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Satire -AND- Don't step on the Little Guy
16 years ago
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Read
chayfox's fanfiction! It'll make you reconsider your previous prejudices about what a man can do with a creative vision and syndicated characters.
seppuku is offering commissions for $3! Not this-ninety-nine, that-ninety-nine, THREE BUCKS. Go get 'em!
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Okay, so. With my latest picture, some people seem to think that I'm taking the piss out of the FA decision-makers for putting down the rules that they did regarding underage artwork.
Well, let me be the first to say that I'm not. You don't have to be a sadist to be a satirist, and not every piece that makes fun of something has to victimize somebody. Rather than that, what I was trying to do was frame how preposterous this whole ordeal is with laws being introduced to regulate imaginary cartoon kids being abused. 'Kay? Great.
I've been thinking about something else, as well: As a community, FA isn't very helpful to beginning artists. The amount of honest critique you'll find on this website is miniscule unless it's something very obvious, and if you aren't popular in the first place, you might never get it. On the other side, even the appreciation is very generalized- one might even say sterilized. I notice unique things about others' work quite a bit, and I do try to say things about it that will let them know what I particularly enjoy and want them to cultivate. That, even aside from mistake-spotting, is helpful enough to keep somebody going and focus them.
As well, I still really don't understand why so many artists choose to jealously guard their work. When I say you can go out and trace, color, visual copy or whatever you want to do with my work, I totally mean it, and for two good reasons:
1. I like up and coming artists. What's lacking in skill, technique or knowledge on tools is often made up for in part by honesty. There's a sort of purity in one's first breakings into a medium, and it says a lot about how someone will progress by laying their strengths and weaknesses right on the table. Everything's still new to them, so it's often still fun in a way that you don't often get from someone who's been manufacturing perfect illustrations for a decade. And-
2. I don't like being a hypocrite. I don't know about you folks, but when I was a kid, I traced. I copied and colored and used others' artwork to express myself, because their stuff inspired me, excited me! And did those comic book artists jealously scorn kids like me for it? No; they put that terribly drawn Raphael or Tails or what have you right up there in the Fan Art section, and praised the effort. To do anything less myself would be to turn a blind eye to this.
So this is why I celebrate beginning artists and all their efforts. Because even if they don't draw so well, or their renditions aren't as smooth or practiced, they have fun and don't deserve to get stomped on for wanting to join in. And eventually they'll grow out of tracing pictures, and want to make their own things. And that, is the circle of art. <3
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Don't record your voice on the internet, kids.
Commissions:
1.
shade1111 [MISSION COMPRETE]
2.
milkjunkie [MISSION COMPRETE]
3.
deloco49 [MISSION COMPRETE]
4.
anjuneko [Paid, Sketching]
5.
Azarian [MISSION COMPRETE]
6.
rhemora [MISSION COMPRETE]
7&8.
Myrilla [Planning]
Read
chayfox's fanfiction! It'll make you reconsider your previous prejudices about what a man can do with a creative vision and syndicated characters.
seppuku is offering commissions for $3! Not this-ninety-nine, that-ninety-nine, THREE BUCKS. Go get 'em!__Body__
Okay, so. With my latest picture, some people seem to think that I'm taking the piss out of the FA decision-makers for putting down the rules that they did regarding underage artwork.
Well, let me be the first to say that I'm not. You don't have to be a sadist to be a satirist, and not every piece that makes fun of something has to victimize somebody. Rather than that, what I was trying to do was frame how preposterous this whole ordeal is with laws being introduced to regulate imaginary cartoon kids being abused. 'Kay? Great.
I've been thinking about something else, as well: As a community, FA isn't very helpful to beginning artists. The amount of honest critique you'll find on this website is miniscule unless it's something very obvious, and if you aren't popular in the first place, you might never get it. On the other side, even the appreciation is very generalized- one might even say sterilized. I notice unique things about others' work quite a bit, and I do try to say things about it that will let them know what I particularly enjoy and want them to cultivate. That, even aside from mistake-spotting, is helpful enough to keep somebody going and focus them.
As well, I still really don't understand why so many artists choose to jealously guard their work. When I say you can go out and trace, color, visual copy or whatever you want to do with my work, I totally mean it, and for two good reasons:
1. I like up and coming artists. What's lacking in skill, technique or knowledge on tools is often made up for in part by honesty. There's a sort of purity in one's first breakings into a medium, and it says a lot about how someone will progress by laying their strengths and weaknesses right on the table. Everything's still new to them, so it's often still fun in a way that you don't often get from someone who's been manufacturing perfect illustrations for a decade. And-
2. I don't like being a hypocrite. I don't know about you folks, but when I was a kid, I traced. I copied and colored and used others' artwork to express myself, because their stuff inspired me, excited me! And did those comic book artists jealously scorn kids like me for it? No; they put that terribly drawn Raphael or Tails or what have you right up there in the Fan Art section, and praised the effort. To do anything less myself would be to turn a blind eye to this.
So this is why I celebrate beginning artists and all their efforts. Because even if they don't draw so well, or their renditions aren't as smooth or practiced, they have fun and don't deserve to get stomped on for wanting to join in. And eventually they'll grow out of tracing pictures, and want to make their own things. And that, is the circle of art. <3
__Footer__
Don't record your voice on the internet, kids.
Commissions:
1.
shade1111 [MISSION COMPRETE]2.
milkjunkie [MISSION COMPRETE]3.
deloco49 [MISSION COMPRETE]4.
anjuneko [Paid, Sketching]5.
Azarian [MISSION COMPRETE]6.
rhemora [MISSION COMPRETE]7&8.
Myrilla [Planning]
I may not want to trace any of your work, or any work for that matter, but I hope you don't mind if I take a few tips from your drawing style.
Of course I don't mean copying someone's pic to the last little detail, but there's no reason someone can't be inspired by a pic down to a similar pose and all :)
Never copy anything you can trace,
Never trace anything you can cut out and paste in."
Wallace "Wally" Wood.
You keep up the good work.
I used to be the one who ran around encouraging artists on the forums I was on, hehe... it's funny how a badly drawn thing can have things in it you can see will be very great one day.
Plus my art has never been as good as most artists I know XD
I really should post more like I used to XD
... I should critique my girlfriend more often...
I've known of many who would critique, but too many have been slapped around by hypersensitive hissyfit-prone types. It's a bit of a minefield, with lousy maps. (For the record, I've had a few (minor) critiques, and in many instances I have fixed the issue and updated the image.)
I can't think of any "communities" in this fandom (or any others for that matter) that are helpful for beginner artists. For accomplished ones, maybe ConceptArt, but there is a lot of ' groan and tell 'em to read an anatomy book' if you aren't already a budding virtuoso.
As well, I still really don't understand why so many artists choose to jealously guard their work.
I think it's a fear of rampant copycatting causing the artist to become disassociated from their creations. At least that's how I felt about my stuff when I first started putting it online almost a decade ago. Nowadays, I feel that obvious warnings not to trace/draw/repost one's art/characters is an invitation to some d*ck to do just that for no other reason than to spite you. Only four or five of my 380+ pics have found their way onto *chan boards (and they weren't even adult). I was more amused than anything else.
I'm tempted to inject something about artists who nuke parts of their galleries in order to hide their older work, but that's probably a whole 'nother discussion.
Hunh. Copycatting? I guess I don't really follow. It would feel less special or something?
I see what you're saying about constructive criticism. I try to give it whenever I can (sometimes with hilarious results), and I really appreciate it when I get it as well.
I especially like seeing rookie works too.
Well, here's wishing us all the best of luck and some common sense.
Excellent journal. Can't think of anything else to add but agreement. :)
And here I thought the ol' M-1 couldn't get any better....
I may have said this before, but I still remember presenting one of my Sonic drawings to my art teacher, and she instantly labeled it "Rather mediocre cartoon art". I was a bit stunned for a second or two so I'm not sure what else she said, but she was all like "What about it?". Moral of the story: A white lie won't make you try.
I once copied a picture of Tails from the olden Archie comic, but I made sure my mom understood that the art wasn't mine, for I had only moved the pencil around. Handiwork and art are not same thing.
Yeah, it is. Leonardo DaVinci was a well-paid camera. You know, outside of music teachers and stubborn nostalgiacs, I never see this nattering of "that's not music" in that field. But I, too, remember my art instructors being really super pretentious about what art was. Really just another case of self-importance.
I could call the process "art", but the end result, my copied Tails drawing, is still the art of Dave Manak. Now, it's not an exact copy so what ever details I made differently could be considered as my own art, It can't be compared to Mona Lisa though, since DaVinci had a live model. I not only copied Dave's picture, I also copied his imagination.
*busts out tracing paper*
In all seriousness, I have to agree with you there. FA really is not helpful to beginning artists, though I guess luckily for me I wasn't really looking for critique when I joined. [I still ended up getting it, and my art improved by leaps and bounds.]
As for critique, if I see something that really needs it I tend to ask the artist first since once I get going, I can and will nitpick it. Most artists take offense to that, and I know I had a hard time not doing so.
I personally will always critique things if it is needed or asked for and the person is open to critique (sometimes I'll even slip it in where specifically not requested if I can phrase it into the form of an impossible-to-take-as-an-insult question), but I'll only do so if I can come up with something useful to say.
As for the copy/trace thing, there is something to that but it varies from case to case. In my mind as long as it's not a near exact copy with no credit given to the fact that it was a trace or copy, it's fairly acceptable since even tracing/copying requires a measure of skill and will not come out identical to the original, and like you said it can be a great learning tool. There's a reason art places do life drawing and scenery and portraits and such, which aren't all that far removed from copying. It has some definite merits and legitimate uses, it's only really bad when the person claims it is entirely their own work and tries to use it for their own profit in some way.
I agree with the critiquing thing. Really, I do. I ain't much of an artist, just a fellow who likes to draw perverted stuff now and then, but I do like to look at other's people's work, and give my thoughts on it, generally I'll like it, but I am honest when it comes down to problems and mistakes in the picture, or just what could be better. An example would be Nancher. He's a fantastic artist, he deserves the praise. He does however, sometimes have problems with positioning and uses too heavy of a grain filter for his pictures. And I'm not afraid to let him know that.
As for the trace thing, yeah, agreed. I usually don't trace though, because tracing paper is annoying lol. When drawing a character I haven't drawn before, I do mimic a picture until I get every element down exactly right. Then I draw the character my own way doing whatever. Time to do that for Honey the Cat
hehe, I thank him often ^-^
Hell, I got to preach the good word of imitation at MFF last year with
Kudos to you, sir, for not really this, but all-around kickass.
Second, I personally think most people are just afraid to give constructive criticism, because it's just the whole thing of "I don't wanna offend anybody." Since there are many artists out there (very talented artists mind you) that will block you in a second, all because you said that you thought it would look better if they "changed the position of the arm" or if they "put more work into the eyes".
And third, I just wanna say that tracing other people's work is a very slippery slope. I, personally, don't think it's all that bad; unlike some people, who think that tracing is a form of art-theft. I will however say, that I find tracing to both lazy and kinda lame. I say that because when you're tracing something, you're not really learning anything. You're just parroting the other person's work. You're not really making something "new and exciting", you're just making a cheap imitation. Which is in and of itself, very lame.
Also, I noticed that most of the time, whenever someone does trace something, they very rarely (if ever) admit to actually doing any tracing. They just claim that the piece was purely their own creation, even though it clearly wasn't. And that offends people; especially those that rely on drawing in order to pay the bills and otherwise support themselves.
And before anyone calls me a dirty hypocrite over some of the things in my own gallery, I want everyone to know that I did NOT trace anything in order to make any of the artwork in my gallery. I may have heavily referenced a lot of artwork, photographs, and other material; but I never traced. Furthermore, I'd like to say that I am currently trying to better improve my drawing skill, so that I don't have to rely so much on reference material. So even though I have done stuff similar to tracing in the past, I am actively trying to better improve myself now, in the present.
Lastly, I just wanted to say "Sorry for going into a small rant". I didn't expect to be typing for this long.
It was actually drawing that taught me how to draw. Looking over art books and online tutorials helped me a great deal, as did studying the art-styles of some of my favorite artists (yourself included). But actually drawing something from my own imagination was what really got me going and learning; not tracing.
So even though I will concede to the fact that tracing has helped some artists to become great; from what I can gather, it seems to only really hinder and offend people more than it would actually help.
Sure, when I was younger, I was an eyeballer. Now, if I need something to reference, I do reference for whatever.
And on a different note, what was up with that Owlbear Rap?