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Male vs. Female artists?
15 years ago
Taken from 
solidasp journal.
1. Does it matter to anyone whether an artist is Male or Female
It doesn't matter to me what an artist's gender is. Male or female, if I feel they're much better than me, I'm tremendously shy around them because I feel like I don't have common ground to approach them with, or I don't feel worthy to talk to them as an equal. I've met and spoken with celebrities and not had this problem, because I feel I'm so far removed from them that I can easily talk to them as a polite stranger who doesn't want to be worshipped.
2. If you find out the sex of an artist is different from what you previously thought
does it change how perceive that artists work and how you treat them?
Hmm, I feel shocked if someone winds up being different than my pre-conceived notions. For years, I've been trying to work past issues I've had with an ex-girlfriend that caused me to shrink away from most women. In the last five years, my friends have helped me past that fear.
I met wfa with you in New York before I'd seen her work, so I didn't have any notions ahead of time. But I'm always shocked by how her artwork does not have any of the elements that I'd previously considered to appear in most women artists' styles. I'm amazed at her talent, but yes, I'm also left very confused. I find wfa to be an amazing mystery. I've left it at that. Whenever I meet a charming talented woman who is in a relationship with someone else, I hold back from socializing too much for fear of seeming like I'm hitting on them.
3. do different gender artists get treated differently from each other?
I think they very much do get treated differently. I can make piles of assumptions about someone of either gender that can make a body of work that attracts a certain group of people and likes a particular aesthetic of art. I have always drawn mixed-gender artwork, mostly catering to males, yet my name in the fandom is female (although a mixed gendered character). A lot of my work is about gender dysphoria and confusion. I say it doesn't MATTER what gender an artist is, but I tend to be more polite and reserved when it comes to asking for adult work from a female artist. I have been very happy with adult artwork that I've gotten as gifts from female artists, but I do feel very awkward and shy about asking for it.
4. Can you accurately tell a persons gender by the style and content they draw?
I sure thought I did! I thought that female artists tended to be much better and more patient at drawing patterns and designs like Celtic knotwork and complex paisley like costume patterns. I thought that men commonly rushed to finish a piece and had less patience for colorwork, concentrating more on hard angles and tight anatomical studies. I believed that women were more about the journey and men were more about the goal. That's what I thought with no education or training. Through my untrained eyes, my very first assumption on seeing an artist's work that goes outside of these rules, is that they do not have a mindset common to their gender. That, or that they're gay or bi. It is an incredibly unfair assumption. My fear-filled logic brain has always set up stereotypes and assumptions to try to keep me away from actually going out and finding the truth about people on my own.
5. As an artist do you specifically hide your gender? Why ?
I regret having a female name in the fandom because I feel that it goes against my gender-role-reversal art theme. I draw Roxikat with thick eyebrows and muscles (and male parts) but have her look and act generally female because I like contradiction. But I feel that in choosing an artist name with a gender it causes people to make judgements about me before they meet me.
I feel that gender exists but no one is fully one or the other in their minds. People can't really change themselves biologically to a degree that can satisfy them in today's world. In fantasy, I think a good mix can be attained. In one way, it could be a way to achieve male and female without the fear of reaching out for companionship. In another way, it could be a celebration of men and women together in a single character.
solidasp journal.1. Does it matter to anyone whether an artist is Male or Female
It doesn't matter to me what an artist's gender is. Male or female, if I feel they're much better than me, I'm tremendously shy around them because I feel like I don't have common ground to approach them with, or I don't feel worthy to talk to them as an equal. I've met and spoken with celebrities and not had this problem, because I feel I'm so far removed from them that I can easily talk to them as a polite stranger who doesn't want to be worshipped.
2. If you find out the sex of an artist is different from what you previously thought
does it change how perceive that artists work and how you treat them?
Hmm, I feel shocked if someone winds up being different than my pre-conceived notions. For years, I've been trying to work past issues I've had with an ex-girlfriend that caused me to shrink away from most women. In the last five years, my friends have helped me past that fear.
I met wfa with you in New York before I'd seen her work, so I didn't have any notions ahead of time. But I'm always shocked by how her artwork does not have any of the elements that I'd previously considered to appear in most women artists' styles. I'm amazed at her talent, but yes, I'm also left very confused. I find wfa to be an amazing mystery. I've left it at that. Whenever I meet a charming talented woman who is in a relationship with someone else, I hold back from socializing too much for fear of seeming like I'm hitting on them.
3. do different gender artists get treated differently from each other?
I think they very much do get treated differently. I can make piles of assumptions about someone of either gender that can make a body of work that attracts a certain group of people and likes a particular aesthetic of art. I have always drawn mixed-gender artwork, mostly catering to males, yet my name in the fandom is female (although a mixed gendered character). A lot of my work is about gender dysphoria and confusion. I say it doesn't MATTER what gender an artist is, but I tend to be more polite and reserved when it comes to asking for adult work from a female artist. I have been very happy with adult artwork that I've gotten as gifts from female artists, but I do feel very awkward and shy about asking for it.
4. Can you accurately tell a persons gender by the style and content they draw?
I sure thought I did! I thought that female artists tended to be much better and more patient at drawing patterns and designs like Celtic knotwork and complex paisley like costume patterns. I thought that men commonly rushed to finish a piece and had less patience for colorwork, concentrating more on hard angles and tight anatomical studies. I believed that women were more about the journey and men were more about the goal. That's what I thought with no education or training. Through my untrained eyes, my very first assumption on seeing an artist's work that goes outside of these rules, is that they do not have a mindset common to their gender. That, or that they're gay or bi. It is an incredibly unfair assumption. My fear-filled logic brain has always set up stereotypes and assumptions to try to keep me away from actually going out and finding the truth about people on my own.
5. As an artist do you specifically hide your gender? Why ?
I regret having a female name in the fandom because I feel that it goes against my gender-role-reversal art theme. I draw Roxikat with thick eyebrows and muscles (and male parts) but have her look and act generally female because I like contradiction. But I feel that in choosing an artist name with a gender it causes people to make judgements about me before they meet me.
I feel that gender exists but no one is fully one or the other in their minds. People can't really change themselves biologically to a degree that can satisfy them in today's world. In fantasy, I think a good mix can be attained. In one way, it could be a way to achieve male and female without the fear of reaching out for companionship. In another way, it could be a celebration of men and women together in a single character.
Other obvious things are clothing. Bondage gear aside, 9 times out of ten if the focus of someone's images directs back to character with immaculately rendered clothing, the artist is female. This is how Redcoat didn't surprise me when she announced her gender.
If it helps though, I didn't make judgments! I knew your artist-you was called Johnnykat, so, I hed some idea~
Nope Vera, the reason I was so shy around you is that I feel like you're wayyyy more talented than me and you produce a great amount of really detailed work. That and I thought you were way out of my league. :)
I wouldn't fear us though. We're just people and you seem like a nice enough person sweetie. I'd grab a drink with you ;3
Everybody makes these assumptions about people, myself included. There are a good deal of artists on here I have mislabeled sexually before, and people mislabeled me as well. What it comes down to is, when you hire an artist, hire them for the quality of work, not their sex. This goes for everything really c:
Plus, considering the fact that I'm pretty much a fandom socialite, I tend to find some of them to be really awesome folks to just hang out with.
As for you, I think you're just fun, regardless of gender. :p
But today, in the liberal societies that make up most of the internet, you've really got to take people on a person-by-person basis. Any woman you meet might turn out to be a tomboy or a lesbian or a transexual, or the men might be gay or metrosexual or... also transexual (and all of these things I am very much supporting of! :) ) so really gender, one way or the other, will have nothing to do with any given artist's style or sensibilities.
Then again, maybe that only applies to the YOUNG artists. Is it safe to assume gender stereotypes when dealing with the old farts of the fandom? ;P
I still can't draw a robot to save my life, lol! But I know its soemthing that can be learned and I need to crack down on it... not that I really HAVE a desire to draw robots. XP
But I would like to learn to draw armour and techy stuff at some point...
And I'm kind of surprised at all the people saying "Girls are guilty/shy about drawing/showing off their porn" because, well.. *glances at her gallery and the galleries of a few other female artists she's aware of*. Ehh? Sure, I'd be mortified if my family found out, but I don't think that's unusual for most people! e.e;
If the art created is soemthing I enjoy or dislike.. it doens't really matter the gender of the artist... the art speaks for itself. The artist's personality however, weighs in more than what's in their pants.
As for my current name... well... it's a small in-joke to me; tho everyone from Sweden who has encountered it has been amused (and presumably informed) by it!
I don't doubt there are still people who still assume I'm a dude; sometimes it bugs me, sometimes it doesn't. The only time I can imagine it'll be a real bother to me is if someone is looking for me at a convention wanting a commission but overlooks me because they're looking for someone of the opposite gender. (I suppose this could be helped if I posted photos of myself to the internet, but aaagh... nuuu. XP)
*/distraction*
Back to work fer meee.. x.x
Just because I'm not spewing out porn at this point doesn't mean that I'm not drawing it or that I'm ashamed of it...more like I've been taking my sketchbooks with me when I sub and when the rugrats wanna see art, I can't really censor pages in those sketchbooks...maybe that's why i got a million of them X3
I feel the same way about those of the art that I like, but when I get to know them they're just real sweetiepies, just like you are, was really intimidated those first few years of talking to you then got to know a bit more of you and twas definitely a nice thing.
I'm babbling, so on to the artening.
I didn't know you had a fear of women. I'm sorry about that. :(
There is a slight difference tho… Women tend to have nicer thingies to look at. Generally speaking anyway, some of them can of course be dog ugly.
I dunno, as for how artists draw their fursonas. well mines a femme whilst I am of course a guy. I tend to draw her however I fancy at the time, but I’ve been known to draw more realistically proportioned images. Essentially I ain’t too concerned about it all.
As for women causing issues, yes they do, and so do guys! I think you just need to accept people in general can just be nightmares to deal with!
And to finish, there’s some wonderful artists out there are well known and still friendly. Like UV :3
*Loves UV* :3