On the topic of reposting my work...
I greatly appreciate each and every person that reblogs, likes, comments on, follows me for, and all around appreciates my art. I know that I’m not the *best* artist out there– I just like to make fun little drawings now and again. I post them because I like to share my stuff with the world.
I read every comment, every tag, every little thing relating to my posts on tumblr. It’s all very encouraging to know that the low self esteem I went through for most of my life got me somewhere, you know? Summers spent in my teen years doing nothing but learning anatomy. I suffered through (and dropped out of due to financial situation) art school for a reason. I like being a content creator. I like drawing and drawing for people.
But I need my page to be seen. I need my posts to be seen. Plain and simple.
I don’t put my tumblr art on instagram for the most part (despite my having one) because I market my instagram for my freelance caricature business I do on the side to make some extra cash now and again locally. It’s the social media I give to clients for live caricature. It’s here on my tumblr that I post my fun, fandom-related things. As such I don’t want my sometimes NSFW fandom related stuff being linked to my instagram that I give to IRL clients.
Without proper crediting back to my tumblr (mostly by people that run their instas like a tumblr blog anyway, where instead of reblogging they repost) I lose potential followers here– and if we’re looking at it from a marketing perspective– potential commission revenue. I cannot see all the comments on the piece, I cannot see who liked it, or keep track of where my assets (my art) is.
I don’t really MIND reposts. I understand that it’s extra exposure on platforms I don’t use to put my work normally on. I’d just like to be asked, first. I was the one who spent time on it– agonizing over the wording in a comic piece, trying to make it readable, enjoyable, drawing, coloring, etc.
But I’ve had my art stolen, cropped, reposted– where it got over 50,000 likes/comments/reactions on facebook before I found out. That was over 50,000 people that saw my art without permission– without CONSENT. So I lost potential followers, potential commissions, potential clients to allow me to survive as not only a content creator, but as an artist. I’ve had my art reposted on instagram more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. Each time, I lost page traffic, potential followers, and again, potential clients.
I haven’t set up a patreon due to the fact that I dislike paywalls, even if every one of my followers gave me 5$ a month, I’d have enough to pay for ALL OF MY BILLS. I wouldn’t have to work a dead end job to make ends meet.
Because commissions keep my lights on and my internet working. It lets me pay for things like rent, food, and physical therapy for the scoliosis in my spine (that I haven’t been able to go to due to being unable to afford it for several months, now.)
In conclusion, please don’t repost art– but if you’re going to, at least ASK FOR PERMISSION, FIRST. Send an ask, or an IM. We’re people, us artists. Just ask.
tangentwithtanner
kaledo-art
gummygunk
origamiaround
romaincrisis
areudirty
