Sta.sh
Fave this journal (it will be your number)
Watch me IF you like my art~ ;v;
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Total prizes reach 1000 
But of course there are always the rules......
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I recently was given a reprieve by the powers that be at Google, and allowed to use my actual name on their site! I took this opportunity to write an article about watermarking that is especially useful to that site, but it definitely is worth a read here on DA as well, because I get a lot of comments about my watermarks. Give it a read and let me know what you think!
[link]
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Artistic 
But if i was a "real" photographer, who's livelyhood depended on selling my art, i would watermark everything.
Personally, I have never had a problem with your watermarks. I think they are very discrete and far less intrusive than other people's watermarks. It's only your right to put whatever you want on your own photo anyway, and to advertise where the photo came from.
I think EVERYONE, not just "elite" or "popular" artists/photographers should put watermarks on their images.
a) Because I think artists and photographers DO have the right to use a watermark (or a signature, in an artist's case.) I sometimes question why people become so obnoxiously anal about this -- I wonder whether they are, at least sometimes, they are the ones who want to profit off the hard work of others. I've seen some pretty obnoxious watermarks, but for the most part, I find that the best artists and photographers use them very tastefully.
b) On the flip side of that, you mentioned that by putting pictures online, you're expecting to see them get around. I agree with this also. On a few occasions, I've found my digital art sneaking around. Either a tattoo design I made for someone winds up, or a photo on a blog, or a drawing of a character on a forum somewhere because I guess it resembles someone's idea of their "OC" ... And honestly? It never bothered me. Friends have told me, "You should write that person a nasty e-mail!" But why would I? I find it flattering. I know my art hasn't always been as good as it has become, and the fact that someone finds it worth borrowing for their own site or collection tells me that it's gone from being like a child's drawing to something worth showing off to someone. I smile when I see my art getting around.
The only thing that DOES annoy me is when people take my signature OUT of the picture -- cloning, as you say. It's a deliberated act of removing what the artist put there to the honor that, frankly, they deserve. It happened with the aforementioned tattoo design I did for a friend -- in a few cases, the picture was just reposted without the signature. Is someone really worried that their tattoo artist was going to mistake the signature as part of the art?
...Actually, I'd like to see that.
Gonna start watermarking now