Cook of the Sea
First off, these are not rules. These are guidelines, and I will not mind (at least not as a mod) if you don't follow them. They're just things that I as an artist have found to be helpful for art forums, and I've been on a few, some very good, and some very bad.
1. Accept all criticism graciously and, when it merits it, gratefully.
An artist improves by being told where he or she is weak and improving in those areas. Even criticism that is not meant to be helpful can be helpful if you forget about your ego and look at it objectively. Leave your ego at the door when you post art on forums.
2. Do not post your art in a thread posted by someone else for their art.
I wanted to make this a rule, but the others felt that it didn't really merit one, and I tend to agree. However, know that on every art forum I've ever been on, putting your stuff in someone else's thread is unheard of. It would be like carrying a painting of yours around an art gallery and showing it to random people. It doesn't matter if your stuff is better than their stuff. It's a matter of principle. Now, if they ask you to put some stuff up to demonstrate something, go ahead. Overdraws (also called overpaints and redlines) in order to demonstrate errors in anatomy or proportion fall into this category.
3. Do not attempt to claim copyright on fanstuff.
This includes regular pinup fanart, sprite recolors or edits, or anything derivative of something copyrighted unless it is a clear parody of the copyrighted work. Oh, someone stole your sprite recolor and said it was theirs? Yes, that person was a jackass. But no, it isn't your sprite recolor either. The sprite is the property of Nintendo or Square or Capcom or whatever. To do a pallete swap and call it yours is as stupid as when Konami takes pallette swaps of enemies from Symphony of the Night and calls them new enemies in a later game. Don't do it.
List of things NOT to consider when evaluating the quality of someone's work:
1. How much time they likely spent on it
2. How well you could have done by comparison
3. What style it is drawn in
4. What media the artist used
5. What program the artist used <--Using MS Paint is not an excuse for a crap drawing. Download The GIMP or learn to use Paint.
Helpful links:
Since saveloomis.org got a cease and desist for distributing copyrighted materials, I can't link you to those fine anatomy and figure drawing tutorial books. Also, if you want them, don't PM me. Because that would be talking about warez. I would like to take a moment to say how much the people, whoever they are, who hold Loomis's estate suck. The copyright runs out in like 20 years or something, and they refuse to allow more books to be printed, making a copy of Figure Drawing for All It's Worth a collector's item, going for hundreds of dollars on ebay, while art teachers can't use them in class unless they have a ton of stock copies since they're so expensive to get ahold of. This used to be a college textbook for art majors. Now it's something you have to resort to illegal means to even see. Jackasses. So yeah, I totally won't help you get the books (in .pdf format) if you PM me. Not a chance.
The GIMP, a free powerful image editing program. This is Linux's Paint and a hell of a lot better than Windows's MS Paint. Windows installers can be found here:
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html
More will come when I think of it.
1. Accept all criticism graciously and, when it merits it, gratefully.
An artist improves by being told where he or she is weak and improving in those areas. Even criticism that is not meant to be helpful can be helpful if you forget about your ego and look at it objectively. Leave your ego at the door when you post art on forums.
2. Do not post your art in a thread posted by someone else for their art.
I wanted to make this a rule, but the others felt that it didn't really merit one, and I tend to agree. However, know that on every art forum I've ever been on, putting your stuff in someone else's thread is unheard of. It would be like carrying a painting of yours around an art gallery and showing it to random people. It doesn't matter if your stuff is better than their stuff. It's a matter of principle. Now, if they ask you to put some stuff up to demonstrate something, go ahead. Overdraws (also called overpaints and redlines) in order to demonstrate errors in anatomy or proportion fall into this category.
3. Do not attempt to claim copyright on fanstuff.
This includes regular pinup fanart, sprite recolors or edits, or anything derivative of something copyrighted unless it is a clear parody of the copyrighted work. Oh, someone stole your sprite recolor and said it was theirs? Yes, that person was a jackass. But no, it isn't your sprite recolor either. The sprite is the property of Nintendo or Square or Capcom or whatever. To do a pallete swap and call it yours is as stupid as when Konami takes pallette swaps of enemies from Symphony of the Night and calls them new enemies in a later game. Don't do it.
List of things NOT to consider when evaluating the quality of someone's work:
1. How much time they likely spent on it
2. How well you could have done by comparison
3. What style it is drawn in
4. What media the artist used
5. What program the artist used <--Using MS Paint is not an excuse for a crap drawing. Download The GIMP or learn to use Paint.
Helpful links:
Since saveloomis.org got a cease and desist for distributing copyrighted materials, I can't link you to those fine anatomy and figure drawing tutorial books. Also, if you want them, don't PM me. Because that would be talking about warez. I would like to take a moment to say how much the people, whoever they are, who hold Loomis's estate suck. The copyright runs out in like 20 years or something, and they refuse to allow more books to be printed, making a copy of Figure Drawing for All It's Worth a collector's item, going for hundreds of dollars on ebay, while art teachers can't use them in class unless they have a ton of stock copies since they're so expensive to get ahold of. This used to be a college textbook for art majors. Now it's something you have to resort to illegal means to even see. Jackasses. So yeah, I totally won't help you get the books (in .pdf format) if you PM me. Not a chance.
The GIMP, a free powerful image editing program. This is Linux's Paint and a hell of a lot better than Windows's MS Paint. Windows installers can be found here:
http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html
More will come when I think of it.
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