Avatars?

I would really love to add an avatar to my settings. I'm wondering if there is some way to search before adding so that I don't duplicate someone elses avatar. Laughing Man (GINTS) done already,
Iron Man..used, etc. Also I have to admit, I'm not sure what is even legal to use! So many images appear on Bing and Google images! Can you just willy nilly snag and paste? Seeing some of the work here I appreciate that peoples creative time and work is not necessarily free to just snatch. Any suggestions would help.
Thanks in advance.

Well as long as it's recognizably different, it doesn't have to be completely unique. arsheesh and I have rather similar avatars, but they certainly aren't going to be confused for one another.

I'd recommend you try to make something from scratch, not just to avoid copyright issues, but also to improve the recognizably and reduce the chance of duplication.

Just make one yourself, that would almost guarantee you don't have the same one, I mean its not like this an auto mechanics forum, we are all artists, some more than others, but hey!!! I like my rivers upside down, don't judge me!!! =)

Yeah, just make something you've always wanted as an avatar. Mine is distinctly me.

Cheers,

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Originally Posted by bradlavario

we are all artists

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Not all of us...

Okay, besides me, most of YOU guys are artists! LoLz!

I'm a cat.

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Originally Posted by Lukc

I'm a cat.

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thats some damn cool maps you make with paws *lol*

just pic an avatar you think "represents" you - if you wanna pick some picture from a google search, thats ok. Even if its not clear if you can use it I don't think anyone would really care about you using it as your avatar unless you're trying to do something commercial with it or passing it off as your own art - if you look around the web 99% of all avatars are artwork/pics other people have made (ie "Stolen"), however - being on a art site - it is always appreciated that people make their own avatars. This will also open up for a fun happening now and then - like last fall when we had a New York Challenge and the participants started making Statue of liberty version of their Avatars :) ... but basicly - have fun :)

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Speaking of - almost time to change to my winter avatar...

-Rob A>

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Trolling on the web I saw an awesome Mach 5 pic and when I peeped the properties I saw it was an image from DeviantArt with a name I recognized from this site. Thats what got me questioning the legal/moral thing in the first place. I think I'll take the consensus advice here and make one of my own. But first, I must devour large amounts of turkey.