How do you prefer to show what your character looks like? Does it vary from site to site? Are there any methods that make you uncomfortable?

I RP in forums and on tumblr. On sites like this, where I typically use OCs, usually I will draw them myself or take to a dollmaker if I'm having particularly bad art block. Sometimes I will also go commission pictures of them, if I get particularly attached.

On tumblr, I mostly have canon characters from existing visual media, therefore I use official images from said media - screencaps, scans, etc. On tumblr, icons are often used to convey tone. I have a great deal of fun making icons from said images.

I get immensely uncomfortable when people use a minor artist's work as a character reference without credit. If it's a professional artist, who has released the work to the public as long as it's not for sale, that doesn't bother me at all. If it's a faceclaim from existing media, and you're using official art, it doesn't bother me. But as a minor artist, taking artwork without credit really rubs me the wrong way.

I've seen a lot of people with similar feelings about using real people as faceclaims; my thought has always been, if it's an actor, model, singer, etc. - someone who's already in the public eye - and has NOT expressed discomfort with the idea, then I have no complaints; raiding a random person's Instagram, on the other hand, strikes me as kind of creepy.

Anyone else with two cents to spare?