#helping fellow artists

[maikaartwork]

Artists, let’s talk about Instagram commission scammers

There’s been a huge rise in commission scammers recently, mostly on Instagram. A lot of new artists don’t know what to look out for, so I figured this might help people.

How they begin

Usually the scammer will write to you asking about a commission. Something deceptively cute - mostly I encounter asks about pet portraits, with one or two photos sent. They’ll probably try to sell you a sweet little story, like “It’s for my son’s birthday”. They will insist that they love your artwork and style, even though they don’t follow you or never liked a single piece of your art.

What to look out for:

Their profiles will either be private, empty, or filled with very generic stuff, dating at most a few years back.

Their language will be very simple, rushed or downright bad. They might use weird emojis that nobody ever uses. They will probably send impatient “??” when you don’t answer immediately. They’re in a crunch - lots of people to scam, you know. 

They’ll give you absolutely no guidelines. No hints on style, contents aside from (usually) the pet and often a name written on the artwork, no theme. Anything you draw will be perfect. Full artistic freedom. In reality they don’t really care for this part.

They’ll offer you a ridiculous amount of money. Usually 100 or 300 USD (EDIT: I know it might not be a lot for some work. What I mean here - way higher than your asking price, 100 and 300 are standard rates they give). They’ll often put in a phrase like “I am willing to compensate you financially” and “I want the best you can draw”, peppered with vague praise. It will most likely sound way too good to be true. That’s because it is.

Where the scam actually happens

If you agree, they will ask you for a payment method. They’ll try to get to this part as soon as possible. 

Usually, they’ll insist on PayPal. And not just any PayPal. They’ll always insist on sending you a transfer immediately. None of that PayPal Invoice stuff (although some do have methods for that, too). They’ll really, REALLY want to get your PayPal email address and name for the transfer - that’s what they’re after. If you insist on any other method, they’ll just circle back to the transfer “for easiest method”. If you do provide them with the info, most likely you’ll soon get a scam email. It most likely be a message with a link that will ultimately lead to bleeding you dry. Never, and I mean NEVER click on any emails or links you get from them. It’s like with any other scam emails you can ever get.

A few things can happen here:

They overpay you and ask for the difference to be wired back. Usually it will go to a different account and you’ll never see that money again. 

They’ll overpay you “for shipping costs” and ask you to forward the difference to their shipping company. Just like before, you’ll never see that money again.

The actual owner of the account (yes, they most likely use stolen accounts to wire from) will realize there’s been something sketchy going on and request a refund via official channels. Your account will be charged with fees and/or you get in trouble for fraudulent transactions. 

You will transfer the money from your PayPal credit to your bank account and they will make a shitstorm when they want their money back, making your life a living hell. They will call you a scammer, a thief, make wild claims, wearing you down and forcing you into wiring money “back” - aka to their final destination account. 

Never, EVER wire money to anyone. This is not how it’s supposed to go. Use PayPal Invoice for secure exchanges where the client needs to provide you with their email, not the other way around.

You can find more info on that method HERE.

What to do when you encounter a scammer:

Ask the right questions: inquire about the style, which artwork of yours they like, as much details as you can. They won’t supply you with any good answers.

Don’t let the rush of the exchange, their praise and the promise of insanely good money to get to you. That’s how they operate, that’s how they make you lose vigilance. 

Don’t engage them. As soon as you realize it might be a scam, block them. The sense of urgency they create with their rushed exchange, and pressure they put on you will sooner or later get to you and you might do something that you’ll regret later.

Never wire money to anyone. Never give out your personal data. Never provide your email, name, address or credit card info. 

Don’t be deceived by receiving a payment, if you somehow agree to go along with it. Just because it’s there now doesn’t mean it can’t be withdrawn. 

Here is a very standard example of such an exchange. I realized it’s a scam pretty fast and went along with it, because I wanted good screenshots for you guys, so I tried going very “by the book” with it. 

Please share this post, make it reach as many artists as possible. Let young or inexperienced artists know that this is going on. So many people have no idea that this is a thing. Let’s help each other out. If you think I missed any relevant info, do add it as an rb!

Also, if you know other scam methods that you think should be shared, consider rb-ing this post with them below. Having a master post of scam protection would AWESOME to have in the art community.

#art resources #artist help #artist advice #commission advice #scammers #instagram scam #please share with your fellow artists

[youjustgotxfiled]

Hey X-File it's the blight twins here and we just wanted to know if we're screwing something up on our account and posts because we haven't received any questions besides yours which we love but honestly I don't know if we upset someone or If we did something to harm someone we wanted to see if you could help us figure it out

Hey guys!

Before I answer your question, please know that I can only speak from the perspective of someone just getting started as a quote-unquote “content creator” for Tumblr and the Internet myself, so much of what I say is stuff I’ve mostly gleaned watching others’ success and failure over my past 10 years as a regular Internet consumer. In short, your mileage may vary with what I'm about to say, but I think you may find a lot of it helpful nonetheless.

Now on to your question. To be honest, it’s a cold reality of any profession--but especially that of an Internet content creator, where finding and maintaining an audience is beyond critical--that success won’t come right away. Maybe not for weeks, maybe not even for months or years, but the principle still remains: overnight success is the exception, not the rule, of any creative endeavor. How does one resolve this? Work. Productivity. Authenticity. Oh, and a healthy dose of luck and interactions with audiences and fellow artists, too.

To the first point: it’s hard for people to get attached to your stuff if you don’t, well, make any for them to see. Vlog posts, videos, stories, drawings, however you prefer to express yourself, it is VITAL that you not only get serious about creating and finishing these things to the best of your ability, but also to get it out there for people to see and look at--and to also get serious with others in your life that this is important to you and that you want to do this. Stigmas about using platforms like Tumblr, A03, or DeviantArt as a jumping-off point for broader creative projects don’t erase themselves; advocating for one’s work and how important it is to them is essential. 

Now to the second point: routine, planning, and goal-setting is a criminally-overlooked aspect of being an artist of any kind, but especially one just starting out who’s never been inclined to have any of these things to begin with. One thing I can tell you off the bat is that it does NOT pay to live up to the stereotype of the artist who only works on their art when the inspiration strikes. In order to get meaningful amounts of work done on meaningful projects, you ABSOLUTELY MUST PUT IN WORK ON THEM EVERY DAY. Even if you’re in a down mood, even if you can only manage couple of sketch lines or edits or pages, even if you’re busy most of the day with other tasks around the house, it is critical that you keep. Moving. Forward. Not only will there be all the time in the world to revise and change what you’re working on when you finish a draft of it, you’ll never feel like you’re wasting your time doing nothing even if you don’t initially like what you’re putting out. So, my advice is to set a goal for yourself to get a certain amount of work done on projects every day, and to make that as regular a part of your day as making one’s bed or brushing their teeth. Whatever that level is, whatever you’re comfortable with (I CANNOT stress enough not to overwork yourself if you can help it--sometimes circumstances will force your hand, but your health and happiness come first and foremost), whatever time in the day you can find to do it, MAKE IT HAPPEN. It’s YOUR art, YOUR passion, and something that you’d ideally like to be doing for the rest of your life. Treat it, and yourself, accordingly.

Now for point #3: by the same token of putting in the work to put yourself out there, it’s also vital that it’s, well, YOURSELF that you’re putting out there through your work. Everyone has different tastes in genres, art forms, and intensity of content, but there is one universal thing that everyone, across fandoms and generations, agrees on: an artist that isn’t clearly being themselves is hardly one worth following at all. What do I mean by this? To put it bluntly, DON’T BE A PALE IMITATOR. Put your own spin, your own experiences into whatever you do; even if it’s an AMV of something some people think is cringe, make it YOUR AMV style, YOUR own unmistakable brand of “cringe.” Own and embrace yourself and your unique tastes and experiences, and there WILL be an audience for your work. Put even more simply: be yourself, and be HONEST about being yourself. People will always respect authenticity, even if the flavors you offer don’t quite jell with their proverbial palettes. 

Next is point #4, and a rather brief one at that. Honestly, it can often be luck of the draw whether enough people suddenly connect to your work at a given time to thrust you from lowly grunt to Internet superstar; it’s always amazing when a Markiplier or Jacksepticeye is able to capitalize enough on the zeitgeist to become something bigger than what they were before, but it’s not something that everyone should expect to have happen to them. Because of this, it’s often just not worth it to worry about whether or not it’ll ever happen, because 90% of the time, it’s out of your control one way or another. What you should worry about is what you CAN control; everything else deserves to be put aside in favor of more concrete endeavors--like, say, working on or sharing your stuff. Or interacting with audience members and fellow creators. Speaking of...

Point #5: One of THE biggest things you can do to grow your audience is, well, being an audience member yourself. Not just talking with those who respond to your posts, but checking out THEIR channels and pages, too. Not only might you find someone whom you can take inspiration and valuable information from, you can also gain legitimate friendships and relationships with them by helping them feel more valued in both their work and themselves. And the more an audience member feels cared for by you, the more likely they are to be engaged by your work and want to help you out with it, too. Hearts, comments, and reblogs, as I’m sure you know, are the LIFEBLOOD of any artist on this platform. Similar with Christmas/birthday presents, it often goes both ways between artist and audience: in order to get, you must be able to give, too. On top of all this, this goes TRIPLE for any artists on the platform in general--the more of them you engage with as an audience member, be it with hearts, messages, suggestions for improvement, or anything else, the higher your potential standing will be should you decide you want to start sharing your own works, too. In short: If you want to succeed as an artist, seek out other audience members and artists that you want to see succeed, too. And if you come across an artist you like and want to see succeed, LET THEM KNOW. Being an active community member will go a long way towards achieving this. 

By the same token, however, it is ESSENTIAL that you NOT FORCE OR GUILT-TRIP PEOPLE INTO DOING THIS WITH YOU. It’s fine and all to mention that you’re an artist starting out and would appreciate all the help you can get with your own work (drafts, revisions, etc.), but begging for follows or messages or anything of the like is THE fastest way to send someone running for the hills. If there’s anything an audience member hates more than feeling like the artist thinks they’re stupid or want to be pandered to, it’s feeling pressured into buying into something that doesn’t feel like it's THEIR decision to make one way or another. It’s important, therefore, to keep this cardinal rule in mind: let your audience come to you, NOT the other way around. This also circles back to the authenticity point from earlier: it’s perfectly okay--encouraged, even--to want to care for your audience as much as you can via accommodating whatever boundaries, traumas, and/or triggers you or they may have. It is still up to you, however, to curate what kind of audience you want at the end of the day, and that can ONLY happen once people start making the decision to check out your stuff (that you made in YOUR own way, remember) on THEIR terms. While I myself only have 6 followers on this platform at the moment, each of them are people I care about and respect because I love the way they express themselves, and I let them know as much. Each of them came to me on THEIR terms, because THEY liked the posts I liked and some of the ones I posted, too.  This helps foster a sense of trust, safety, and loyalty between all of us, even though it seems to just be a commercial artist-audience relationship on the surface of things. In short: treat your potential audience members like actual human beings with their own capacities to make decisions for themselves, NOT as potential customers to try to grow your business quickly. One is warm, friendly, and fosters personal connection; the other is cold, giving off a sense of corporation-esque disconnect and distance from someone who only wants your money or other valuables.

Again, take this all with a grain of salt, since I’m relatively new to doing this myself and I can only speak as someone who’s watched many other creators succeed and fail spectacularly over the last 10 years or so. I do hope it helps you out, however, and that things do get better for you from here on out. Please feel free to reach out to me again any time if there’s anything else you guys need. I wish you all the best of luck. <3   

#artists on tumblr #artist advice #drawing advice #writing advice #helping fellow artists #blogging advice #video advice

[eclown4hire]

WOE, GLOBAL EXLUSIVE REFERENCE SHEETS BE UPON YEE

#i hardly saw any good references images for these outfits out there so i wanted to make some sheets to help my fellow artists out! #all photos except chiakis are my own!!! thank u 2 my buddy over on twitter for those images. #thank you changing room. i lvoe u #enstars #ensemble stars #chiaki morisawa #eichi tenshouin #subaru akehoshi #mika kagehira #rei sakuma #mayoi ayase #izumi sena #koga oogami

[gum-iie]

artist hard at work

#GEPARD IS THE ONE WHO DREW THOSE UGLY ASS WANTED POSTERS HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE #honkai star rail #gepard landau #i knew i recognized something in him #the tormented soul of another fellow artist #first non dottore/pantalone piece i've done in......... a whole year good god. #shitpost is my blood #procrastination doodles

[vladdyissues]

Seriously, there are more than enough fanfics and rule34 art of Danny getting raped by Vlad till he's bleeding, but the second the reverse is suggested you clutch pearls.

You Peppers ship a 14 year old with and adult who wants to kill him, at least don't look down at me like you got a moral high ground. And just to not sound hypocritical, of course I ship them too.

Vlad can be the cruel, brawny, tall, big dicked man and Danny has to be the catamite, but an alternative can be great too, a bit divergence damn it,

"Enough of this thing exists already! I want everyone to stop making this thing they enjoy and instead make the thing that I want to see!"

Anon, you sound like a screaming, tyrannical toddler.

You're the one throwing a hissy fit about there not being enough Tall Strong Big-Dicked Danny content while the rest of us mind our own business. You're the one spamming our inboxes with asks—sometimes very graphic, distasteful, and definitely unwanted asks—about ship dynamics that we have repeatedly explained don't appeal to us. And yet you keep sending them.

This isn't even about shipping or dynamics, really. This is about you not respecting our boundaries and trying to force us to cater to your personal preferences.

Metaphorically, you're going to every ice cream parlor in town and having a tantrum because they're not serving cheeseburgers. "There's too much ice cream in here!" you scream—in a restaurant called We Love Ice Cream And Serve Nothing But Ice Cream. "I want a cheeseburger! Why don't you serve something other than ice cream!? You're all a bunch of pearl-clutching snobs who look down at me because I like cheeseburgers! Well, the ice cream you serve is gross, anyway!" (As if there's only one flavor of ice cream, and its the flavor of Pompep that you mentioned.)

You're being an ass, anon. This is not how you ingratiate yourself to your fellow fans or shipmates—especially not when you imply that some of us are shipping Vlad and Danny the """"wrong"""" way and your way is somehow better or more interesting.

How about the next time you feel like sending someone another ask about Big Tall Strong Danny wrecking Vlad's anus with his 16-inch monster cock, you instead pick up a pencil and learn to draw art and write fic of the things that you want to see? Because that's what the rest of us did.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

#asks #pompous pep #tw for: #noncon mention #anon i'm trying to help you #this is inappropriate behavior #you can't expect other people to just make art and write fic about things they don't like #even commissioned artists have a right to refuse making art they're not comfortable with #stop insulting your fellow fans and treating us like your personal content factories

[kulapti]

Hidden singer (Coyote and Big Bluestem); Dec 2022, ink. ID in alt.

In the North American prairies, we talk about the "big four" characteristic grass species, which historically were among the most common prairie plant species and are noted for their affects on the rest of the habitat. They define the habitat, in the same way oak forest is defined by oaks. Everything else that lives there is shaped by them. This art represents Andropogon gerardii, whose common English names include Big Bluestem and Turkeyfoot.

#artists on tumblr #ink #prairies #my art #coyote #wildlife illustration #big bluestem #fountain pen #kinda surprised by how much ppl liked the other coyote so here's another fellow. unhinged lad. v fun to draw #big four prairie grasses #id in alt text #does it make a difference if I specify that? I'd imagine someone using a screen reader would be able to tell? #tho I suppose it's helpful for anyone who sorts stuff by described vs undescribed #hi new followers u never know what ur gonna get on this art blog - welcome to my brain its as chaotic as my desk #canis latrans #andropogon gerardii

[spiderfreedom]

Not a female separatist but I'm forever grateful to them for introducing the idea of just centring women in our lives. Focusing on women artists, scientists, writers, showrunners, businessowners... and where we don't see women in those positions, asking why, and what can we do to help. Focusing on female friends and female family. Building relations and community among women to help women. Spending your $$ money $$ on women. You don't need to be a full separatist to incorporate this into your life, and imagine what women could accomplish if we just decided to focus on uplifting women as a class.

#female separatism #radical feminism #i simply do not read novels by men anymore and i don't think i'm missing much #there are a handful of male artists i listen to because there are simply no women in those genres i like and i'm not here to do tokenism #but majority of my artists i listen to? women #if there were more female tradespeople around here i would SO hire them #but there aren't so i'm hiring men and trying to learn the skills myself in the meanwhile so I can help a fellow girl out #it's not about hating men tbh. it's about imagining a world centered on women. it's legitimately healing and loving #it's inspiring to see other women succeed. makes YOU want to succeed to. and then you can inspire another woman... chain goes on #shoutout to all yall doing real separatism #i respect that. but im here for now #keep fighting the good fight......

[tertain-the-original]

Apple White

Daughter of Snow White

Apple White is a sweet, young princess, who loves strolling in the woods and fighting for the rights of her animal friends. This does sometimes put her in conflict with her mother, who owns a huge company and will sometimes encroach on land full of important natural beauties. Despite this, she tries her hardest to be the perfect daughter and this can make her very stressed about how she dresses, acts, and on how she thinks about her destiny.

#realized I never posted these officially so #merry Christmas to any fellow EAH fans! #I rewrote apple white so she has a character arc that has to do with overcoming trauma #and also learning to stand up to her mother #which I think Raven will definitely help her with since she’s already learned how to do that #my art #art #artists on tumblr #ever after high #apple white #Snow White #eah #dolls #redraw #redesign

[squiddiboo]

something i made for my coach to hop on the yuri trend

#when you need a fellow lesbian to help you paint zone. or something #these r his ocs btw #splatoon #splatoon 3 #artists on tumblr #gallery

[bubblegumflavor]

Are you still looking for a Christmas gift or a treat for yourself? Black Friday deals are here and Redbubble suggested I should promote my shop, so here you go! =3 Many artworks on many more items to choose from, currently on a super sale with up to 60% off!!! ! Don't miss it. <3

Visit my shop 😊🫶

#redbubble artists #fanartist #artists on tumblr #supernatural #stranger things #squid game #cobra kai #the karate kid #buggy the clown #tale of the nine tailed #boys over flowers #the walking dead #lawrusso #desus #destiel #sabriel #self promo #reblogs highly appreciated!!! #help a fellow artist? =)

[suga-parade]

beloveds

pt2

#this is part one of like... eight #head pat nation #that's the name this idea has in my to-do list app #i MISSED drawing my boy #i recently re-read volume 12 and oh boy #elliot nightray #oz vessalius #pandora hearts #pandora hearts fanart #the art which tori offers #my art #artists on tumblr #digital drawing #digital art #fanart #this is maybe dumb but i know there are established names for the trios... but i don't know which is which or who does it encompass #would you help a fellow pandora hearts enthusiast?

[starredforlife]

If you fucking morons cared one ounce as much for palestine as you do for this horrid little show.

#SO YOU CAN ORGANIZE. #i am sick to death of people who love media more than real human people #I hope this show gets erased from streaming platforms and I hope everyone who donated to this instead of relief for an ongoing genocide- #-never feels anything but a deep sense of shame forever #ofmd renewal #star’s stuff #dl #HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTIONS DONT NEED YOUR FUCKING MONEY. #I’m sorry but also like. people just around you are suffering to. can you imagine what this 20k would do for a local food pantry #*too #it’s not so much where people’s individual money is going but it is. it’s the priorities. it’s the effort. #somehow your entertainment matters more to you and this is what you prioritize #y’all are sick in the heart genuinely #you all need to grow up and learn how to write and draw for yourselves to make what you wanna see instead of wasting your fucking money #commission an artist or fic writer with this money. you are doing more to help a fellow human out that way!! #and you get it tailored exactly to what you want without doing the work #AN AVERAGE OF $33 PER PERSON. holllyyyyyy SHIT

[yinstari]

commissions are open!! check the first link on my bio to request them or to get more info about them <3

#commissions open #commission chart #help a fellow artist to afford having some vacations 🙏😩 #my art #art #artists on tumblr #baizhu #original characters #digital art #illustration #drawing #artist

[scatterpatter]

Every time i cringe when old of mine gets notes again, I then get this kinda swell of pride

Like man I never would've thought that a silly doodle I did in the middle of a hyperfix in 2019 would over 4 years later bring a smile to someones face

Like how many times I've gone down internet rabbit holes and found fanart over a decade old but still managed to bring a smile to my face, how many abandoned fics and comics and art people dont really think abt anymore still bring me joy when I stumble upon them

And I might not be proud of my old work because I've improved and I get embarrassed because I know I could do so much better if I re-did it nowadays, but like thats not the point. When I made it way back when it made me happy, and while it's not up to my personal standards anymore, it still makes other ppl happy. Other ppl arent holding my old art to the standards i am.

My one lil moment of joy that sparked a doodle inspiration kinda went across time and brought a smile to someone else's face way down the line when im not even really in the fandom that doodle was for anymore

AUs I've since gone back and went "eugh" with because I know I couldve approached them with better designs and writing nowadays, even tho I don't think it's good enough, someone else does, and like. thats just. thats just nice.

Idk. I dont have a point to this. I just hope that stuff i make today makes ppl happy years down the road. That's a nice thought.

#esp since i just cant make art as much as i used to. still coming to that reality and still making peace with that. #i mean if we wanna get real deep abt it- like- how do i put this #thanks to ~the horrors~ i feel severed from the self i was back then for lots of reasons. and my memories are faulty at best #so when ppl interact with older stuff it lets me bridge that gap a bit yknow? it even helps me remember a lot from back then #not to traumadump or anything but yknow how it is. sometimes survival is severance and forgetting everything in order to forget the bad #so its nice to have people bring up remembering the good #but again i dont really have a point to this i just find it sweet that ppl still find joy in old stuff even if that old stuff makes me crin #its why i aint planning on nuking any of my inactive sideblogs anytime soon #ESP my fnafblr. i may not be super into fnaf anymore but i want that blog there still because it really made me happy back then #and yeah to my fellow artists i recommend not nuking old art unless its something you REALLY dont want associated with u anymore #(very understandable if u do. i nuked some old dnd art for those reasons so dont feel guilty if u ever do) #something something 'beauty of internet preservation' #uh idk #personal #i guess

[memedievil]

⚠️ Another art thief among us ⚠️

Attention everyone, we were reported by an insider (who is already personally addressing the situation as they can) regarding an art thief on a MediEvil group on Facebook.

Most of the art reposted come from artists such as Olgatarta, @chocodiaxa, @taonpest, @bechnokid, @tradisaurusrex, @mrdrhenwardhykle, @shynox, @smallbrawler and many others.

We don't know if you have Facebook or you'd like us to keep helping our insider to solve the situation together, but we'll be leaving the link to the FB group just in case you want to step into action yourselves.

We'll keep you updated. Until then, have a wonderful day/night o fellow Gallowmemers.

#medievil #sir daniel fortesque #art theft #not meme #《 there's always another one ffs. we're tired 》 #《 but as long as we're helping out other fellow ME artists we accept this burden 》

[scareghoul]

hello everyone.

i’m opening emergency commissions. i had to buy new glasses, and they costed me so so much, and since i didn’t have any commissions since april, my savings are actually non existent

you can dm me, i very much prefer this way

two to three are enough for me not to end the month on red so please if anyone’s interested hmu i very much need it

#please guys #my new glasses costed me 1k #plus college #i’m poor af atm #please #help a fellow artist #artists on tumblr #ghost #illustration #ghost band #the band ghost #ghost band fanart #ghost the band #ghost bc #cardinal copia #cardi c #emergency commissions #commissions open