DAD, thank you so much for your insight!! It's invaluable. I want to know what your thoughts on watermarks are for an online portfolio. Is it worth it to add protection to my work with a simple signature or watermark? Or does it detract from the image? Thanks!!
I think all artists should make sure their name and/or social media handle or website are small, in text, at the bottom of every image they put online because it’s way too easy for things to be reshaped and stripped (oftentimes by accident) of their source info/credits. I have a ton of images on Pinterest saved that I wish I knew who did them. And no, Google Image reverse search doesn’t always work.
However, I wouldn’t get into a big watermark kind of overlay that supposedly blocks the image form being stolen - it doesn’t really work and it just makes your art look bad. In my experience, if someone wants to steal your art badly enough their just going to steal it - you don’t need a lot of photoshop skill (or even photoshop really) to quickly cover over a watermark. And ADs are often pulling pieces off your portfolio site to show in meetings when they are trying to hire you, and giant watermarks make that annoying. Non-Art folks just don’t have the visual imagination or ability to see past the watermark, it’s much more distracting for them than for artists.
—Agent KillFee
