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  I was not originally planning to make a post, but I noticed an annoying trend that has been getting more common regarding hair shading, and folks finding others thats hair shading looks a lot like eachother.
I am not expecting anyone to read through this whole thing - it is long. But I want to put a disclaimer that if you do, it is on you to read at your own discretion and understand that these are my own opinions and observations - my experiences are different from yours, different to the next Minecrafter. If you continue, it is on you and all I ask is you remain respectful regardless of if you agree or not.

  With that said, lets begin. I am mostly going to be talking about hair shading here, as body shading, having a larger canvas, is less likely to run into these issues, though I imagine some things still apply.
No names will be said either with the intention to shame anyone. This is just to vent about something I am seeing getting very common.

  I'm going to start with saying if your shading is directly being ripped pixel for pixel, that sucks. It really does. However, if you use a common style it should be fairly expected to run into people who also use that style, and if you don't apply dynamic variation (such as, your method of shading adjusts based on say, the texture of hair intended) it is even more so common.

  To get the message I want to convey down almost (though not entirely) immediately: if you're using a common style there will always be others that use the same style. To you it'll look like they're copying, but to them its a common style they see frequently that they enjoy or are using to learn.
If you aren't certain if your style is unique or not, take some time browsing the Skin section using common buzzwords like "Ombre" or "Hoodie", so on so forth.

  Its unfair for both sides in the end if you confront them saying along the lines of "You're using my shading, stop." You're upset because you were under the impression the style was relatively unique - which happens to us all at least once I imagine - and they had someone they likely never saw before or previously saw as an inspiration using a common style being upset with them for also using it.

  While it may be upsetting, it's equally upsetting for the person on the other end who may be scared - if they're newer, especially - that they're doing something wrong and their skins may be removed as someone just came to them confronting them for using a style that they often see or came to the conclusion of on their own, because they also use it.
  Its awful, and ultimately makes skinning a more unfriendly place. It was already unfriendly as is for liking certain skin styles (teen skins), or even more so if you are LGBTQ+. And think about it, too, skins are a very limited canvas. It would not be hard to reach the conclusion of most simple - or common - shading styles, thus why they're common.

  That isn't to say you shouldn't find a style that is totally yours - or as yours as this limited canvas can be. I encourage it if it is what is desired to do! It can be difficult, but its definitely possible, as skinners such as Sugarbun who I'm sure most of us who've been around for awhile look up to, LOTC skinners do (I am in love with most LOTC skins), ElvenJedi and FireBellFairy are also ones that have developed styles, and to boot, with a pleasing simplicity to their styles. Three of these examples have or still do make teen skins, too. Finding your own style can be incredibly rewarding too.
  
  But these styles take time a lot of it. Finding a unique but enjoyable and consistently replicatable style takes a lot of time, a lot of practice, and a lot of experimenting. And to a degree, can take trying to mimic other styles to see how the process feels. This isn't uncommon in the art world at all, the other day I was watching a video explaining a method that the video creator had been taught for "quickly finding the style you want that is your own." The steps for doing so was to find several examples of things you enjoy and determine what of them one aspect you would like to have too. Then, you copy those aspects - just those aspects on their own and try to put them together. Then keep doing it until it becomes a habit to draw in that manner, and let time take the wheel as your "lazy quirks" and your tastes gradually change it.
  
  Lets say I find 3 artworks from 3 different artists I look up to, from Artist 1 I like eyelashes, from Artist 2 I like the eye shapes, and from Artist 3 I like their noses. I will redraw these aspects in the same way and keep doing it until it is muscle memory to do so. From there I make my own pieces and eventually my own style will come out of it, as I learn and change how I draw and my habits adjust it.
  This method still takes a degree of understanding how to draw, as for instance, bodies and such you should understand how to roughly sketch bodies in whatever method you prefer. Copying can't take you the whole distance, thus why you only do it for elements and not the entire piece. And to boot, this still takes time. You might be at step 1 for hours, days or even months.
  What isn't okay is when you take the entire style, let alone the entire soul of a piece from style to composition and even method of lineart as your own and do bare minimal if any changes, that is simply stealing. But this is, ultimately, easier to tell than on skins as artworks simply have larger canvases and more room for expression.

  To get back on track, a similar method applies to skins as well, and lucky us, as a community we have a whole bundle of common shading methods that are simple, easy, and visually pleasing that are likely as old as the first original skins, that isn't just slapping a noise filter on. You can keep doing it and slowly change certain aspects until it becomes your own thing. But unless you are already well versed in art and even if you are, you likely aren't going to go from a common shading method to something spectacularly unique at the snap of your fingers and a notification of a comment saying "You copied me".

  Due to limitations on the canvas of Minecraft Skins, its both a little easier and a little harder to determine if someone is or isn't copying a style, and is purely based on how original the original skin in question is.
Lets say, for an example, someone was ripping ElvenJedi's style (I'm sorry, no negativity, just for example sake). It's a unique style, I don't see a lot of skinners use it without having stolen every aspect of an ElvenJedi skin; and that is a problem. The style is pretty unique, and there isn't a mistake when you are directly 1:1 copying it. Versus, the typical and easy "pillow" style, which I don't often see used anymore on PMC but I imagine is still popular on Skindex. We can't accurately find a source of this, and of course, its unfair to give the "rights" to use it to the most popular (note: Copyright law is very complex, this isn't legal advice on copyright law at all.) The shading is very old, and very commonly used.

  And currently, there is a simple "strand-style" shading I see commonly used today, and this is where I am seeing the bulk of the "copying" comments. My own skins Fairytale Girl, Steampunk, Rory Mercury, Dat Teen Skin Tho (adjusted version of pillow, even!), and Gothic Anime Girl all use some form - both adjusted and not - of a common shading style. I quite enjoy using simpler and common shading because I have a direction with it that I am familiar with - which is to say, I haven't found my own unique style. In fact, one of the skins I'm still proud of, Autumn, the style was inspired by IcarianPrince's work - which I still love the style of and regard highly.

  And it is possible to make a unique/special shading based off of the basis of these common styles, but those aren't what I'm seeing when I see the copying comments. And even if they were, to a degree, these aren't totally unique; they still use the core concept of a common style and its entirely possible someone may come to the same conclusion.

  This is fairly long, so as a TL;DR: if you use a common shading or shading adjacent to one, others are likely going to do the same or similar, regardless of if you were the influence behind it or not, and its just as likely that you were the influence as it is you weren't. Find a way to differentiate your style - one I like mentioning is how IcarianPrince often mixes up the shading a bit based off of what the hair style is supposed to be - find ways of adding detail that fit around your style and as such "Push" your shading around.

  To date, even today of this rewriting, hair shading is generally one of my most disliked. I can make a fully custom 3D Earring with textures made specifically for a games engine and limitations, but hair shading on a minecraft skin??? Due to the small canvas, is so difficult to get "Unique" without stepping on someone else's toes a bit. I'd say the best thing to do is to not push a judgement on if someone appears to be copying/similar to a single aspect, unless the entire thing matches.

  I also want to mention, if you use a common shading, I'm not saying don't. Keep doing it! Do it if you enjoy it! Do what you love. But don't use a common shading and then try to go after others for using the same one.

  It can be highly discouraging for newer skinners and, ultimately, very gate-keepy. A lot of communities have a gate keeping problem right now that is disheartening, and Minecraft is a community I have always looked back on with a smile because there is so much to learn here and it is genuinely a wonderful place to spark and nurture creativity and art.
  And of course, on the flip side, though it shouldn't go without saying, don't steal. Just don't. Inspiration is great, the method I explained earlier to nurture your own style is great, but you should never directly copy every aspect of someones work let alone just steal it. For one, its bad, and for two, you don't nurture your own skill doing that and you, too, can get that skilled.

Thank you for reading. The original is in a spoiler; hopefully I made this less aggressive and more informal than emotional. The old one was a mess and sortof hard to read through, which makes me even more appreciative of those who wanted to discuss and talk about it in the comments. You are all wonderful, thank you.

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