[Rant] Please Respect Your Fellow Artists

It's come up time and time again among the community, but I've been receiving a bunch of comments about it more often lately...

Please respect your fellow artists. 

Making comments like: 

"I wish I could afford this."
"I wish I had the money/points."
"Too bad this is so expensive, otherwise I would buy it."
"I would trade my [soul/organ/other body part] for this."
"I only have ___ points."

Is very rude to the artists you're speaking to, regardless of your intention. Instead of trying to "compliment" the artists you admire by telling them how poor you are and how you can't afford their artwork, try positive comments, like: 

"Your artwork is beautiful!" 
"I love the detail you put into this."
"I love [some part] of this piece!" 

Etc, etc. The possibilities are endless about what else you can say other than self-deprecating comments. 

As an artist who tries her best to make my species inclusive to everyone who's interested, I still use my art and species as a means to pay bills and put food on the table. Making comments like that not only upsets me, but it also disrespects the amount of work that I've put into improving my art and developing my species to where it is today. 

This is the same for other artists out there, whether they're in the CS community or not. It affects artists of all skill levels - not just a specific group. I've seen beautiful and highly talented artists price their work for literally pennies because people kept complaining that their art was too expensive. It's never too expensive. If that's how the artist feels their art should be priced, then they deserve that price - if not more. 

Next time you see a beautiful piece of artwork or a dream adoptable or anything, really, please think about what you say before actually saying it. DeviantART as a whole has a much younger audience than other art sites. The prices for commissioning art on dA are disturbingly low compared to sites like FurAffinity. But that's because the audience here believes art is literally worth pennies. It is not. 

Please respect your fellow artists who are only trying to get better and also might be trying to make a living. 

(Consider tipping your artists too. If you feel like someone prices their art too low - or even if it's fairly priced, please consider tipping them extra money. Even if it's not a lot, any extra amount will significantly boost their confidence and is always appreciated.)

- - - 

P.S. I would like to politely remind everyone who's making such comments in my group that it is actually against the Mothcats Species Terms and Conditions to make comments like these.

We will say something about it if we see it happening. The first offense will most likely be a verbal warning. We will not hesitate to take further action if necessary. This is something we feel very strongly about.