What Is It Like Being A Stock artist/Provider

So how many of you remember that journal i  did where i tried to focus on some of the artists who provide and create stock for others to use ,don't worry as it was a while back when i wrote it.Any way i thought this time i will ask the stock community " What Is It Like Being A Stock Artist And Provider",it would be nice to hear on what inspired you to look at the possibility of creating resources from your own art and photos.Moving on seeing how large this community is where everyone comes together to make new friends,network and to share their art,do the artists who provide stock allow themselves to ensure they have enough photos not only so they can create art but still have enough set aside for others to use.

Does the size and quality matter when it comes to stock or do the stock artists/providers or do they have some set at a low resolution and they may be offer a bigger image as premium content,in my view the better quality a photo is this then cuts down on the post editing/processing,from just one master file the quality degrades each time you save the file,on what ever image is being used,i am not to sure if the quality lowers every time some one downloads a stock photo or texture.The assumption is that each stock artist has all the original images and then uploads copies or low res photos.

I personally keep all my original photos despite suffering two hard drive/computer crashes,back to the subject of what it is like being a stock artist/provider how may hours does one spend preparing images to be used as stock,for example one might offer a broad range of both resources and stock consisting of premade backgrounds,textures,pre-cut,gradients photoshop actions
all of which can take a considerable amount of time and preparation.Is skill and technique a major factor when preparing or making stock for others to use,i am curious to know !!!!!,As with the subject on  photo-editing software i guess the majority of stock artists use Photoshop,for all there pre-cuts and textures

I will now feature some stock that i am currently using at present in a few art pieces, along with stock that i have created from my own photos/images here on DA, i do have one question for the stock community how many of the artists who provide stock are happy for these to be used in premade backgrounds,would like to know rather than go to each person and say oh i want to make premades and is it okay if your happy in me using your stock for such purposes     

 I am willing to offer in helping other stock artists where they might have a request put in for pre-cuts these images below if the artists themselves are okay with this would be suitable for pre-cut    



          

 

                         
              



Below is a selection of my own stock that i made