Concerning stolen work...

Hey everyone, just wanted to update and say happy new year to everyone and thanks for the huge amount of comments and faves (and badges) you've been throwing my way. I really love you all!

But I do have to address the fact that there's been quite a few incidents where my stuff has been blatantly stolen/traced over/modified, etc. I want to clarify that I don't care if anyone references a pose, for example, since I think it's dumb to claim ownership of poses, but when you pretty much take my image and put your own OC in replacement of one of the characters, it really sucks :/

If you are tracing or whatever to help you learn anatomy or something, that's totally fine and understandable, but I would appreciate that you didn't post it publicly.

If you would like to use any of my images for things like banners/graphics or whatever on tumblr, that's okay, as long as it's credited somewhere. I also noticed people using my Kisame pictures in their roleplaying to emphasize emotions, and I'm totally okay with that too! In fact, I'll be making a few more expression headshots in the future since I find it pretty cute.

I know I don't make money off of any art I make, but it still hurts to see my art - which I sometimes take hours, and hours to do - get ripped off when people modify it to their own liking. It's not just for me either, I speak for most artists out there - I think - when I say that we really hate this sort of thing. So please think of the artists and don't steal anything that isn't yours! Thanks!