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Reminder: Our Badge and Approval - Complaints
5 years ago
Greetings everyone,
Due to another disgruntled artist, we felt it necessary to make yet another journal to remind you all why we are here.
We cannot stress this enough - We are a guide only!! Not wearing our badge does not mean an artist isn't trusted, absolutely not. We can't make that kind of call, we have no rights to do so.
What we can do though, is provide a list of artists who have been recommended by their commissioners as artists people can trust. Could any of these artists suddenly break that trust? Of course! It happens, and if it at anytime this breach in trust has caused a commissioner grief, we have a removal form just for that purpose.
The point is, having our badge doesn't mean they are 100% trustworthy and not having our badge doesn't mean they can't be trusted. As stated above, we are a guide (ie: "oh look, here is a large group of artists who have a great rep, lets check it out").
That is our purpose.
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We received the following message from [unnamed]:
I was wondering why these rules are as they are...
"Artists must have a minimum of 300 watchers."
-> is the number of watchers important to be trustworthy? Do you onlöy want high quality? it seems a pretty strange call as i am just about 200 and it might take me years to reach that point
"The artist you are recommending needs to have a good amount of commissions in their gallery.If the gallery is comprised of mainly gifts, trades, freebies and personal art, the artist probably will not be considered."
-> What does this mean in a statistic way, what means a good amount?
10/25 of my pics i posted this year are comissions... so basically 2/5 or 40%
Is that enought, is it really important to have mostly comissions? What if somebody only does comissions rarely?
I personally think these two ruls are not fair, significant and i feel actually hurt by them being excluded cause i am not THAT big!
We gave the following reply:
Dear UNNAMED,
Thank you for your note.
Sorry to hear you feel our rules are not fair, however I can assure you they are. These rules have been in place since we began 5 years ago and will remain as they are.
300 Watchers:
This rule is simple, watchers means an artist is quite active. We do not know artists on a personal level so we rely on visual details to indicate a good audience reach. It shows people have interest in what you do. An active artist (meaning an artist who posts frequently) can easily reach 300 watchers in less than a year.
Gallery - Commissions VS free/personal art:
This one speaks for itself. We are a group for artists who sell their art, make an income and/or run a business with commissions. No matter how good an artist is, if they mainly do free or personal art, then its pointless for us to represent them. The ratio of commissions must be higher than the ratio of personal/gift art.
If someone rarely does commissions, that is their choice. Our badge isn't a requirement to be trusted (see our disclaimer at the bottom of our profile).
We are a guide for commissioners to find artists they can trust. It has absolutely nothing to do with quality. Art quality is subjective.
The bottom line is our badge is earned, not given.
I hope this answers your questions.
This was met with hostility, a call out journal stating we only want the elite (which has since been deleted) and a new journal claiming that we say they are not trustworthy so no one should commission them any more.
This sort of behaviour is ridiculous and childish. We are just a group, a group that anyone can join if they truly want to.
We are not here to separate the art community, we aim to make the art community a better place.
Found an artist that doesn't have our badge? Good, commission them and let them show you they are trustworthy too!
Best wishes
Gem-Wolf
TA Administrator 
>>> APPROVED ARTISTS LIST <<<Reminder to APPROVED Trusted Artists on our Watch List:
Comment here to give permission if you want us to upload your completed artwork.
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I’ve personally been working to get myself to 300 watchers, and once I get there possibly asking my clients if they would consider recommending me. I think the extra effort will be worth it in the end, if I make it on the list and get a bit more publicity. I’d love to eventually be able to take monthly commissions and have a steady stream of work!
Thank you for your support! We wish you the best of luck with gaining your watchers and we would love to have you join us.
Just remember, not having our badge does not mean you are not trustworthy!
Warm regards,
~ Gem
Thank you for your kind words and support, we look forward to you joining us in the future!
Warm regards,
~ Gem
I asked if some of my clients wouldn't mind recommending me and here we are! You have to work to earn this badge, otherwise there's no point in having it really.
The rules are fair, even 300 watchers is not a lot to ask for considering if you make commissions you'll grow past that quite fast. It's normal that there is a minimum requirement otherwise I could make a new account and just noodle my way in. The idea of a trusted artist is also to show they are 'stable' with their business, they've been doing it well for x number of months/years, they didn't take the money and ran.
Anyway, I support you guys, keep up the good work! I'm still very honored to have the badge on my page and I will work to keep it there ;)
You are absolutely right! We are happy to have you here!
Thank you for your kind words of support.
Warm regards,
~ Gem