Art & Music Discussion - For on-topic chat times!

[LeoModesto]

They should change the names to TROLLSTUCK FANART or something like that.

You mean Hivebent?

Man I keep telling myself to make fanart but never get around to it.

[Shadow of the Lotus]

I know it's been a little light recently, but there's still some great pics of John, Rose, Dave, and Jade poking around here and there. I imagine we'll pick back up with that stuff soon after hivebent finishes up and we see what the kids have been up to. Rooting for a scene shift to Rose.

[Lexxy]

It's funny to check the DA group when there's an update or a new character is introduced. It's like watching the same thing over and over again but drawn by a lot of different artists.

Also, it's cool to see you're worried about keeping this place nice and tidy for everyone.

That's why I'm here! I'll be able to do a better job of it at the end of the month when I leave my day job, though, right now all I can really do is damage control.

[Gabu]

Anyone say anything about cross stitching?

Because I have a bit of an on and off hobby with making pixel art with thread and this one particular fabric. Keep forgetting what it's called, but it has this grid on it, so it makes things like that easy.

Only one I finished I stitched onto a hat I got for free for some Pop-Tart promotion. Put it over the Guitar Hero logo, and it has become my favorite hat. Imperfections and all. It's even a registered trademark, so I can probably sue anyone who has the same design stitched on their clothes or something.

The art is kinda hard to describe. It's from a game, but I doubt anyone would know what it was unless I took a picture of it, and I seem to have misplaced it. Regardless, I am almost finished with Ness giving his peace sign, though I have no idea what to stitch this design on when I'm done. If anyone wants it for something, I can surely give it to them (if I ever finish the damn thing, that is)

Also huh. Almost posted this to the fanfic submission thread for some reason.

[shimmercat]

Speaking of neat and tidy, I'm wondering if there would be interest in a thread for CRITIQUING unfinished art, as opposed to posting finished art. Now that the fanart threads have been moved to the art forum, this seems like a logical step. WIPs looking for critiques will often get overlooked in the main thread, especially if something really great (and finished!) is posted right after it. I've seen some people looking for critique that have been ignored, and I posted something looking for advice and got responses that didn't actually address my real concern. (Ironically, I also posted a quick doodle-fic to the fanfic thread and asked for advice, and got an OUTPOURING of opinions. But it may have helped that my fic had some controversial characterization.)

So would people be for an art critique thread?

[Ed]

You can always ask for critique in the doodle thread, both WIPs and finished pieces can be critiqued there. It's better that way because it's mostly frequented by actual artists as opposed to the fanart threads.

[tynic]

Every thread here APART from the fanart thread IS a critique thread.

Everything is Game:
All art posted here is open to criticism by any other forum member. Only the MSPA Fanart, Romantic Fanart, and Fanfic threads are exempt, though you are free to request critique anywhere.

If you want to see more constructive criticism, it's going to have to arise from the community itself, but this will hopefully happen as people start to branch out from the fanart threads. And Ed is right, probably the best place to ask for crits on a wip is in the doodle thread.

[shimmercat]

I thought having a separate thread for critique would please those who like to keep things neat, would allow people to post both mspa fanart and non-fanart in the same place, and especially would let others know that people posting there are LOOKING for critique.

I enjoy critiquing and giving advice, but I'm a little nervous about going into the big threads and doing so because so many of the works there are finished. It's hard to know if artists will be receptive to critique or if they don't want it.

[tynic]

They don't have to pay attention to the critique, obviously, but if an artist receives reasonable feedback ungraciously then they will be infracted. Look, the point of this entire forum is actually to be an art critique forum. If we reserve criticism to one specific thread then the rest of the place will be nothing but a backpatting frenzy and I think there's enough of that around already. If you're posting anywhere outside the designated fan threads then I am going to assume you're looking for critique, and so should others. Basically we're trying to spread the amount of constructive feedback given, not contain it.

Moreover, it's ok to crosspost fan work into your own thread, Lexxy just asked that cross-posting between doodle/rom/fanart threads be eliminated because they get so much traffic in common. My advice would be: post wips of fanart in the doodle thread if you want a critique, and post the finished product in the main fanart thread.

[tynic]

Ok I've thought about this and maybe my opinion has swung around a bit - would it be helpful to have the doodle thread retitled as a WIP thread? It would basically serve exactly the same purpose as it does now, but maybe it would be a little clearer that the thread is designed for something you're working on and want feedback on, as well as stuff you drew on napkins in your lunch break?

(There won't be a decision on this until Lexxy has time to consider it, mind you).

[Pereza0]

Mmm...

Completed non mspa related pieces would go there too?

Many fan artists post sketches with no intention of finishing them.

Having that thread turned into another hard to keep up with one scares me a little, and it might end up turning it in another thread were its hard to receive critique from anyone

still think we should have separate forums for submissions and feedback

[tynic]

It would be exactly what it is now, just with a name that might make people more open to giving and receiving critique. If that makes it go faster, then that's fine.

[Kayle]

Five hours between my post and the last, and several hours later no posts after.

Seems like speeding it up would be good.

[Pereza0]

Im perfectly fine with that, its making it MSPA themed too what makes me think it might not work. I mean, people will start to keep track of both threads, and comment on both of them in the same way. Unless you guys actively encourage all posts to have some sort of critique, it is very likely to end up as a MSPA fanart thread clone in which youll have to scroll through walls of mostly contentless posts to see interesting stuff.

Anyway, basically everything you guys do ends up working out just fine, so ill support your decision wichever it ends up being

[Muse Among Men]

Perhaps if it was made clear that people who post in the WIP thread should ask for specific advice it would work out better.

[Pereza0]

yeah, that would be a good idea.

Still sure itll get flooded everytime, say, eyes5 posts something there

[Muse Among Men]

Law of the few, it will only take a few people to regularly comment with dense and meaningful critiques to turn the tide.

[Pereza0]

I hope so

Guess well have to try

[Lexxy]

Law of the few, it will only take a few people to regularly comment with dense and meaningful critiques to turn the tide.

This is my hope. Unfortunately, I can't take enough time to set an example myself yet. But I will. Oh, will I ever. If a small group of people start doing it consistently, it should catch on, if only because other people will eventually start feeling really lame for only handing out asspats all the time and not saying anything constructive. Note that this does not mean every post has to be a critique, but it'll probably cut down on the NO CRITS DRAW MOAR posts.

BUT, if it ends up being a futile effort after a while, we will try the critique thread idea. It just doesn't make sense to me for people to make their own threads to showcase their work and get input if something like that existed. Why should anyone visit them? Surely anyone who really wanted a critique would post it in the critique thread, right?

[Acionyx]

I've actually seen critique requests in the fanart threads that get useful responses. I think this will probably work so long as it's made clear to people.

[Muse Among Men]

Yeah I've gotten really useful critiques there too, but the threads move so fast it can get messy.

Other things: perhaps a general tutorial/reference/etcetera thread? I'm thinking of the Penny-Arcade Artist's Corner, there is a dedicated thread for that and it is quite useful.

And since this is general discussion . . . it is so annoying to not have anywhere dedicated to arting ;_; I keep having to shuffle my work from room to available room. It doesn't help that I have a difficult time drawing when other people are in the room (it sort of puts me on edge I suppose). And then I end up drawing on soft surfaces (like a folder on my lap), which is particularly unhelpful when I am doing something difficult like inking. I am going to have to redo this one piece on the comp now uggghhh.

[Shadow of the Lotus]

I've always thought of the doodle thread as being the critique thread honestly. And if someone asks for critique anywhere they almost always get it? Fan-art, fan-fic, w/e, ya know? Maybe people just need to ask for critique I guess. I mean, how many people are clamoring to actually get critique?

[tynic]

Yeah I've gotten really useful critiques there too, but the threads move so fast it can get messy.

Other things: perhaps a general tutorial/reference/etcetera thread? I'm thinking of the Penny-Arcade Artist's Corner, there is a dedicated thread for that and it is quite useful.

We have that too, it's called the questions thread! although because the questions thread theoretically sees more turnover the idea was to scoop up any good references and tutes and put them in the Rules thread, where they lurk to this very day used to lurk until somehow the rules thread got trashed recently. Lexxy's busy, I'll try and reconstruct some of it now.

[Nucleose]

If a small group of people start doing it consistently, it should catch on, if only because other people will eventually start feeling really lame for only handing out asspats all the time and not saying anything constructive. Note that this does not mean every post has to be a critique, but it'll probably cut down on the NO CRITS DRAW MOAR/[b]MAKE MOAR MUSIC posts.

I actually want to post more thorough critiques of music (Which will have to be broad at the same time, since criticizing music can get odd, considering different musical styles and genres), and maybe more people would do that same if that works.... but the fan music thread is pretty slow as it is, so the problem isn't that the thread moves too fast. It's actually pretty clear here that most people seem to think more about critiques for visual works than musical works..

[Puppies and Sunshine]

Has anyone watched that "Work of Art" show on Bravo? It's a reality show competition between like 14 artists to have a personal exhibit in the Brooklyn Museum or something, like Project Runway or Top Chef. I haven't watched an episode yet, but I wanna know if I should get into it.