keep on moving and takes me a bit to re-motivate myself.

I'm sorry if this comes off as weird coming from me. My intent wasn't to whine or to pretend like I'm blissfully unaware that not everyone is a kind person with good intentions. I know that. I usually like to avoid trouble and drawing any kind of attention to myself in this manner, and I believe in treating people with kindness, even if they haven't shown goodwill. But sometimes I have to put my foot down and speak my mind. Hopefully things turn out for the better, and this kind of behavior thins out, even if it sounds a bit naïve.

I may end up deleting this post down down the line because I don't want this to stay on my page for too long. We'll see.

That's it for now. Again thank you for bearing with me and for the support ❤️

Artkitt