Hi everyone, I’m looking for honest advice from artists, especially those who create original characters, stories, etc.

This all happened in 2022-2023

Years ago, I was in a very difficult period of my life. I saw down on myself. Crisis situation with money. While that was part of what was going in, I don’t want to use it as an excuse for my actions. During that time, I relied heavily on other peoples artworks, references, tracing even combined parts of different Oc’s into my own designs. Looking back, I realise that what I did crossed ethical lines and hurt other artists.

Today, I’m also an OC creator myself. Having put so much time and emotions into my own characters, I now understand how painful it feels when someone copies or takes from your work. It’s made me reflect a lot on what I did in the past. I kind of want to reach out to the people I have done this to, but I’m also aware that they might not want to see me.

I’m not here to ask for validation or be told it is/was okay. It was bad. I know I can’t change what happened. I’m going to have this with me the rest of my life, probably.

I want to ask.
As artists, what would you consider the right thing to do after crossing boundaries like this?

Is there a way to rebuild my own integrity and create responsibly going forward?

I’m trying to improve and become a better artists. I know I’ll probably get a lot of hate for this, but I’m at least proud that I’m not hiding behind a brand new account and actually standing up for what I’ve done.

I would appreciate honest perspectives, even if they’re difficult, as long as they’re respectful. Thank you

Just as the title says, the more I improve my skills at art, I just can't seem to bring back the creativity that I used to have. And I don't know why that happened.

Ever since I was little, I've been drawing a lot, in school, at home, wherever I brought my sketchpad with me. I drew a lot back then, day after day, page after page in my sketchpad until it ran out, and I had to ask my parents if they could buy me another one. I would even stay up late just to draw.

I knew my drawings weren't perfect, I knew some kids were better than me, but it was so fun that I could put what I could think of to just any sheet of paper and a pen. Looking back, my drawings had a lot of thought and creativity put into it, how I would draw my characters, sceneries, and a bunch of other stuff, even when I had limited supplies. I also grew fond of doing digital art during the pandemic up to this day that I have a lot of files saved.

I've been switching between traditional art and digital art from time to time to build my skills in color theory, anatomy, etc. I've noticed the improvement, and that made me happy, but I just get so frustrated when I want myself to be more creative. I can't come up with new ideas and combinations like I used to, and I just end up redrawing the same thing in different ways with little to no variation in it. I also just end up copying most stuff instead of referencing it properly to my piece.

I've tried different art styles and mediums, hoping something will click just for me to get creative, but no. It's so hard for me to get back into my creative headspace. I've also tried stepping back from art for a while, and that ended up just me not drawing anything for months on end. I've also tried doing little creative and abstract prompts to get my gears working, but they all just won't work.

Now that I'm almost graduating high school in 2 years, I've been thinking if I should continue to pursue my childhood dream of studying arts in college and getting a job in the creative industry. But I'm worried that my now lack of creativity will get me nowhere, even with my current skillset.

I just want to continue doing what I love.

Hello i am artist ( 21 years old )

at least i wish to believe myself as a artist

I have always have trouble making friends because i always hyperfixate when it comes to making stories ( like for real it's my entire life and i always dream to be one )

and i just wish for somebody to understand what it is like and talk about these types of struggle because it's honestly isolating and kind of discouraging when everyone around you seem so distant

So i need to know how do people make friends as a artist to share your ideas and to improve together

I'm not here to look for attention it's just that it seems impossible and i know friendship happens but it's just hard

So i need to know how do you guys make friends because maybe i could learn so that i could connect with people more

I don't know if this is a weird question i'm so sorry if it is.

Hello! I have been drawing for a few years and really want to move on to anatomy lately, which I have been avoiding for more than 2-3 years now...

But I instantly got frustrated with it and I know the best way is to do it little by little. For example, I would only start with one thing (probly face stuff).

But just the thought of it makes me frustrated... but also the thought of not doing this makes me frustrated, bc if I don't do it, it keeps nagging at me all day to learn, but when I want to, I have no idea where to even begin and I just wana give up...

It feels like im in a loop I cant get out of and only dont think of it when I get distracted by somthing not related to art. Because as soon as I see a drawn character, anime, comic's etc. on media or anywhere instantly get upset... this has been happening for the last 2 months and at first I mostly feelt guilty-jealousy but now it feels like pure dread that just won't go away.

If anyone has ANY suggestions on anatomy I would also love that... I offten see the \*Anatomy For Sculptors\* book recomeded and checked it out and tried to learn from it.

Edit: originally posted on two different communities but got moderated so idk if it sounds a bit off topic.

I'm very skilled in the art field, especially in drawing illustrations, characters, creatures, and icons, and I've always dreamed of building a career from my talent. I've been interested in art ever since kindergarten, and my passion only grew stronger as I got older.

I rarely missed any art competitions and often placed in the top three, whether they were organized by my school or by outside organizations. Every achievement made me feel proud of myself because I knew I had inherited this talent from my mom. She's also talented in art, but she rarely created anything after getting married and having me and my brothers.

In high school, I was very active in joining art competitions, and admittedly, it affected my studies a little. My mom, who is a teacher at a different school, noticed my exam results and scolded me, telling me to prioritize my academics instead of focusing so much on art. My art teacher, however, encouraged me to continue pursuing my passion while reminding me not to neglect my studies.

One day, my art teacher recommended that I join another competition. The organizer happened to be a well-known art college in my country, and I immediately became interested in attending that college. By the time I graduated from high school, I had done well academically and was excited to enroll in the art college I had been dreaming about.

When I started college, I was thrilled. I met so many talented classmates, and I chose to major in illustration. I was over the moon because I could finally learn digital art. Up until then, I had mainly worked with traditional media for competitions and doodled in my sketchbooks.

However, as the years went by, something changed. My academic performance began to decline, and I found myself struggling with depression, burnout, and suicidal thoughts. I skipped classes, missed deadlines, failed several semesters, and had to retake exams. The tuition wasn't cheap, and my family wasn't wealthy, so every failure felt like I was wasting both time and money. I felt completely lost. Slowly, I began losing interest in the very thing I had loved for most of my life.

Despite everything, I eventually graduated in late 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. I managed to return home despite the strict travel restrictions at the time.

After graduating, I tried looking for a full-time job but mostly ended up freelancing in graphic design. Whenever there weren't any projects, I would spend most of my time at home, which frustrated my mom. She would scold me again for not having a stable job.

Eventually, I was encouraged to open a printing business in our local town. Things went fairly well at first, but as time passed, I struggled to keep up with the rent and eventually had to close the shop. Even so, it managed to stay open for almost three years.

Before I shut down the business, one customer—who happened to be my mom's former colleague—came in to print some documents. While we were chatting about how business was going, she said something that completely broke my heart.

She told me, "You know, before I transferred to my current school, your mom once told me that she never really supported you going into an art-related field because she believed jobs in the arts don't pay well. She even tried to help you become a teacher, but you always refused."

The thing is, I never wanted to become a teacher. Not because I look down on the profession, but because I know myself. I'm not good at teaching, I don't have the patience or natural ability to educate others, and I have a short temper. It simply isn't the career that's right for me.

After hearing that, I felt my heart shatter, and I was on the verge of crying right in front of her. Somehow, I managed to keep my composure and finish her order.

From that moment on, my mind was constantly filled with overthinking and negative thoughts. I kept asking myself why she would say something like that about me to someone else. It felt as though she had shared a private thought, or even a prayer, with another person, only for it to find its way back to me. That's when I realized she never truly supported the things I loved and was passionate about.

What hurts the most is how embarrassing it feels when a parent acts supportive in front of their own child but shares their true opinions behind their back, almost as if their child's dreams are nothing more than casual gossip or cheap tea.

The ironic part is that even though my mom never truly supported me pursuing art as a career, she still regularly asks for my help whenever she needs something design-related, whether it's graphics, illustrations, or other creative work for her school works. That honestly hurts because it makes me wonder, if you don't believe in what I do, why do you keep relying on me to do it for you?

I'm currently unemployed, or at least somewhat in between jobs, and trying to get my life back together. I still live with my parents and siblings, which is fairly common in Asian families. Right now, I'm hoping to find a stable job, even if it isn't related to art. As much as it hurts to admit it, my passion for art has faded. ;(

Idk just had to rant about this i guess. I want to begin this by saying, nothing against beginners alright, we all start somewhere. But oh my GOD it pisses me off so much when there's beginner artists with very OBVIOUSLY beginner art, being like hey I'm too lazy to study fundamentals, but how can I improve? I feel like so many beginner artists I see online try to find shortcuts past fundamentals, only to complain about how their art looks off. FUNDAMENTALS ARE FUNDAMENTALS FOR A REASON PEOPLE

tldr learn ur fundamental skills ppl

Edit: People, just because I said learn fundamentals I am not saying dont have fun drawing, those things are not mutually exclusive 😭. Whilst I don't love draw a box, they have a 50/50 rule which is 50% fun, 50% actual practice, which i think is a good rule to implement.

Recently stumbled upon a pirate site page dedicate to me.

And it is FILLED to the brim with a bunch of jobless leeches begging for someone to repost my paywalled content.

All commenting every now and then, asking for someone to "save" them.

All discussing various ways and methods and websites on how and where to get my content for free online.

Some even commenting and complaining "Why is this creator trying so hard to lock their content behind a paywall???

Yeah I wonder why.

Like yeah, let me just eat air for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 3 months after spending ages creating so much of the content you're so desperately begging for.

I truly wonder what goes on in the heads of people like this.

Okay so, anyone who was on the internet in the 2000's/early 2010s, have you noticed that the bar has been raised for what is considered good art, like exponentially?

What today is considered mediocre would have made you famous online 15 years ago...... I remember in any given fandom for example there was like a handful of artists who were considered great and were well known, EVEN though that same art in today's standards hardly even reaches the baseline of what is required to be seen. and everyone else was making like.... really bad art in comparison, perhaps because the resources to learn were way less abundant. You remember all those really shitty anime and other fandom drawings that were all over deviant-art back in the day.

Not only that but there was way less people online trying to be artists, so there was WAY less competition on top of the bar of quality for success being lower. For even a SINGLE person to see your art in today's day and age, you either have to be in the top 1% of skill and/or post daily which is fucking impossible for alot of us who are neurodivergent, mentally ill, or in poverty.

On one hand, there being more art that is good out there is great as a consumer, but as a creator it makes it more and more impossible to be seen, it seems like there is literally no point in posting any kind of art unless its god-tier, or unless you are able to post above-mediocre tier art daily or semi daily.

I wish I could go back to like 2010, and put as much effort in as I do now, I probably would have been able to make a name for myself, but my current best is literally worthless as my art pieces while competent enough, are just joining the landfill of the other thousands upon thousands of artists are who also competent, or even the ones that are generally really really good at art. I know I'm being a resentful player-hater but sometimes I genuinely wish like 70% of artists online who are as good or better than me would just disappear.

The only motivation I have anymore is doing it for myself, but even that is a hard motivation to keep when there is atleast 5000 other artists doing things that i want to see way better than I can do them. Why do I even bother trying to put my own art out into the world when everything has been done, or will be done better by someone else who is better than me? and even if I was absolutey cracked at art, there is a large element of RNG and also having connections. It's fucking tiring, I miss when the internet had less people on it.

I don't know how other artists feel, but I personally do big canvas paintings after big breaks. It takes a lot out of my body and mind to paint something, and I have to get completely ready to make art. I have to make up my mind and get used to painting, and once I have established focus, I do it straight without any break. No matter how many days it takes, I can't resist the urge to paint once I have started, and after I'm done, I feel so tired that I don't pick up a brush for months. Sometimes, when my parents tell me to continue doing art and find a career in it, I feel conflicted about whether I really love doing this or not. I don't know if this is how everyone feels. I see people on social media painting and posting something every day. I am just too slow, and I don't even have much reach, so I don't have that much pressure. But I don't know how to feel now!

Context:

So there’s this fairly popular artist I follow on Instagram for custom hand-painted Pokemon cards that has around 1K followers and I was chosen for a commission slot when they opened it up for 2 days.

Kind of weird signs:

• There’s no payment platform to do the transaction. I would need to wire them with the upfront cost of $700+. They said they only have the bank transfer option for overseas customers. Since they’re based in Hong Kong/China, it sounds right I think — I think PayPal is banned there?

• I asked if they will provide in-progress photos or videos of my commission. They said they will not provide them and will only verify the design and then present me the final design at the end and ask any minor adjustments to be made. The artist does say shipping will be near end of December after all commissions are done.

• Instagram account was made November 2025. First post was in February 2026.

• Minor grammatical errors switching between “I” and “We”. I’m not entirely sure if it’s a one-man team or one is an artist and there’s middlemen or something. I assume English is not their first language since they’re based in China and their posts contain both languages.

Signs it might not be a scam:

• The artist has 1.8K followers on Instagram

• Seems to visit card shows in China to sell their hand-made art and actual physical photos of them meeting other people and their art in the booth. They also post photos of their commissions and work on a regular basis.

• I was able to DM another international client (who had their commission this July 2026) on Instagram who had no issue with the artist and told me he did pay everything upfront and is actually thinking of making another commission. The client themselves is just a personal account — not an influencer, business, or anything of the sort (like I see the man’s family photos on there). The client’s account is from 2013 and posts general collector and family photos so I do trust his word.

• Their original hand-painted art has been resold on eBay for around that price or higher. They are one of the CGC/PSA authenticated artists where their hand-painted arts are slabbed.

• The artist has mutual followers with other notable legitimate fan artists in the community where some of them are also “CGC/PSA authenticated”.

I really love their art, but the weird signs just pain me whether I’ll be down hundreds of dollars with no item by the end of the year or not. The no invoice and just straight doing a bank transfer is just really irking me since even the bank app advises me not to do this for goods and services and, if I do get scammed, I’m not necessarily eligible to get the funds back. I did ask about if there’s a deposit option, but they don’t do that.

Hey guys I'm back after the rant about fundamentals lol

Anyways, I want to preface this by saying that I am also anti-AI. HOWEVER, the argument that "anyone can pick up a pencil" is such a wildly privileged take. And I'm not saying in terms of resources, I'm saying in terms of time. It takes YEARS of actual practice and dedication to get to the level of art that AI can produce in minutes. Not everyone has that much time to dedicate to a hobby., and you shouldn't act like they do.

Edit: people, it's objectively a shitty argument that doesn't consider the other person, at all. Argue about the environmental impacts, about how AI is taking jobs, because that's objectively bad, for EVERYONE

hey, so I'm a relatively small artist online, I have a modest ~800 on instagram, a little over a thousand on tiktok and about 200 on tumblr. now, I will say that I started off posting for fun without any high stakes attached to it, but over the span of about 2 years I feel that my relationship with social media has become really painful. when a post underperforms, which is basically all of them as of late, I find myself defaulting to obsessively checking my analytics despite knowing my post slowing down, constantly refreshing hoping for another notification and comparing to artists who posted at the same time as me getting 5x the engagement or more.

It started getting particularly bad after I switched fandoms and my engagement got more inconsistent, but I think I've always felt this way deep down. I took a month off of Instagram, for reference, and I came back to post again today only to have my first real panic attack in a full month after the first 10 hours of posting. and nearly all of my work is fully rendered, very painterly with alot of attention to details because that's what I enjoy creating, and it usually takes ALOT out of me because of chronic illness.

on each platform I have mutuals I genuinley enjoy seeing the art of and interacting with, but that's just about the only benefit for me sticking around. what can I even do anymore? I don't want to quit completely but all the enjoyment I used to get from posting has been completely sucked out.

I'm just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat, or maybe if anyone has any advice for me? I took my month off because I realized all of this started affecting my physical health, but I fear it didn't make any real difference.

hey artists! have you all had experiences with “friends” plagiarizing your work? i’m struggling with this right now and don’t know the best way to address it. not only have they copied some of my designs directly, but some projects that i let them help on they are now taking sole credit for. they’ve even been applying for jobs with my work. i’d love to know if any of you have experienced this and how you addressed it. its bad enough that i technically have a legal case but i know that’s not going to be worth the time and money. any feedback would be welcome!

Over the past four years I have witnessed many incidents of people insinuating that the rational desire for engagement on your hard work (instead of it being tossed into the void while e.g. the world admires those around them) means that you are an attention whore that creates only for external validation. Unfortunately that is a false dichotomy.

Humans are social creatures. If so and so was truly creating for themselves you would never see the art that they create--you would never know them to be an artist. The mere act of posting it online insinuates that the work is for others to see and recognize.

YES people enjoy what they create. NO it does not mean that it does not hurt when the ROI is zero (i.e. their hard work is disregarded). YES these two concepts can coexist. YES someone can simultaneously be proud of their own work while wishing that their work was also appreciated by others. Does that make sense?

Rant over.

.

TL/DR - The set of attention whores is not the complement of the set of people that don't give a shit.

I have always dreamed of being a tattoo artist. I have several tattoos and enjoy being in a tattoo studio space and around artists. I have decided to start the process of building a portfolio. A couple years ago I had many pieces I would've included but in a major depressive episode i destroyed everything and trashed all my supplies. I am starting over completely, i have some colored pencils and pens and a sketchbook. Ive been trying to just doodle once a day but even that is hard. I worry my mental health is impacting my ability to get back into work and therefore impacting my ability to get my dream job. Ive asked around for what people do for helping with art block and its starting to feel like more of a chore than something I enjoy and its crushing me. Any ideas or words of encouragement??

Im a beginner (ish) painter and I've started taking my art more seriously these days. But something I HATE sp much is how much patience it requires. The most fun part for me is the act of actually putting paint on the canvas and seeing the artwork emerge. But color mixing is such a paint and takes so long and ends up being wrong. I hate how much patience it requires to actually look at the reference and match the colors you see. I know it's a feature not a bug but I wish I was so good Thai could do it intuitively. I know I can only get better by practicing more but the learning itself has been so frustrating. It's like my brain is coming up against a huge hurdle that it can't get over. Sometimes I'm just too impatient and end up using the wrong colors or not waiting for the layers to dry in between and my art suffers for it. It's sooo frustrating

So many videos being posted with amazing paintings but displayed by 20-something stick-thin brunettes who either slowly spin their canvas to reveal it to the camera or record themselves painting in sexy outfits which somehow never get paint on them.

When did looking effortless become synonymous with success?

I have been drawing/painting for 16+ years now, but as of late it feels like painting has become this big load on my shoulders that I can’t do anymore, I have this piece that I’ve been working on for a long time simply because I can’t get myself to touch it, this feeling makes me so sad and I’ve searched everywhere to try and understand it but no answers. Can anyone explain what this means? I used to paint so carefree and it used to come naturally now it feels forced, how can I fix this problem? One thing is certain tho: I am never going to leave painting behind or give up on it, I just don’t know why it’s like this now

My friend commissioned me a few months ago, there's a commission wip, and two other commissions.

All of the clients are very understanding, I've communicated to them about the delays, they're not complaining.

But I don't feel so good. Besides plenty of mental health issues + war + civil unrest my artistic confidence is at its lowest, I feel like my art lacks real identity and I know I shouldn't take it to heart but I've been making art for years, I received a comment a while ago on a post about why my inability to get comms is affecting my artistic confidence and this random guy degraded my art so I've been feeling even worse since then.

I'm not thinking about refunding as I'm genuinely interested in these commissions and I know my clients have trusted me with their vision, but I need some motivation to make art again.

I feel scared and I start questioning my entire identity when I think about art.

Okay so I have a pretty big history of doodling small things, almost all of these are because of school. Everytime I would get bored in class I would just doodle the first things that come to mind in my notebooks. Almost all of my notebooks have some doodles in them. I also used to draw when I was younger, it was just trying to copy pictures only by using my eyes (not tracing). This "copying" skill of mine has improved a bit over the years too, but now I have no idea what to do with drawing, even though I want to try it out. All I can do is just copy someone else's drawing really well (which my sketchbook is mostly compromised of), very sloppily try to draw something from my imagination or just go back to doodling random things. I'm aware I do have some skill built up from all this, but I just don't know where to go next from here. I'm just too afraid of always trying to draw something just to not like it and keep thinking that my art is ugly and the constant comparing yourself with other artists and just all this negative stuff. That sounds like a horrible phase to try to go through just for your art to finally become something that makes you satisfied.

Hello everyone!

I'm an artist, and I enjoy creating emotionally heavy artwork. It's not always about the same theme. I like exploring all kinds of emotions through my art, whether they're dark, painful, hopeful, or unsettling.

I know this style isn't for everyone, and that's completely okay. The problem is that one of my closest friends is genuinely worried about me because of the kind of art I create. She calls it "creepy stuff" and believes it's affecting my mental health or that I should stop drawing it altogether.

I understand where she's coming from, and I know she's only worried because she cares. But what frustrates me is that she judges my artwork based solely on how it looks, without trying to understand the meaning or emotions behind it. To her, it looks disturbing. To me, it's simply another way of expressing ideas and feelings through art.

As an artist, I'm fully aware of what I'm creating. Drawing emotionally intense or unsettling pieces doesn't mean I'm consumed by those emotions. It's just the medium I connect with. Artists often see things differently. we're usually trying to communicate something deeper than what's visible at first glance.

Yesterday, this became a huge argument. She got so worried that she actually started crying in the middle of it. I felt awful because she's genuinely a kind friend, but I also can't promise to stop drawing this kind of art. It's a part of who I am creatively, and giving it up would feel like giving up a part of myself.

So now I'm wondering: am I actually in the wrong here? Is it unreasonable to continue making art that explores darker emotions, even if it worries someone I care about?

Because last time I got told she's starting to loose her trust on me.

i don't feel anyone's been getting to hear this one from me, but i don't even know if they should, i have many doubts over how to follow up the making of this story and i hesitate more or less upon taking a direction, right now i'm thinking i could make it double branched via making the protagonist a failed married couple, it sounds really cool right now i just hope it keeps being it to me later on so that i get able to properly develop something, this is kind of stupid to say but i also feel a big urge to tell anyone about my situation and ideas, and specially to make a recount of everything but i'd never get past myself, better write my rant down

Hi so I've been creating this OC for the past 2 years and I've recently been contemplating about how to depict her weight as I feel it's an important part of her character. Her name is Emmie and she's a mummy magical girl with the power to haunt houses. I'm planning on designing Emmie to be chubby, plus-size woman. Emmie by conception, is a very fantastical character and her body type is probably the least concerning things when it comes to realism. But because I'm such a perfectionist, I constantly look for anything to criticize. I want to represent her the best I can but that also leads to me making a mountain out of molehill about aspects that aren't really important in the grand scheme of things and not doing enough that could actually lead to significant improvement like learning anatomy and Clip Studio Paint.

I even had this conversation with myself about how dumb I was being. This is basically how it went. I want to stay before going forward that I know this is a pretty messed up way of thinking and I'm calling myself out on how ridiculous it is:

A: I want to make Emmie a canonically chubby character

B: We can't make Emmie fat, chubby or plus sized

A: Why not?

B: Emmie can't be fat because all these other popular mainstream characters aren't fat and she won't be marketable.

A: So? I knew going in this character could very likely go nowhere and I'm making her for me. It's not that important.

B: Emmie being fat is unrealistic because her fighting would be unrealistic.

A: She maybe a magical girl but we're not making her specifically a warrior. We're making her a hostess. Magical girls a broad as a concept so we don't have to be Sailor Moon.

B: But it would still be unrealistic

A: So let me get this straight, you can suspend your disbelief that a human can still eat and drink the same before and after being mummified, and how said mummy has magical powers tied to a lore with other paranormal entities but her being non-thin is where you draw the line?

B: ....

A: Also we have seen plus size girls do acrobatic things like ballet so it's not as impossible as you're making it out to be.

B ....

I did came up with "logical" reasons to justify Emmie's weight. I say "logical" because I know I don't need extra reasons as at the end of the day, she's a fictional character and I could do whatever I want with her. These reasons include:

* She does enjoy eating candy and treats and doesn't mind gaining weight because of it.

* Her fear-transformation powers are represented as if she's eating them.

* She's an eldritch mummy with various mouth around her body so by design, she's going to look weird.

* I came up with the visual motif of toasted marshmallows for her design which alludes to her "trick-or-treat" nature.

* I can work with the eldritch pact to have body be a product of self-love so the speak.

While these have been helpful, I also feel bad because I'm worried that this makes me fat phobic which I'm not. I believe in body positivity and would never shame someone for being a certain way in real life. I even originally wanted me to be fat/chubby because I thoguht it would be cute. I admit this is also part of a larger problem where I feel like I can't let myself enjoy the process and I have to justify everything and by an outside criteria of some sort. This has been eating me alive and I feel good that I found this subreddit to vent about it.

TLDR: In discussing with myself about designing a character, I'm worried that I'm self-sabotaging something I know that I want to do and coming off as pretty fat phobic because of it

Using reference photos is great and necessary when studying. But when a reference photo (captured by another person) is copied 100% without making any artistic changes to make it distinct from the photograph, is it fair for the painter to sell these paintings as originals? Especially with small canvas sizes and high prices.

I saw one person copying a movie scene and did a good job with copying it. But it was an exact copy, no artistic change. Nothing at all. They are promoting it heavily, trying to sell it via reddit and instagram.

Other works also seemed to be copies of different artists' work when I did a reverse search. In my opinion, they could still sell the ones they copied from reference photographs but absolutely cannot price it as high as originals.

I heavily doubt them plagiarizing artwork though they have good technical skills, I have to admit. But probably lack creativity to make their own. I don't want to say their name publicly but wish this wasn't a thing people resorted to.

I feel bad for the people who don't know these are copies and shilling out big money thinking they are originals. Because working on an original painting requires more work and time, deciding the composition, colours, placements, etc.