...In all the time I have exiled myself from this place, I have come to an understanding far greater than when I was here. I think I now understand the things that made me disappear for the time that I did. From what I see, this whole site was sucking me down. I know I was never the greatest artist, but don't get me wrong. I have every ounce of confidence in my skills and I believe in them. It's just...just the fact that all I see is hypocrisy. One of the main reasons I left was the very core of this site's principle being heavily violated by that twisted tendril hypocrisy (The principle being to advocate originality through your own artwork) How do I mean? Simple, no names shall be said but I know an artist. Who despite her politeness, sincerity, and even integrity was copying a famous artists work (For all of you this famous artist is Dr Comet) and passing this work off as her own. The only difference was the color scheme, the picture that was drawn (Not quite as refined as Comet but the outline was traced to a T) was his. Now do not tell me it's OK to do so, I know for a fact that Comet sells ALL his CDs (All of them, from the first to the latest) and he doesn't do it for fun. In fact the money he makes from it is what pays his bills, it's what keeps the roof over his head, it's what feeds his wife and his kids, it's what allows him to have the bare necessities to survive. Now I mention hypocrisy for a reason, those of you who actually cared to visit my page know that I didn't put up my own "Original" work all the time. To be precise I only put up at least 3 things that were not my own (Unofficially I am guilty for drawing licensed characters but at least I acknowledged it was not my original idea, what I mean as "Not my own" is that I did not create the idea or had anything to do with it.) Now the way I see it I gave credit to the artist who did that work, I had stated clearly that this was not my own work but that of another. But it was taken down as quickly as I posted it. Now how is it when you can get away with ripping off an artist's work (Not just the average joe, a Furry icon to be accurate) and this artist obviously makes his money off of ALL his published art. But somehow you get away with ripping it off and even going so far to say it was your own original work. But yet someone who puts up another's work, DOES NOT CLAIM IT IS THEIRS and not wanting any credit, money, prestige or what have you, gets it taken off and gets upbraided for not posting something "Original"......I'm sorry to say but someone needs to get their head out of their ass and see what is "Original" and what isn't. This is the ultimate reason my faith wavered on this site. As an artist I believe in the free exchange of ideas, but I also believe credit should be given where it is due. Many artists on this site (Particularly the frontrunners) allow other, lesser known artists to draw their respective copyrighted characters, as long as the credit for the original idea was given. So, how can I be doing anything so really wrong as long as I know and say that whatever I may be showing is not my own idea and that I have no interest in making money out of it. Perhaps you would say "Oh, well, we are not as big as the major names out their..." To a true artist, a real one, fame does not and never will really matter. It's just a part of what comes with success, it's a bonus at the most. The money is nice sure, everyone needs money, but the basic feeling of being truly ripped off comes from someone claiming your work as their own and others believing it as the truth. Money is just a part of greed that we face, as human beings every day in order to survive. You can't realize your dreams without greed, and as artists the dream can be and is often more than not hard to accomplish without wanting more out of you art (For one's art to get better, recognizable, and possibly profitable) It's a double edged sword greed is: On one side it's edge can cut through the shit, the obstacles you need to hurdle as you perfect yourself for success. On the other edge though it cuts through you, defiles you, makes you narrow everything down to a set value. True art is priceless, expressionless, wordless...it goes beyond even the words I used to describe it. Art just is, can anyone explain what true art is because I know I can't. And I may never know, which is the way I prefer it. As long as I don't know, I can never assume that I've perfected art. Art is one of those things that get better as you do it more, and I'll bet you even when I'm 50-60 years old I'll still be whipping out the ol' sketchpad and making a drawing, and I still won't know what art truly is. What about you?