This would be a really good thing to know in a lot of cases, yeah! Like, exactly - I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak; I don't want my reaction to a gift to come across as "that's cool but your gift isn't good enough as is", but I've also had it come up like a year down the line that a bunch of gift art someone did of Jai had his shades of grey backwards and they got super pissed that I didn't say anything and thought I let them look foolish by making an obvious mistake, when the intention was only to be appreciative of the fact that they drew me anything at all without making it a burden on them to fix. It's a complex thing that a lot of artists seem pretty divided on, yeah. 🤔

Oh yeah i've been on both sides, I often mix up stuff like that which is why i'm so adamant on trying to let customers/friends know that I *like* to know what needs fixing. I too would have been embarrassed to fluff and back if i'd scrambled colors like that ;A; !

I once got a traditional commission mailed to me [no pictures before it was received] where they flipped Meep N Beeps markings entirely. and they are *very* different.

God do I feel it, Hedo has been off model so much over the years. It's kinda why their anatomy got so extreme, the classic Art Telephone method of people just drawing the pawbs bigger and bigger because they saw someone else draw them big.

ALSO THE EYES, THE EYES ARE ALWAYS WRONG.

But I'm also horribly anxious socially so it's hard to ask for edits, especially with how annoyed the artist for my refs got with me when I did ask for edits there for this exact reason.

I'm still learning art(not to post here unfortunately), but I'm definitely falling into where you are in that every detail HAS to be present for it to work for me. Every part of my design is made specifically to be there and it just doesn't work without it where it is, as it is, for that purpose, with the sole exception of weather it is covered or not. Even just the paneling - the shapes in their locations are there for a reason and altering those too much is taking away from the meaning of their functionality.

This is all to say - based, completely agree with your points

♥

Which is fair, I kinda found a way to mitigate that to an extent.

Long story short lore wise my character is a sort of liquid metal alien that can replicate which each duplicate changing and adapting to the world and culture found elsewhere which alters his appearance to an extent. So to that end it turns a flaw into a feature and makes the design more forgiving.

Which works quite well I’d think! It’s why Kira is a goo too, I love when people goof around with her anatomy so long as her face is right (hair and face marking) then the rest can be silly

Well I do allow the hair change but keep the face as is unless the changes can be justified.

Would be helpful to state whether ya wanting to do something quick and dirty or ya wanting to be accurate and/or improve.

This hits home personally since the biggest issue I have with my art, especially commissioned art, is that my sona has five digit claws and three toe claws, and it is constantly wrong cause not many people are comfy drawing five digits. I even had one person I commissioned once ask if they can keep the three claws cause it was easier for them. OTZ Like, no, that's not my character then, and it feels awkward to stand my ground on that.

For gift art, personally I've let it be that inaccuracies will be there, and to lax on that, unless I know they want to fix anything up. Which to reiterate a system like that would be much easier to handle and cuts out the guess work.

Ah yes, I’m surprised to hear you know more people who *dont* draw 5 fingers! I always struggle to find people who draw 4 (though I don’t mind people drawing my characters with 5 whatsoever)

I would just make that a note in their ref! I personally struggle a ton w/ that one extra finger but if it’s absolutely vital to a design I appreciate being told! :D (I just warn customers that it might look a lil off)

Oh God, I thought I was nuts! Even the simple lines on my scalesona's horns. Don't care if they're curved upwards, downwards, or straight, but if there are NO lines period, I get antsy. I once tried to commission someone to make art of my scalesona as my Twitch logo (that nightmare is a whole other story), but what I got was not a refreshed logo of my scalesona but of a different thing: it went from dragon to raptor. They didn't seem to take the hint that I wasn't happy, so when they pushed for more commissions, I flat-out refused. Chaos. I do not mind my dragon in different art styles, but I do agree details are still important.

Ohhh yeah i totally understand, I am a smooth-horn type of person personally, for my own designs, but I always try to make sure to get characters accurate! I completely understand what you mean though, I'm glad you were able to stand up for yourself and politely deny their request for more money.

Its honestly the compliment I hear the most about my own art commissions when I can manage to do them, 'You got this thing that everyone else just ignored right and that means a lot to me' which is always both a wonderful feeling that I was able to capture a design properly but also sad in a way? Sad that its not commonplace to get your design just right with other artists if that makes sense?

I typically do everything in my stylized way but if someone went 'Hey this doesn't look like __ as much as i'd hope' I would change it up and try to be more accurate to the species its no sweat off my beans!

I've followed you for a long time and I don't think I've commented a single time. I've noticed the somewhat more frequent personal/vent type posts. As someone who falls into the "neuro-divergent brain" category I just felt it was important to respond to this. I may go respond to a few others but it depends on whether I feel my unfiltered thoughts are acceptable or not. This is a very tricky thing to do.

I figure the above is a little more info-dumpy than I would like, but that's kind of a part of the reason I wanted to comment. I'm trying to mask less often, be more interactive, and I'll be honest... it has caused a few issues socially. That is to say, I can kind of empathize with feeling like you are better off being a hermit. I also wanted to say, encouraging communication and establishing boundaries is very important. Enforcing them? Not really as easy as it looked or was explained to me, but I'm trying to figure it out.

So, since I'm an external processor and tend to ramble a bit... if you glazed over this possibly far too long-winded comment...

TLDR: while losing someone over a misunderstanding is very painful, and parts are often played on both sides, it isn't completely your responsibility for the outcome. If one side or the other refuses to adjust, learn, or attempt to understand the other sides opinions or feelings... it's not going to work out very well...

Forgiveness, compassion, empathy, and knowing when to step back to preserve something important, these things are vital to maintaining good and solid friendships. So, while being a hermit is tempting, it isn't going to help you overcome the hurdles you face. To be as clear as I can manage... again having gone off too deep into interpersonal territory I admit to knowing nothing about...

TLDR 2.0: You are doing great, don't give up, challenge your comfort zone, and you'll find true and solid friends you can trust to communicate openly towards you. You'll also be able to talk to them in the same way. It may get bumpy here and there, but it's about how you and them get through it that makes it work out in the end.

I am now going to hide in a corner, marking me as a hypocrite (alas, I am but human), in the hopes this wasn't going to far. In advance: sorry if I spoke too much or potentially came across as invalidating. It was not my intent. I think I'll wait to see what kind of response this comment gets before potentially commenting on some other things.

Just wanted to comment and let you know that I read every comment no matter how short or long it may be <3

And yes friendships are a two way street for sure. We weren't terribly close so it wasn't a deep cut to lose them or anything, but I thought their art was lovely. And while it was a gift they offered me. They also stated that it was 'for practice' which in my mind said 'okay with suggestions/ asking if it was alright to redline' I was clearly wrong as they deleted the image and never spoke to me again.
All in all I just wish they'd talked it out with me. I would have loved to help to improve their art but I also hate knowing that I may have come off as entitled when I'm just overly passionate.

And its less being a hermit as a whole, like complete isolation, and more just... Keeping to the friends I have already, I suppose?
I'm actually quite lucky to have as large a support network of friends already and I do keep in touch with them even if I'm a cryptid who just appears and disappears in my discord server at complete random.

Its just really hard to make friends with people who don't already know like... who I am...? My artwork? I put my soul into every art piece so people who are completely clueless to how much art means to me more that 'its pretty' is... hard. Its why commission work is such a challenge, because I need to have that emotional connection to my canvas to make anything worth it and I want nothing but the finest for my customers and friends.

It's hard to make friends in general. I am lucky as well, as I want to challenge myself to grow, so my friends are a mixed bag with opinions, thoughts, and beliefs that don't necessarily match my own. I don't want to exist in an echo chamber where people only tell me what I want to hear, or always agree with me.

Being passionate about your work is a good thing, I'm finally discovering my own after a really long time. I'm a writer more than visual artist, but I can definitely empathize. Someone only seeing "pretty picture" would be akin to someone looking at a story of mine and only seeing "interesting words."

well now im curious if i got your character accurate the few times ive drawn you

far as I can remember you've gotten meep n kira right ye!

shweee!