spencerkmyta

Forgot to tag... (hope this works) Dear @Valerie Vargas In my relatively short tattoo career, like most artists, I have made good and bad decisions, and everything in between. I am an artist far capable of my own design work, and have no intention of excuses if I have in any way offended you. Carly has been a huge fan of your artwork for as long as I've known her, long before I had ever stumbled upon your portfolio. The two pieces that reflected your original work were meant to be "loosely based fan art", of course that term comes with a grey area, and after reading some of the comments throughout this thread I can see that many or most people think I overstepped a line. In retrospect, the comment I noted most true, and that drove a point home for me was "I think the biggest shame is for the owner of the original tattoo". We had made some changes here or there to both designs, and I have and never would claim the tattoos to be custom pieces in any way. They were without denial Valerie Vargas designs, and any one who has ever complimented the piece in my studio has been told about your work. The watermark went on the photo only because each of my portfolio pieces at that time had it, and it was added in reference to the photo, not the design. The internet makes the world a little smaller, and although I had once thought I would like to speak with you one day, I certainly had never hoped this would be the context of our conversation. I apologize to those offended, or who felt I was intentionally plagiarizing. At the end of the day, this did, undoubtably teach me a lesson and clear up that "grey area". We are fans of your work, and at the end of the day the responsibility for the integrity of my work falls on my shoulders, not Carly's. She is my wife but also a client. Perhaps some lessons come just in time for the new year. Thankyou.

Dear Valerie Vargas, In my relatively short tattoo career, like most artists, I have made good and bad decisions, and everything in between. I am an artist far capable of my own design work, and have no intention of excuses if I have in any way offended you. Carly has been a huge fan of your artwork for as long as I've known her, long before I had ever stumbled upon your portfolio. The two pieces that reflected your original work were meant to be "loosely based fan art", of course that term comes with a grey area, and after reading some of the comments throughout this thread I can see that many or most people think I overstepped a line. In retrospect, the comment I noted most true, and that drove a point home for me was "I think the biggest shame is for the owner of the original tattoo". We had made some changes here or there to both designs, and I have and never would claim the tattoos to be custom pieces in any way. They were without denial Valerie Vargas designs, and any one who has ever complimented the piece in my studio has been told about your work. The watermark went on the photo only because each of my portfolio pieces at that time had it, and it was added in reference to the photo, not the design. The internet makes the world a little smaller, and although I had once thought I would like to speak with you one day, I certainly had never hoped this would be the context of our conversation. I apologize to those offended, or who felt I was intentionally plagiarizing. At the end of the day, this did, undoubtably teach me a lesson and clear up that "grey area". We are fans of your work, and at the end of the day the responsibility for the integrity of my work falls on my shoulders, not Carly's. She is my wife but also a client. Perhaps some lessons come just in time for the new year. Thankyou.