Friday, April 3, 2009

Let's Get Animated!



A commission by JKR. I actually found a commission from him quite intimidating considering he's a very well accomplished artist himself. Hardest part of this? Probably the deadline. Other than that, it was a piece I've fairly enjoyed drawing.

So here's Erin, teasingly chewing on an insurance paper.

Wait.

Esurance doesn't use paper. Aren't they supposed to be trying to save the environment? :P


In other news......


I've almost completed my move to my new DA account. It's interesting to see who's actually been following my art and who isn't. It's also quite refreshing to start anew without the unsavory individuals messing the mood.
I'm probably one of the rare type of artist who gets annoyed with his watchers on a fairly regular basis. I find that more and more of them happen to be those who look at toon porn.

I used to be very conservative back when I was drawing fanart 2 or 3 years ago and I've always been open minded on new things and people. I myself decided to interact with the toon-erotica community only very recently. However I find that these sort of people aren't necessarily the best or brightest people to get feeback from and I have been quite naive into thinking so. They are usually looking for the newest picture to pleasure themselves on and move on to the next one. To put on top of that, once they find art that they like better, they will usually treat you like dirt.

I find feedback from these people extremely difficult to interpret as genuine, or just general ass-kissing so that they can get hopes of requesting some art off the artist. I find that behavior extremely parasitic. Which is why I brutally interrogate the people who look at toon porn more than the average art appreciator.

I suppose this is why I am slowly shifting back to the conservative end of the spectrum, but not completely. I might try an explicit picture in the far or near future, but truth be told that I think the best niche would be with pinup art at SFToon's level.
The most fun I've had was drawing with him like with the LBD battle and such. It's a position that 14-Bis and Fluffy have also taken quite a while ago, and chatting with them revealed they had experienced similar problems. That conservative followers are religious nutcases, and on the other side of the spectrum, the porn-loving viewers who turn out to be parasitic morons.

The best ones we come across are those who are in the middle, who don't exclusively look at toon porn and who can appreciate a well drawn piece of art enough to give meaningful feedback and advice.

To be fair, I also surf toon erotica from time to time, but it's only because that I find gems of art from artists like GForce that I have this habit. There are a few, like DarkDP, who can still appreciate a good pinup pic without being parasitic about it. But they are far and few in between and I make very few exceptions. I don't condemn the genre of erotic toon art, I just dislike most of the people involved with it to some degree and the bad attitudes they have.


End of rant. For now :)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know where you're coming from. I have many, many people on a certain forum blocked because nothing comes from them but sycophantic comments. It's best to do what you're inspired to do rather than what builds a large following.

enigmawing said...

Seems like I've usually been somewhere in the middle. XD

Unknown said...

They're all fair points, man... I've known a few artists from around DA that have felt the same way when dealing with the "masses."

As someone that loves to commission (as I'm unable to draw worth a darn!), I have the artists that I like, and by and large, whatever they end up producing turns out badass! :)

lapdragon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lapdragon said...

Deleted my previous post for horrible typos - here's the fixed one :-)

To be honest, I probably just qualify as a fanboy lurker, but my personal feeling on the issue is that I'd prefer you to do what makes you happy - I won't berate you for doing something that isn't something I want to instantly +fav or whatever, and I'll quietly download (no fapping tho, I promise!) and save the stuff you do that appeals to me.

I've watched your stuff for years, along with Enigmawing and SFToon and 14bis and Kingcheetah and OMG there's a lot of excellent artists that produce excellent erotic but not necessarily pornographic work. I like cheesecake, and you produce some of the best cheesecake that I've found :-)

If you enjoy what you do, it shows, and I'm cool with you being happy to continue producing good work. I do wish you weren't so hard on yourself - everybody tells you that you're talented because you are, not because they only want to stroke your ego and make themselves feel important to you (although there probably are a good few that do want a handout).

Funk82 said...

First time poster, long time fan.

Anyway, I shall continue to watch your deviant art page. I've been a fan of your pinups for a while; you, my friend, have talent flowing out the wazoo and it would be silly of me not to give it much needed accolades

happyjunk said...

I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter if you draw 'em with or without clothes. Standing still or having 6-way orgies with pigs. You'll still have parasitic morons as long as you draw well.

I think you're far too concerned with who's looking at your work rather then what you actually like to draw.

Just draw what you like and fuck everyone else. And only listen to who you respect.

hasu13 said...

When I watch debates, I tend to listen more closely to the side that doesn't demoralize or tear apart the opposing side; I find it demonstrates a respectful and understanding nature and it makes me want to learn more about their positions, even if I don't necessarily agree with them.

StarDragon77 said...

Wonderful work as ever.

I imagine a commission like this cost a pretty penny didn't it?

ThaMan said...

I'm going to be honest. I do enjoy the occasional hardcore picture. Not 'enjoy' that way, but to appreciate how well drawn something is and the attention to detail put into the picture. That's why I like Alex Hiro's work. Most artists probably wouldn't go as far to show muscle tone in their work. But Alex goes that extra mile and it just adds to the picture's beauty.

That's enough praise for Alex Hiro.

I'm mostly a pinup fiend. There's just something about a well done pinup that is more striking than any other kind of picture.

Now, I don't normally critique an artist's work. I'm not an artist. Who am I to say what is right about the picture and what is wrong. Now if something is just obviously wrong, I'll mention it. Like with AmericanNinjaX's picture of Tsunade from Naruto, he got her eye color wrong. A miniscule mistake, but I felt an artist of his caliber would appreciate knowing such a mistake so it wouldn't happen again.

What I guess I'm trying to say is, I'm no artist. I have no artistic talent whatsoever. All I can do is commission others to get what I've imagined done. And it's always with the artist's approval. But I do know what I like. And whether it be an explicit picture or a beautiful pinup, I can appreciate the time and effort put into it.

Goldor said...

I enjoyed your nude art. Can't blame you for shifting. Wish you'll continue eventually.

Maxell said...

As ThaMan mentioned I will not lie and say I don't enjoy the occasional hardcore image. Though I more so appreciate the artistic aspects of images more than anything now a days.

I understand where you are coming from with your points though and can't help but to agree. Though I assure you there are members who view the toon erotica genre and are not that way.

If I had nearly as much time as I used to I would be glad to give everyones images a detailed critique though I don't even have time to post my own images let alone go through the many images submitted daily and critique them.

Anonymous said...

It's kind of hard to critique something that is near flawless, such in the case of your art. The only thing left to say is "Amazing Work" or "Loved that latest one". The most you could possibly hope for as far as variety in a response is "I like the pose...." or "The background is very detailed", something to that effect.

You're right tho, most fans do look at the art and move on, porn lover and conservative alike, but don't we all do that in our everyday lives also? Do we buy one copy of Playboy and re-read it forever? Do we all like to eat ham sandwiches for every meal day in and day out? Not likely.

We all like variety. The same old-same old gets boring really quick. Boredom has driven people to commit the most heinous acts all throughout history. Why did the Roman's conquer half of the Old World? Why did the Khan's (even Shatner's) invade everywhere? Boredom. There were no TV's, no radio, no motorcars, not a single luxury in the old days (I don't see how Gilligan and the Professor kept from knocking up the girl's constantly due to boredom. I'd nail my own sister if I was stranded alone with her). They were just bored and tired of the same old-same old doldrum and wanted something new and exciting to do.

You do amazing work and I have been a fan since I first discovered your art, but I think, as being one of the "parasitic morons" who silently enjoy the art, I'll probably delete this link from my Fav's listings. :(

Anonymous said...

One of the reasons I withdrew from such communities myself was the nagging concern I would be percieved as a sycophant, or worse would actually become one.
Wwoec forum was my main haunt.
The situation was, however, quite the catch 22.
Let me explain.
May get things straight in my head aswell if I try.

At first, upon joining the forum I'd say nothing.
Ever.
Shyness was probably the main reason, but that's irrelevent.

Eventually I began to comment.
I guess it was due to the fact I came to loathe the void that would accompany some artists posts.
It struck me that to post something you'd worked on and not even recieve a response would be disheartening to say the least.

As I think about this now, I find myself questioning whether it was truly alturistic. After all, an encouraged artist is one that keeps producing work.
It'd be disingenuous of me to say that this did not cross my mind, but I'd like to think it wasn't all poorly veiled self interest motivating my actions.
Looking at the fact I'd sometimes spend ages looking at a picture that didn't really appeal, because of content of quality, trying to find something good to say about it goes some way to aleviate my self doubt, but it's no absolution by any means.

Now, this leads me to the crux of my issue.
You see, like the majority of people that will ever look at something drawn, painted or rendered I am not an artist.
That left me with a problem.
There was no way I could offer any truly helpful advice or comment on a piece of work.
Aside from the fact it always struck me as hypocritical to disparage something beyond my ability to better, would there be anything I could mention that wasn't already glaringly obvious to the artist in question.

At best I could point out flaws, and that would be at best impolite and at worst plain ignorance.
No one see's flaws like the artist themself.
The amount of time they spend on the work.
Hell, they sometimes see ones that your common viewer will never recognise, let alone spot.

So that left me with the old axiom of 'if you can't say anything nice...' inspiring each and every comment on a new work.

The thing is, I think it's a problem that persists for every non artist viewing any medium.
Do we comment and risk becoming part of the sycophantic hoard, or remain silent and allow a void of response to take hold?
It's something I haven't been able to answer on my own and to my own satisfaction.

Anyway.
Sorry for such a long response.
It was an interesting set of points you made, and it got me thinking.

john said...

can you draw cassippoa? "space angel"