Artist of the Month

[Serah]

So, the staff has been talking and we've been considering have a contest every month for you all you artistically inclined people out there called Artist of the Month! Sounds pretty cool huh? I think so.

Now, here's where you come in. Basically what we need are your ideas and suggestions! What kinds of themes are you interested in? Are there specific mediums you prefer to use, such as pen, pencil, colored pencil, watercolor, pastels, digital (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Painter, any digital program, even MS Paint) Any ideas, suggestions or other mediums you guys might want to use feel free to through them in.

What we're really looking for though, is theme ideas. Do you guys have a particular anime you want to draw? Perhaps a favorite game, other than Final Fantasy, or maybe even something completely unrelated to anime, games, etc...We're all totally open to any ideas or suggestions you artists out there may have.

We were also thinking it would be best to give you guys an entire month to work on your piece. I know how tedious it can be sometimes to make an art piece, sometimes it even takes me more than a month! Absurd-sounding, I know, but you know what they say about art! Good art takes a lot of time and patience. So anyway, flood us with your ideas, opinions, suggestions, whatever you have to throw out!

 

[Scarlet]

Now, here's where you come in. Basically what we need are your ideas and suggestions! What kinds of themes are you interested in? Are there specific mediums you prefer to use, such as pen, pencil, colored pencil, watercolor, pastels, digital (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Painter, any digital program, even MS Paint)Any ideas, suggestions or other mediums you guys might want to use feel free to through them in.

Here's a tip: Do not mix digital mediums with traditional mediums.

People tend to be rather biased. Digital art work is more attractive than traditional art. They're both very different.

Make sure you're specific about what pencils too use.

Don't use oil paints... It takes a year to dry and they're expensive. Watercolors should be used the most when it comes to types of paints.

What we're really looking for though, is theme ideas. Do you guys have a particular anime you want to draw? Perhaps a favorite game, other than Final Fantasy, or maybe even something completely unrelated to anime, games, etc...We're all totally open to any ideas or suggestions you artists out there may have.

Don't do any freestyle. A person could do an awesome anime drawing while another person does an awesome landscape drawing. They're both very different so just avoid freestyle.

Try to do different themes. Not everyone can do anime or draw a nice still life.

 

[Mitsuki]

I'm really excited for this. =] It's about time!

Anyway, I can basically do any media, except for digital art. Preferably though, I'm better at pencil, charcoal, and acrylic painting. Watercolor, pen, and oil pastels are one of my weakest point, but that is not to say that I won't give those a try too.

As for themes, I'd like to see these sometimes:

Landscapes
Profile drawing (preferably in pencil)
Anime (but make sure we break it down to prevent any broad work)
Vehicles
Animals
Final Fantasy Characters
Architectural Designs/Drawings
Video game characters (not sure what video game yet though)

...Just to name a few!

Try to do different themes. Not everyone can do anime or draw a nice still life.

Ah good point there.

 

[L]

Personally, I think it's a suggestion that is only suited for those who have a thick hide when it comes to being insulted.

Traditional arts take a lot longer to make than signatures, and feels like it's a little too sacred to be picked apart by votes and said that someone's form of artwork is inferior. It just seems like it'd be too discouraging for those who would work very hard on their entries.

I mean, if you really wanna do it, shoot for it. I just don't think it's going to be a very popular contest.

 

[Serah]

*shrugs* We have a lot of artists here. I don't see anything wrong with giving this a shot. Why do you have to be so negative about it, just out of curiosity? We're not giving people the opportunity to just go around and insult people. This is merely just another fun thing we'd like to implement. I fail to see how that's insulting...

 

[Erythritol]

Ohhhh~ I am so into this. I will participate! I also second everything Shiduri said. Mixing traditional and digital just isn't fair, nor is doing a really broad type of contest where artists could submit anime and still life drawings. The two just aren't comparable. I also like that actual artists are running this....

 

[Serah]

See what we were thinking is we'd pick a theme, a medium and then we'd stick to JUST that. No mixing acrylics with like colored pencil, or digital with traditional. We thought maybe subtle mixing of like colored pencil and pencil would be fine or acrylic with watercolor would be okay too, but no mediums that might overpower the other. I'm not really a fan of freestyle either...<.<

 

[L]

Why do you have to be so negative about it, just out of curiosity?

I'm just afraid that it will be extremely biased.

 

[Serah]

Why do you think that?

 

[Estella Vanilla]

Keep in mind when having a contest you have to also direct how the voters vote. As in, Which one do you favor, why? But more importantly, pick the one that best relates to the theme.

It's how well you've executed the theme that makes a winner. Not just the prettiest picture. Help make members aware.

 

[L]

That's exactly what I mean.

 

[Serah]

But I don't understand how you can say that's biased...That makes no sense to me. Lemia just explained how the judging will most likely be executed. It's all going to come down to opinion anyway. Also, nobody is going to know what member made what drawing, just like SOTW and AOTW, until the contest is over anyway. So tell me how something can be biased out of that? Everybody is going to have a different perception on what they think is their favorite drawing and why it should win.

 

[L]

But I don't understand how you can say that's biased...That makes no sense to me. Lemia just explained how the judging will most likely be executed. It's all going to come down to opinion anyway. Also, nobody is going to know what member made what drawing, just like SOTW and AOTW, until the contest is over anyway. So tell me how something can be biased out of that? Everybody is going to have a different perception on what they think is their favorite drawing and why it should win.

Well, like I've said. Everyone has their own signature style.

Now, I'm not meaning to hate on angelus here, but I can see it coming a mile away. Angelus has a very distinguished and unique style and is easily identified with it.

so lets say we have a drawing contest or something, and other entrants manage not to have work that's as cleanly done as Angelus' work. A majority of people are going to vote for Angelus' work because it's so clean, detailed, and articulate.

and the cycle goes on and on.

I just don't think it's worth the trouble if you want to pursue a perfectly fair contest.

 

[Serah]

Well we do think it's worth the effort. Angelus isn't even here anymore so that's one thing we don't have to worry about. For two, we have a lot of incredible artists here on the forums. Not everybody is going to be able to distinguish style, depending on the theme. I'm sorry for sounding rude but stop trying to rain on our parade. We're going to implement this regardless of how you feel about it or not. You seem to the be the only one who's trying to turn something fun into something negative.

 

[Davey Gaga]

I don't think you can make it any more fair than is already planned, to be honest. It's never going to be a level playing field because, at the end of the day, some of our artists are better than the others. If they're better, and enter a competition and win it, then there's no problem: they deserve to be recognised for that.

If we try to make it "fair" to the point where everyone can win then we might as well base the competition winner on a rotary system.

 

[Serah]

Thank you, Dave. That's exactly my frame of mind as well. The same can also be said with GFX also. People do tend to eventually take on a specific style and it's not hard to recognize who's made what.

 

[saajuk]

Sounds fun id like to take part in this, but A whole month? Really.. i mean i understand if u have a really busy life but thats kinda long , i say 2 weeks tops imo.

Anyways i use PS CS3 and draw lots and lots of anime/manga ( which none takes me a whole month cause i got a lot of free time).

suggestions:

Short comics/mangas
Fantasy Landscapes
Anime/game characters
Chibis
Best Original character designs

that kinda stuff id be interested in.. and if u still decide 1 month maybe u can do more then 1 theme cause if u choose something people dun have an interest in turn outs wont be very good..

Poll the themes for each week and each month

 

[Serah]

The reason why we've agreed on one month is because some of us take a lot of time to do our art or don't always have a lot of free time; the completely opposite of you evidently. It's going to be Artist of the Month because not only does good art take time and patience and sometimes thought depending on the theme, but not everybody has tons of free time that may want to participate either.

 

[L]

Well we do think it's worth the effort. Angelus isn't even here anymore so that's one thing we don't have to worry about.

It was an example.

I'm sorry for sounding rude but stop trying to rain on our parade. We're going to implement this regardless of how you feel about it or not. You seem to the be the only one who's trying to turn something fun into something negative.

I'm not telling you that you can't do it.

And if anyone's being rude here, it's me.

Below, I will bring up a concern that Shahab has brought up many times and is something I was never able to fix while I was a graphical moderator because at the time I believed implementing something like a graphical license that only allowed users to vote if they were able to admire more than the stock would sound blasphemous, and it probably does.

I don't think you can make it any more fair than is already planned, to be honest. It's never going to be a level playing field because, at the end of the day, some of our artists are better than the others. If they're better, and enter a competition and win it, then there's no problem: they deserve to be recognised for that.

If we try to make it "fair" to the point where everyone can win then we might as well base the competition winner on a rotary system.

I realize this, but I'm surprised no one has really caught onto what I've been trying to say without being rude.

Simply; those who do not produce art do not have the ability to admire skill and the ability it takes to make a work best fit the theme. That is my concern, because in all my time of being a graphics moderator, this has occurred time and time again.

It's always about what makes the stock look pretty or whatever character you admire that's being used. I seldom see posts that would state otherwise.

The only time I see anything that differs from 'ooo, u made it look so pritty and made the colours blend so wel' is when an experienced graphical artist posts and actually takes time to admire the depth, lighting, manipulations, other effects in place, etc. in a signature.

In that regard, there is no real reward in being elite. It's not even an e-peen stroke worthy of any notice. I'm just suggesting that you give artists some real meaning in being elite and to maybe use some strict rules if deemed necessary.

 

[Mitsuki]

Alright, I do understand where you're coming from, Derek, now that you've explained it more thoroughly. Yes I've noticed that too when concerning the GFX-side of things, but we'll have to see how this one goes and it might just be a tad bit different when it comes to voting. The rules will be more stricter and the guidelines set will be very specific so that the artists will know that they can't just draw or paint whatever, but will have to stick to the actual theme.