He is very pretty. Love the color and lighting.

I would give him a home, he looks like my character Indy

would fav but there is a gigantic copyright logo ruining it. Could it be smaller and in the corner?

Nope, sorry. It's there for a reason, and smaller watermarks in the corner don't deter theft.

If you wanna blame someone, blame the jerks who repeatedly steal my artwork and slap it on t-shirts, keychains, mugs etc on sites like eBay, Etsy, Cafepress, Zazzle, etc. without my permission and certainly without paying me for my own work.

I don't like the watermarks any more than you or the next guy, but I do what I have to do to protect my livelihood. Of course, you could always commission a piece yourself, and then you'd get the final piece minus the watermark. Or buy my work from art shows. Those don't have them either.

*earperks at the commission mentioning and zips off to check your home page* :D

And yeah, the levels of theft these days is just getting out of hand.

All you ever have to do is drop me an e-mail!

I love the color of his fur ^^

Looks nice, I think ya did a great job, ....I ain't givin' homes though

I would like to make a proper comment / critique on it, but the watermark is very distracting. It interrupts the shadows, and I honestly can't tell where the shading begins and the watermark ends.

Perhaps making the watermark slightly less opaque would help.

I agree with you, and I did play with the transparency of the watermark. It's at 15% right now, and any less and I lose it completely in the shadowed background. I think because this is a really dark piece, it makes the watermark look darker. :(

That's what I was thinking. The way this piece is shaded makes the watermark become part of the shadows. The fact you're using a secondary image, also, causes a distraction with extra contours added. On his right pectoral, for example - I cannot tell if that's shading on his chest or patchwork on the kitten's face. Perhaps if you came up with a symbol or a signature to use over your images, it would be less distracting.

I tend to simply use white text on a multiply layer, and then use layer effects to create a halo around the non-existent lettering.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3455321 <- barely visible, but it is there.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3504914 <- same thing, but with a rainbow gradient for the 'shadow'.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3696930/ <- rainbow lettering set at about 5% opacity over a grey background. It causes enough distortion when printed in either colour or greyscale to be noticeable.

Experiment and find what works best for you and is least distracting / obscuring.

I used to use something very similar to the examples you've posted. It didn't stop thieves at all. That's why I felt it was necessary to use a more complicated overlay image (my studio logo) as the watermark. I'm sorry it's distracting, but it does what I need it to do and does it well.

Thanks for your input though.

I like how he's sexy, but not really showing anything. ;)

Those are the best kinds of pinups, IMHO.

Oh yeah, hands down. :)

Then you might enjoy this: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1000462/

Very nice! And I love Kei's Brek.

And I think you current avatar by Marymouse(?) is a winner!

Nice.. great color and lighting... tastefully clean too :-D

wow....... AMAZING!

Reminds me a lot of Romeo, from Roadside Romeo :)

I understand the watermark thing, but seriously, it's quite a turnoff. Mostly because if someone really wants to steal it, taking it off won't be so hard to do, maybe an hour or two of photoshop work to leave it clean and sell it off printed in shirts, even if it's in a tacky way :S

So please, reconsider. Many artists began to do this, and in the long run, being as annoying and frustrating as it is, they began to lose watchers.

I dunno if it was you or another artist who once asked in a journal for support to report an ebay item with a ripped-off drawing. I was happy to help that time. I think it's the least I can do to support an artist I like (if I can't afford a comission) but seriously, having watermarks that are way more visible than the drawing itself is a total turnoff and it diverts the attention too much from the piece of art itself.

Yeah, that was me with the eBay debacle. Thanks for helping out, it was much appreciated.

I'm really not in this for the +favs or the watchers. You guys like my art, great! It makes you smile? Even better!

I'm honestly more concerned with protecting my intellectual property than getting favs. I'm honestly sorry that it's come to this. I hate the watermarks too. But they're staying. If I do find someone who has taken the time to remove my watermarks, it just makes my case stronger, and they will be talking to my lawyer. I make a livelihood off my artwork, so I'm going to be fierce in protecting what I do put out there.

Would you rather me stop posting at all?

You know that stop posting at all would harm you way more than anybody else. As an artist, who also tries to make a living off her art, not showing it even if it's just for business purposes is just silly!

Everybody has to deal with intellectual rights, the same way that everybody has to deal and fight for every other kind of right on a daily basis. That's what laws are for, and why lawyers have to work, so don't be afraid to talk to yours.

My point is that a watermark won't stop a potential thief, but it's annoying to fans. Fans can be potential customers or at least bring in potential customers. It's like a wheel. The less fanbase, the less potential-customer base. In the end you'll have to drop the prices, remove watermarks and even post your own artwork on f-chan yourself to regain some popularity before people know you even exist.

I will help you once and a million times reporting stolen art on ebay or anywhere else. I really would like you to make a profit for your work so I can keep on enjoying it for free and showing it to my friends at home, who maybe will like it too and decide to ask you for a comission. In the end, everybody wins.

I really won't try to convince you any further or to start off a discussion with you. Of course it's only up to you, but I just wanted you to hear a point of view that is not ass-licking, but at the same time, thinks of your own benefit.

I appreciate that you're not ass-kissing. I hate that. I like to hear honest thoughts on my work, and thank you for sharing.

I can respect a difference of opinion. And though your opinion of watermarks differs greatly from mine, you have the right to express it. And I honestly appreciate your thoughts and the fact that you've taken time to share them.

While watermarks won't stop potential thieves, I agree, they do slow them down. Nine times out of ten, if someone is looking for artwork to repost or use to sell on a product, they're going to choose the easier target. Sure, my watermarks can be removed with a few hours work in Photoshop, as can most watermarks. But the point I'm trying to make it that most thieves will simply look for the easier road that does not involve any work on their part. They'll target someone else that doesn't use watermarks and leave the watermarked art alone. Theory yes, I know, but its one that has proven successful for myself and many other artists I know.

I am no big-name artist whose work is recognizable by sight, so it's not like someone who's never known me might possibly see a stolen piece of my art and say "Hey, isn't that AnimeCat's artwork? It must be stolen! I'd better let her know!" I'm not Blotch or Adam Wan. I'm a little fish in a big, big pond that's trying to keep from being eaten. You understand, I'm sure.

My lawyer actually recommended the watermarks on my posted artwork, and she keeps me updated on any changes in copyright law, so I'm good on that front. In the future, I'll try and keep the watermarks more transparent so they'll be less annoying, and then maybe you and others will be less offended.

Thanks for your input.

It's not that we're offended, we just would prefer to see a clean picture when something is as good as your work! c:

And thank you for not taking my words in a bad way. Believe me when I tell you that I love your art and I wouldn't be saying this if it just wasn't my opinion.

Was it really that often that you got your art stolen to be printed for profit on mugs, shirts, etc? I mean, was it more than that one time I know of on ebay?

In any case, your lawyer should also know that your art is yours, and thus, intellectual property is yours and it really doesn't matter whether you get a watermark removed or not to go against anyone else who uses it improperly.

But yeah, surely I see your point there: they will go first for the easiest targets..

Ah well, hope you can find a good balance in any case c: I'll just keep on watching you ^^

Take care!

Just to try to make my point more clear: if this drawing had double of resolution and no watermark on it, it could very easily have 5 or 10 times more favs, as it surely deserves it.

I am not going to be able to make it to any of the upcoming cons for the art shows, I was wondering if you were still planning on selling the pic and if you would ship it, the pic turned out awesome and I really like it.

That could be arranged. Send me a note!

Oh, this picture caused me so much trouble over the weekend :) It's still awful cute, though!

We'll get the issue fixed for you, promise!