not me forgetting my signature on this post smh

in light of recent events, i've decided i'd try to get some general tips about preventing art theft (not dealing with it. k-9-dog has covered some of that here.). if you've got something to add / something i've missed please feel free to post below! i don't think anyone else has done tips specifically on how to prevent theft? if so i have not seen it sorry edcfgvr.

before i give you some juicy info, i'd like to state that, unless you have specifically asked someone to "steal" your art for drama, it is not your fault, no matter how precautious you are. if there is a will, there is a way. even the thickest of watermarks will not stop someone determined. please take that from someone (me) who took an entire class on photoshopping.

1. watermark! the most common tip you'll hear, because it is one of the most effective and practical preventions.
   
   • typically, more opaque (harder to see through) = harder to remove; if its been placed on lines you can't see the lines to trace!
   • intersect line art; it's harder to duplicate your lines than flat colour.
   • place it on gradients! gradients are a pain to make look like they haven't been edited.
   • place it over multiple colours! it takes more time to meticulously fix patterning than it does to slap one colour overtop your watermark.
   • repeating watermarks! much more effective than a small, non-repeating watermark. very time consuming, if not impossible, to fully remove. the smaller a repeating watermark is, the harder it is to remove. repeating watermarks are great, but they make it harder to see your art.
   • large watermarks can work similarly to repeating ones, though if it covers the entire fullbody without breaking (gaps revealing the original image), it can be passed off as the natural colourations.
2. small images. if you're posting somewhere not on cs, you typically get to choose the size of the image you upload. small images are harder to use as references / adopts / etc. they are also harder to edit, as all the information is compressed and the pixels start to change their colours; it can be a slight change or a major one, but typically it means a quick attempt at covering a watermark over a single flat colour area now looks you just drew with a normal brush over a gradient.
3. low-resolution / compressed images. similar to 'small images,' but the image isn't smaller (though the file size is). the pixels have just been compressed the same way as if it had been shrunk. i personally use optimizilla for compressing.
4. cropped images. one of the hardest to "fix." if others never have access to the full image, it becomes very hard or impossible to attempt to replicate. very time consuming to fix, as you would typically have to redraw the rest yourself. a good way to prove you are the rightful owner, as only you have the original full size image. a thief cannot snag the image for quick profit.

additionally:

• use prevention methods even when posting on websites you can't right click and save images on! you may not think you can download an image off instagram, however someone with even a basic understanding of html can dig through the site's code through 'inspect element' to retrieve the image.
• be wary when streaming! i have heard of a case where the thief had taken the wip or full image (i cant remember which, but it could go either way--) and finished / uploaded it before the original artist. this can be difficult to prove, especially if you have lost the original file (NOT the image! the .kra / .psd / etc.).
• if you can, don't make the entire image the thumbnail on TH! especially for references, fullbodies, and small adopts. see the 'cropped image' tip above.

This is Argo, he’s designed by the lovely Mavryk Company, and I adore him .:｡+ﾟ

+Totally not me forgetting how to draw dogs, nope

For personal use

He sit

more warriors rp stuff.... my character, pumapounce (left) is stargazing w their crush, sweetbreeze (right) :-3

they actually haven't started stargazing in the rp yet but i got excited and make this djkfghdkjfg i love lesbian CATS

SPALTOON TRHEE WQA SJUST ANNOYNCED IM GOING TO SOB'


U THINK U CAN HURT ME IVE WAITED 2 YEARS FOR SPLAGOON 3 AND ITS BEEN ANNOUCNED LITERLLY IM SIBBING BC IM SO HAOPYPPY YRSYESYEYSYESYESYYESYYEYSYEYSYSYSYS AUGH FINALLYLYLYLY

EDIT I RAN 2 FULL LAPS AROUDN MY HOUSE I CANT SIT STILL IM BREATHING SM FROM RUNNING I AM SO HAPPY

You are such a big supporter of me and my art, I wanted to say thank you with some gift art!!
I appreciate you sm!! Thank you for all of the kind words dude!! c:
I hope I got everything right on Cody, if not LMK I will fix it
Also I added you incase you want a transparent version or anything c:
Thank you sm for being so kind and supportive it really makes my day

i want sploon 3 now! this drawing doesn't accurately display how happy and exited i am. ik this looks awful rn but i'll fix it later (probably, no guarantee)

Ok fangs I tried Forest again and was looking at her ref and wanted to draw the sword😊

I lost this beautiful baby around Christmas to cancer but I wasn't able to spend his last few days with him. I hope he's running around chasing other tails and having fun

I keep expecting to hear his collar jangle down the hallway every time I go to his house

His eyes really look funky but he was mostly blind and has to pupils in one eye so he was one special babby

I'm too sad to work on this right now even though it's been a couple months

He has a Toyhouse if you want to see more pictures of him including the ref




Edit: sorry for not posting art/not being active lately. I've had to focus my energy offsite on USD comms and ended up being in a snow storm and getting sick. It's been a yucky few weeks

These eggs are from random types of snakes! Pick which one you want, Non-Venomous or Venomous. Autobuy for all the eggs would be 100 c$ (the snakes take time to draw) and each egg costs 20 c$.

I actually really like how some of these turned out. I did a study about a week ago in which I drew a couple of jumping foxes. Turns out that it actually paid off since I was able to draw Showers jumping without her looking like a broken stick bug : D

Maybe I'll color some of these later.
Edit: I forgot to mention that I drew all of this on one layer. That's why there are messy sketch lines, haha. I really liked drawing this way, though. It feels very natural.

if i still had like a sona or was into that stuff
which i kinda am but not rly skdhfakjshf
they would look somethin like this tho maybe i think

also it if looks a lil different its cuz this is back on trackpad
bc i cant find my tablet pen sdjhfksh
if i left it somewhere im going to Scream

Just felt like doodling something for myself~ Drew my little cloudsnapper, Calico, with their little duck buddy 🥺👉👈 his name is Pipo-

I wanted to redraw this drawing and show kestrel using her power to the fullest!

I always have a last drawing her. I would love to get some suggestions on what to draw her doing 😁