Quick 'looks like...' comments rant

QUICK DISCLAIMER: I posted this rant on Tumblr a while ago, and meant to post it here, but I forgot. And then today I got a comment that reminded me of it. This "Looks like..." comment thing really does get me rather upset, for the reasons outlined below, but please know I'm sharing this rant with you guys on the off chance that it'll help or encourage anybody who's been brought down by user comments recently, as well as educate younger artists how to constructively respond to this one set of user comments. That being said, please note I do use harsh language (no curses, but I am rather harsh) to drive the point home. It's not my new "thing" to be this mean. It's really only something I'm passionate about.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE'S THE RANT!

I’m starting to get fed up with those people who scour the internet just so they can compare your work to popular work.

You know the type. The people who leave asinine comments that solely consist of the words, “Looks like [character] from [movie/game/series].” Then they just flutter away, never to be heard from again. No Favorite, no Watch, nada. They just dropped in to tell you your character looks like another one.

(I was being rather generous with the above quote, by the way.You’d be lucky to get capital letters or punctuation out of these people.)

It’s been happening less and less to me over the years, but what really ticks me off is when these people comment on newbie artists’ work. For golly gosh’s sakes. OF COURSE their characters are going to resemble others. COPYING IS HOW YOU LEARN.

And when you’re a new artist, you can’t see that resemblance. You think you’ve created something new and you feel amazing about it. Then some butt-hole comes and ruins it for you by flippantly accusing you of malicious plagiarism.

 MID-RANT DISCLAIMER: I'm referring only to actions taken by complete strangers who most likely click around deviantART indiscriminately leaving stupid comments. If you've ever told anyone their character resembles another, please don't think I'm making you out to be a villain. I'm truly only talking about a finite set of circumstances: a complete stranger who leaves a "looks like..." comment without doing or saying anything else (Faving, Watching, adding an emote etc).

If you’re one of those people who leaves such bare comments with inflammatory intentions, SHAME ON YOU. You’ve contributed absolutely nothing. Next time, point out exactly what it is that resembles that popular character you so love defending (which doesn’t actually need defending, by the way) so that the artist can learn from your comment instead of just feeling awful and confused about it.

And how should YOU react when you get a comment like that? First, take a deep breath and assess the situation. Sometimes these comments are just people comparing your work (which they love) to something else they love (a popular series, for example). Thank them for the compliment, because that’s exactly what it is.

If you think the person is just being a butt, the best thing to do is to ignore them. Just don’t lash out or defend yourself, because they will fight back with all their might and it would be a major waste of time for you to indulge their insecurities.

I truly hope this helps some of you out there. Never let people get you down. Always draw what you love drawing, keep improving at your own pace, and your audience will find you.