After my last post here, my personal art website was hacked/hijacked and I decided to shut it down. I’ve also pulled down all images on most art sites. I won’t try to guess motives, culprits or anything else as I feel it would be too much of a distraction from my goals, which is completely unacceptable.
Before I go off and create, I think it is important to relay this:
If anyone thinks paid art registries is the answer, think again.
Paying an art registry is like putting a lock on a tool box. The lock itself is only for honest or honorable people. A dishonest or dishonorable person will simply carry off the tool box and cut the lock off later. This is also true for these paid art registries. If someone likes your art, they will do with it what they will, and in most cases you’ll never know it was done, until it is too late. They will edit the art and steal it. They will steal the idea and rework it enough to pass scrutiny. There will be no end to what they will do to rob an artist of their hard work.
My motives for displaying my art here and in other places (just to be damned clear about it):
I put my work up here and in other places for only two reasons.
One, to get valuable critiques from artists who are better than myself (and there are so many, and from many countries), to help me grow to be a better artist.
Two, to bring attention to my art and my own existence, to further my own work in the very near future.
I’m not interested in gaining employment, so I’m not any level of competition. I never intended to try to go to work for any film studio, game creation studio or ad agency. I’ve already worked for over 20 years in the entertainment world, making other people’s dreams/ideas come to fruition. My push now will be the following of my own dreams/ideas. Nothing will stop this, now matter how good a hacker is, or how much of my work is stolen.
Make no mistake about it. The dishonest and dishonorable WILL steal my work and/or ideas. They WILL see benefit from it. They WILL rationalize their deeds behind many reasons. Because I’m an American, because I’m full of ideas, because I’m good or bad at what I do, because I’m perceived as a threat to someone’s employment, or because I dare to speak out against people who do bad things to others. This is OK though. I accept it as a reality of the world in which I live. A world filled with many opposing ideas, ideologies, etc. People who feel opposite of me will always feel vindicated in what they do to me, and I’m not going to expend badly needed energy trying to stop them.
What they won’t do is stop me from creating and reaping the benefits from what I do, so now I’m off to begin doing exactly that, and leave this all behind me.
Good luck to everyone else.
Mac