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FAExchange Rules!
13 years ago
updated 8-20-13
WHAT IS FAEXCHANGE?
FAExchange is a group where artists of all skill levels and experience can have a chance to participate in regular furry-themed art trades. We are a public group and membership is open to all as long as you follow the group rules and meet the minimum requirements for joining.
HOW DO I BECOME A MEMBER?
In order to become a member of FAExchange, you must be active on furaffinity. What do we mean by active? You must have been a member of furaffinity.com for at least six months and have at least 5 images (drawn by you) in your gallery. We will not consider “empty” accounts for membership. If you have been a member of furaffinity.com for less than 6 months, we will consider you eligible to join if you have at least 10 images (drawn by you) in your gallery. Though we accept artists of all skill levels, you must have the ability to draw basic figures - no stick figures!
You can apply to be a member by sending a note to the community account or to an admin of the group.
Current admins are
and 
When you apply to become a member we will place you in one of three “Skill Tiers”. The general guideline for Skill Tiers is as follows:
Tier 1. Excellent understanding of anatomy, figures, color theory, values, shows a breadth of abilities with use of different styles/mediums.
Tier 2.Comfortable with anatomy, figures, color, values and ability in 1 or 2 mediums
Tier 3.People who are strictly inkers or colorists who can't/won't do one or the other, limited use/understanding of figures, anatomy, color, values. Also beginner artists.
Take a look at the galleries of some of the artists we have categorized in each tier to get an idea of the general levels we are looking at. We recognize that art is very subjective, so sometimes it is hard to determine where a given artist should be. We will move artists up to higher tiers as they progress in their artistic development. If you truly feel that you have been placed in an inappropriate tier, PM to plead your case.
Usually, you will be trading with those members that are in your tier. Occasionally, if there are very few participants in a given trade, making a truly tiered exchange unfeasible (say, for example, only 1 person in tier 2 participates), then we will make the exchange a free-for-all. If and when this happens, we will email the members who have signed up and given any of them a chance to opt out if desired. Our sketch trades are always free-for-all and untiered. Admins who choose to participate in given trades are randomly assigned, so they can participate in any tier trade.
Current memberlist can be seen here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3929240/
HOW DO EXCHANGES WORK?
Exchanges will be hosted on a bi-monthly basis. Some exchanges will have a particular theme, but most will be general exchanges. A moderator will post a journal announcing the latest trade on the 20th of each month. This will give you 8-11 days to let us know if you will participate - the trades will officially start on the first of each month. When you decide to participate, leave a comment on the trade journal with all of the following information -
Email address. We need an email to use to email you information regarding your trade. This does not need to be a main email account, but it does need to be one you check fairly regularly.
What character(s)you want drawn. List as many options as you wish. Be sure to include links to reference images - we will not dig through your galleries to find them. They do not need to be full reference sheets - just be sure that there is sufficient information available so that your exchange partner can draw your character. If possible, please link the entire URL...don't hide the URL behind a text-only link. We copy and paste your comment in the assignment email and if a URL is hidden, we have to manually open it, copy, and paste. This isn't a big deal, usually, unless you link to several reference images!
In short -
1) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8431842/ is good!
2) Heresy Portrait is bad!
Rating.Let us know if you’d prefer a G image, or R image, or anything in between. Your exchange partner can choose if they feel comfortable drawing a more adult image, but not everyone is comfortable with this and can draw a general-rated image if they’d prefer.
Any comments left on an exchange journal which do not have all of the above information will be ignored!
Sometime within the first day or two of the month a moderator will email you with your assigned trade partner. It is up to you whether you want to keep the trade a secret or not, but on the whole we recommend keeping it private - most of us like to guess who is drawing for us. If you need clarification on something from the person you are drawing for, get in touch with an admin and we will relay your question for you.
Once you are complete with your image, reply to the trade journal with a link to your finished piece. The due date will be posted in a prominent place in the trade journal.
WHAT KIND OF TRADES ARE THERE?
We are currently doing two kinds of trades - our regular, bi-monthly trades, and sketch exchanges. Bimonthly trades are (surprisingly) two months long, usually open in terms of theme, and have strict quality guidelines (hence the tier system). Our sketch trades are untiered and less stringent in quality guidelines. Please see individual trade journals for specifics as some trade rules vary.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
Once you are a member, there are certain rules you must abide by to maintain membership.
-You must be a 2D visual artist. There is no way for us to moderate trades which involve music, text, sculpture, etc. You can be a digital artist or a traditional artist. If you are not a 2D artist and still wish to participate in trades, we urge you to pay a visit to our sister group
-You cannot [b]only have a “fanart” style in your gallery. [/b]You must be able to draw more than just Sonic characters or My Little Pony. The person you trade with might not like their characters drawn in a certain popular “style”. We’d rather see your own style! It’s ok if fanart is in your gallery as long as its not the -only- thing you can draw. It's also ok to do a trade in a "fanart" style ONLY if the person you are drawing for specifically okays it.
-Must participate in at least two trades per year. This is self-explanatory. Please do not apply for membership if you feel you cannot participate at this minimum level. If you join but later feel that you cannot participate, please contact an administrator to be removed from the group. If you do not contact an administrator and are an inactive member, you will be removed from the group and placed on the blacklist.
-Must put effort into your part of the trade. We are not asking that every trade be a masterpiece, but we are asking that you should put as much effort into trades as you would into your personal art. If you submit your portion of a trade which is clearly of a lower standard than the rest of your gallery, you will be placed on probation and given an opportunity to revise the image accordingly. This is just common courtesy - put as much effort into your artwork as you would like your exchange partner to put into theirs. Make sure that you are submitting a finished piece. Treat it like you would treat a commission!
-Must be timely with your trade. Finish your trade on time. If you are late with your portion of the trade, you risk being placed on probation or the blacklist. It is your obligation to keep track of the due date of your trade. We understand that sometimes something unexpected might occur that would interfere with you completing the trade on time, but in these cases you MUST contact a moderator as soon as possible to let us know, and this must not become a regular occurrence.
-Must draw at least ¾ of the character’s body. This is around knees and up. No portraits or bust shots unless the theme for that exchange specifies that this is OK.
-You MUST watch the group’s furaffinity account. This way you can keep up to date on the latest exchanges.
-Be respectful of the other artists. This is just a given. Don’t make fun of other artists, and no critique unless they ask for it. Some folks have thinner skin than others, and some folks aren’t able to give critiques without sounding rude. And on that note -
-No drama on the group page.We can’t regulate how you interact with other people on your own pages, but keep it off the group page. Using the group shouts, journals, or submission comment areas in any way which can be interpreted as “drama” (use common sense) is grounds for blacklisting.
-If you have a complex character, or a character based on a particular game or cartoon, etc, provide plenty of references and/or offer alternative, "easier" characters.Less a "rule" than a courtesy. If your character is a Gundam, for example, please provide as many references as possible to those of us who are not familiar with that universe...and it would be nice if you also provided a more traditional character in case your partner would rather not deal with drawing mecha at all. This doesn't just apply to Gundam - whether your character is a daimon from Sailor Moon, or a Ridley Scott Alien, or a djinn from Golden Sun, or a Witch from Black Jewels, or a furry Heavy from Team Fortress, please recognize that not everyone is familiar with your fandom.
MERITS
Merits are our way of adding even more fun to the exchange process. Everyone has the opportunity to earn “merit points” which they can later turn in for different benefits. There are several ways to earn merit points -
-The first person to complete their part of the monthly trade will earn a merit point. If their image is two weeks early or more, they earn two!
-If someone is owed a trade by another artist who is blacklisted or otherwise not going to complete their half of the trade, you can earn two merit points by completing an image for them.
-We'll add more ways to earn merit points at a later time.
But what do these merit points do?
-You can spend 3 merit points to pick either who draws for you (from your tier) or who you draw for (again from your tier)
-5 merit points allows you to choose both who you draw for and who draws for you!
-10 merit points allows you to be elevated to the next skill tier for the next three trades you participate in! - (Note - this doesn't count sketch trades, which are untiered, or those free-for-all trades when we don't have enough participants - we'll roll over your merit points for the next trade :) )
PROBATION/BLACKLIST
If you are late with your portion of the trade, or if you submit a low-effort image, you will be placed on probation. This is basically a warning. You have two weeks to either submit the completed image (if you are late) or improve the image (if what you have submitted is low-effort). You will be removed from probation once you have completed these steps.
If you are more than two weeks late on an image, you will instead be placed on the blacklist. Once you are on the blacklist you will be unable to participate in any more trades until the art you owe is completed. The next time you participate in a trade, you will either participate either in the tier below you, or, if you are already in the third tier, your partner will be someone else who has been blacklisted. If you complete this trade in a timely fashion, you will officially be off the blacklist and you will be restored to your tier.
If you are on probation or on the blacklist, you cannot use any merit points you may have in your next trade.
The blacklist can be seen here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3929242/
I HAVE A QUESTION THAT WASN'T COVERED HERE.
PM us or comment on this journal!
WHAT IS FAEXCHANGE?
FAExchange is a group where artists of all skill levels and experience can have a chance to participate in regular furry-themed art trades. We are a public group and membership is open to all as long as you follow the group rules and meet the minimum requirements for joining.
HOW DO I BECOME A MEMBER?
In order to become a member of FAExchange, you must be active on furaffinity. What do we mean by active? You must have been a member of furaffinity.com for at least six months and have at least 5 images (drawn by you) in your gallery. We will not consider “empty” accounts for membership. If you have been a member of furaffinity.com for less than 6 months, we will consider you eligible to join if you have at least 10 images (drawn by you) in your gallery. Though we accept artists of all skill levels, you must have the ability to draw basic figures - no stick figures!
You can apply to be a member by sending a note to the community account or to an admin of the group.
Current admins are
and 
When you apply to become a member we will place you in one of three “Skill Tiers”. The general guideline for Skill Tiers is as follows:
Tier 1. Excellent understanding of anatomy, figures, color theory, values, shows a breadth of abilities with use of different styles/mediums.
Tier 2.Comfortable with anatomy, figures, color, values and ability in 1 or 2 mediums
Tier 3.People who are strictly inkers or colorists who can't/won't do one or the other, limited use/understanding of figures, anatomy, color, values. Also beginner artists.
Take a look at the galleries of some of the artists we have categorized in each tier to get an idea of the general levels we are looking at. We recognize that art is very subjective, so sometimes it is hard to determine where a given artist should be. We will move artists up to higher tiers as they progress in their artistic development. If you truly feel that you have been placed in an inappropriate tier, PM
to plead your case.Usually, you will be trading with those members that are in your tier. Occasionally, if there are very few participants in a given trade, making a truly tiered exchange unfeasible (say, for example, only 1 person in tier 2 participates), then we will make the exchange a free-for-all. If and when this happens, we will email the members who have signed up and given any of them a chance to opt out if desired. Our sketch trades are always free-for-all and untiered. Admins who choose to participate in given trades are randomly assigned, so they can participate in any tier trade.
Current memberlist can be seen here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3929240/
HOW DO EXCHANGES WORK?
Exchanges will be hosted on a bi-monthly basis. Some exchanges will have a particular theme, but most will be general exchanges. A moderator will post a journal announcing the latest trade on the 20th of each month. This will give you 8-11 days to let us know if you will participate - the trades will officially start on the first of each month. When you decide to participate, leave a comment on the trade journal with all of the following information -
Email address. We need an email to use to email you information regarding your trade. This does not need to be a main email account, but it does need to be one you check fairly regularly.
What character(s)you want drawn. List as many options as you wish. Be sure to include links to reference images - we will not dig through your galleries to find them. They do not need to be full reference sheets - just be sure that there is sufficient information available so that your exchange partner can draw your character. If possible, please link the entire URL...don't hide the URL behind a text-only link. We copy and paste your comment in the assignment email and if a URL is hidden, we have to manually open it, copy, and paste. This isn't a big deal, usually, unless you link to several reference images!
In short -
1) http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8431842/ is good!
2) Heresy Portrait is bad!
Rating.Let us know if you’d prefer a G image, or R image, or anything in between. Your exchange partner can choose if they feel comfortable drawing a more adult image, but not everyone is comfortable with this and can draw a general-rated image if they’d prefer.
Any comments left on an exchange journal which do not have all of the above information will be ignored!
Sometime within the first day or two of the month a moderator will email you with your assigned trade partner. It is up to you whether you want to keep the trade a secret or not, but on the whole we recommend keeping it private - most of us like to guess who is drawing for us. If you need clarification on something from the person you are drawing for, get in touch with an admin and we will relay your question for you.
Once you are complete with your image, reply to the trade journal with a link to your finished piece. The due date will be posted in a prominent place in the trade journal.
WHAT KIND OF TRADES ARE THERE?
We are currently doing two kinds of trades - our regular, bi-monthly trades, and sketch exchanges. Bimonthly trades are (surprisingly) two months long, usually open in terms of theme, and have strict quality guidelines (hence the tier system). Our sketch trades are untiered and less stringent in quality guidelines. Please see individual trade journals for specifics as some trade rules vary.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
Once you are a member, there are certain rules you must abide by to maintain membership.
-You must be a 2D visual artist. There is no way for us to moderate trades which involve music, text, sculpture, etc. You can be a digital artist or a traditional artist. If you are not a 2D artist and still wish to participate in trades, we urge you to pay a visit to our sister group
-You cannot [b]only have a “fanart” style in your gallery. [/b]You must be able to draw more than just Sonic characters or My Little Pony. The person you trade with might not like their characters drawn in a certain popular “style”. We’d rather see your own style! It’s ok if fanart is in your gallery as long as its not the -only- thing you can draw. It's also ok to do a trade in a "fanart" style ONLY if the person you are drawing for specifically okays it.
-Must participate in at least two trades per year. This is self-explanatory. Please do not apply for membership if you feel you cannot participate at this minimum level. If you join but later feel that you cannot participate, please contact an administrator to be removed from the group. If you do not contact an administrator and are an inactive member, you will be removed from the group and placed on the blacklist.
-Must put effort into your part of the trade. We are not asking that every trade be a masterpiece, but we are asking that you should put as much effort into trades as you would into your personal art. If you submit your portion of a trade which is clearly of a lower standard than the rest of your gallery, you will be placed on probation and given an opportunity to revise the image accordingly. This is just common courtesy - put as much effort into your artwork as you would like your exchange partner to put into theirs. Make sure that you are submitting a finished piece. Treat it like you would treat a commission!
-Must be timely with your trade. Finish your trade on time. If you are late with your portion of the trade, you risk being placed on probation or the blacklist. It is your obligation to keep track of the due date of your trade. We understand that sometimes something unexpected might occur that would interfere with you completing the trade on time, but in these cases you MUST contact a moderator as soon as possible to let us know, and this must not become a regular occurrence.
-Must draw at least ¾ of the character’s body. This is around knees and up. No portraits or bust shots unless the theme for that exchange specifies that this is OK.
-You MUST watch the group’s furaffinity account. This way you can keep up to date on the latest exchanges.
-Be respectful of the other artists. This is just a given. Don’t make fun of other artists, and no critique unless they ask for it. Some folks have thinner skin than others, and some folks aren’t able to give critiques without sounding rude. And on that note -
-No drama on the group page.We can’t regulate how you interact with other people on your own pages, but keep it off the group page. Using the group shouts, journals, or submission comment areas in any way which can be interpreted as “drama” (use common sense) is grounds for blacklisting.
-If you have a complex character, or a character based on a particular game or cartoon, etc, provide plenty of references and/or offer alternative, "easier" characters.Less a "rule" than a courtesy. If your character is a Gundam, for example, please provide as many references as possible to those of us who are not familiar with that universe...and it would be nice if you also provided a more traditional character in case your partner would rather not deal with drawing mecha at all. This doesn't just apply to Gundam - whether your character is a daimon from Sailor Moon, or a Ridley Scott Alien, or a djinn from Golden Sun, or a Witch from Black Jewels, or a furry Heavy from Team Fortress, please recognize that not everyone is familiar with your fandom.
MERITS
Merits are our way of adding even more fun to the exchange process. Everyone has the opportunity to earn “merit points” which they can later turn in for different benefits. There are several ways to earn merit points -
-The first person to complete their part of the monthly trade will earn a merit point. If their image is two weeks early or more, they earn two!
-If someone is owed a trade by another artist who is blacklisted or otherwise not going to complete their half of the trade, you can earn two merit points by completing an image for them.
-We'll add more ways to earn merit points at a later time.
But what do these merit points do?
-You can spend 3 merit points to pick either who draws for you (from your tier) or who you draw for (again from your tier)
-5 merit points allows you to choose both who you draw for and who draws for you!
-10 merit points allows you to be elevated to the next skill tier for the next three trades you participate in! - (Note - this doesn't count sketch trades, which are untiered, or those free-for-all trades when we don't have enough participants - we'll roll over your merit points for the next trade :) )
PROBATION/BLACKLIST
If you are late with your portion of the trade, or if you submit a low-effort image, you will be placed on probation. This is basically a warning. You have two weeks to either submit the completed image (if you are late) or improve the image (if what you have submitted is low-effort). You will be removed from probation once you have completed these steps.
If you are more than two weeks late on an image, you will instead be placed on the blacklist. Once you are on the blacklist you will be unable to participate in any more trades until the art you owe is completed. The next time you participate in a trade, you will either participate either in the tier below you, or, if you are already in the third tier, your partner will be someone else who has been blacklisted. If you complete this trade in a timely fashion, you will officially be off the blacklist and you will be restored to your tier.
If you are on probation or on the blacklist, you cannot use any merit points you may have in your next trade.
The blacklist can be seen here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3929242/
I HAVE A QUESTION THAT WASN'T COVERED HERE.
PM us or comment on this journal!
DO NOT POST TRADE INFO HERE!
DO NOT POST TRADE INFO HERE!
DO NOT POST TRADE INFO HERE!
DO NOT POST TRADE INFO HERE!
DO NOT POST TRADE INFO HERE!
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