Artorder: Discovering A Muse challenge entry

There is this challenge over at the artorder -blog that really speaks to me, not only because its for a good cause the judging panel is sheer awesome, or that Veronika Kotlajic from (The Muse: A Pictorial Journey of Fantasy & Pin-Up) is indeed a Muse, also because it is something i can really grow and experiment as an artist with this participation.

If you are on the artorder -network, feel free to add me.

Please forward the "call for art" info about this challenge so that it gets more attention and participation, really looking forward to all the other finished entries, deadline for all entries is
1 June, 2010 midnight (PST).

So today i got the confirmation that my entry "Skywalker" for artorder´s challenge "Discover a muse" is accepted, after it took around 4 days to work on it besides other projects.

The main keywords to go along 

with a concept were just : "strong, independent and sexy"

with that in mind i came up with a concept like this one:

A first very rough draft (on the right) usually takes not more than a few minutes, but it shows if an idea could work, the less detailed it is, the better.

The next step is to gather references and inspiration for poses, colors, contrasts and feelings of the pic i have in mind, and changes.

In this case i changed the roof top and cityscape view to a more wider interpretation of independence, the sky has no limit.
I think the sky is for most people the innermost description
for freedom, eagles, or birds in general are for me pure symbols of this independence.

The mixture of this costume describes for me the frame for allowing this composition believability, like if she is a shaman or a shapeshifter whose wings are blades when she is changing back shape to human.

I know there might be people telling either that is not possible or whatsoever, so the intention was to render this in a way that it is believable to some extent, painterly but also gives the subtle feeling of being free, like an assassin from above.

When looking for coloring i tend to use complementary contrasts wherever possible, as a cover artist its the guarantee for getting attention from a far.

The psychology behind is that it usually is a pain for the eye but when this rule is broken properly it works like magic.

Complementary colors are very helpful for finding natural tones and colors, when working on a palette its good to be inspired by the masters, but it can never be false to try and experiment in some digital versions playfully with variations that lead to new, interesting results.

We live in times which are technically improving and enhancing the artists possibilities, and i did not speak about tracing or photomanipulation, I think the possibility of getting a preview with different colorswatches, changing moods with just a layer-effect is a wonderful tool that daVinci would possibly had loved to use.

The finalized work and below some close ups:

Constructive criticism vs. Banana peel on a ski-slope

This post is dedicated to someone who unconsciously throw in a barrel of fuel in my "fire of passion" for blogging about things that happen to me, especially when it comes to art and composition.

Today a comment that had an impact on me like a Banana peel on a ski-slope - it does not bump you out of the chair, but you think:"what the heck does this come from!"

The reason for this entry is the below quote from Oscar Wilde:
“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”

And in order to educate the critic, this blog post should help any emerging artist, or people who will skip this step and become a critic with shortcut.

The piece which caused the following comment:

"criminal zombie rock people who have consumed 40 ounces of miller are on the prowl for  violin playing, thong wearing fawns... in the future of america (as miller tips us off) people have evolved into extravagant versions of humanity. 

If this is surrealist work in a modern era, it is not relevant. Your symbols will remain yours (aside from the angsty college freshman who love rendered sex symbols). 

flat... even composition... gestures aren't pushed... taken to a full render suggests you missed the point entirely...."

First off, if you are going to critique an artists work or a piece of artwork, make sure you follow these simple rules to be taken serious and cause an effect:

• Never just create a profile just for the purpose of doing critique,
  show who you are, and if you have professional background to do so
  
• If you critique do yourself the favor and only critique in a field you are expert in or at least have a fundamental understanding of the theoretical approaches, never get personal
  
• If you are targeting on rules or fundamental basics, be sure to link to references or sources that underline your critique in a constructive or educative manner
  
• Always understand that a critique is a reflection of ones self, treat others like you want others to treat you
  
• Write more than 200 words if you want to be taken seriously, and if you can/ or will not show who you are
  

I´m not going to have anyone flaming this Person just for this nonsense ramblings, instead I´d point out for myself what is good critique and what´s bad:

What seriously uncovers this Person as blissfully ignorant, is that he obviously put the piece into a wrong category and even asked for being uncovered as such with that sentence:

"f this is surrealist work in a modern era, it is not relevant"

Its not  surrealist work, its a fantasy -genre art and a modern interpretation of the "Pied piper of Hamelin".

"flat... even composition... gestures aren't pushed "

The composition of this one was an "out-of-the-box" experiment, that i used to invent also in other personal artworks like "the box of pandora", or "the disquisition" not reinventing the wheel here, but in a manner of "learn the rules and break them properly".

The idea of developing such a complex compositing is to create a flow that leads the viewer into the piece; starting with the fawn, tease over to the "Wanted" posters in a tie over the violin through the number "40" to the Golem brothers, who then throw the lead back on to the legs of the fawn. At this point, the pied piper must come to mind to the more educated viewer.

"taken to a full render suggests you missed the point entirely"

Really, and for whom does this count?

Like I twittered earlier about this today, because this is so rad: "Odd how the words seem to shape the appearance of a comment under the work, but content and meaning is completely absent"
I couldn´t help but laugh out loud with a tear, because of the bizarre pointlessness of this post!

This is how constructive critique should look like:

If this comment need to be put into words for a constructive critique that should help the artist to learn and grow in a positive way, this could be how at least I would appreciate it:

"Its obvious that the classic version and imagery of the pied piper did not appeal to the youth of today, this rendition is a bold approach to bring the essence through into today´s world that is full of over-photoshopped-beauties shining from billboards suggesting consumers to buy.


Fantasy causes viewer and readers all over the world either in literature or imagery to abscond from reality, this worlds where elves, fawns and golem are mythical creatures that are at least equally common than humans, such an evening scene of a modern fairytale could nearly take place, or at least imagined by the viewer because of the realistic rendering.


As a nitpick I would only describe the flat feeling which is omnipresent because of the wall that takes up around 2/3 of the piece.
Even if this is an approach to the rule of thirds, the empty space between the golem could either filled with an interesting subject, or could have more depth.


Another, but more personal impression would be that the gestures are a little expression -or emotionless, but this could also be intended. Comparing the look and expression with your "body of work" its obvious that there is a coherence and love for "out-of-the-box" and experimental approaches to compositions, it might be a question of taste, but there are sure people who like this modern-fantasy-sci-fi-postpunk-experimental mixture of genres."

This at least would be a critique I´d value, even when the writer has no profile or backup of knowledge, It shows respect and a deeper understanding of things.

Always treat others like you want to be, isn´t that too much demanded?
Is there hope?

Should artists take donations as kind of general support?

Why should artists take donations?
Two thoughtprovoking happenings changed my perception of taking donations in general:

"All artists who represent themselves everyday on the web, should take little donations from visitors who appreciate their work just for the sake of keep `em doing"

1.)The first is a case in which a friend of mine did have the worst thing happening to an artist:
thievery in his home of equipment and everything.
2.)The other case in which a not so familiar artist has a difficult situation that causes high costs of meds and living.

Get a better opinion about these happenings when comparing the cases linked above for yourself.

Fact is, because Mario (1.) gave in the supportive comments from friends and colleagues he  linked to his paypal account, I didn´t hesitate to donate.
While I didn´t knew the other artist (2.), I would have donated something too, just for the sake of helping out without wanting something in return.

I tend to think that everything happens for a reason and from anywhere this comes back, mostly from a direction we never mind thinking about, thats a universal fact / experience.

I understand when artists don´t want to declare themselves as beggars or in need for help, I thought about that matter and especially that simple act of putting a donate -button on a blog, profile page as nothing to feel ashamed about in todays online society, where even IT-gurus and social -media specialists do have the "buy me a coffee" button on their page.

Donation model for musicians is OK, aha...
Going through myspace and having a look at all the musicians it feels like walking through the citystreets and have musicians begging for your attention, the one that you like the most is likely been given a few bucks in the hat, nothing wrong with that in real life - so why should it in online life?

Sure most musicians don´t have a big payoff from donations, compared to commercial advertised and labeled promotions. While this is right, some do their stuff for fun and music is better listened to in live, os putting music online for downloading just costs to run a server what can they ask for more?

The main difference is that artists / musicians in the street playing their stuff are not familiar to me, so why should I give them a buck? A online friend whom I know about years now, and as a follower have seen that always stuff is popping up on their page, I feel good when supporting them with a little cash here and then.

And then all have something in common, the musician who is popular did something to get to that point, like Radiohead for example.
The simple secret for this is consistence and persistence.
Whenever someone is capable of something and works hard on developing themselves to grow over the years and gains a fellowship, chances are good that it will pay off in the end, but it needs persistence to get through to this point.

Will next generations have generosity "built in"?
I think this is a fact and a behaviour that needs to be changed by the artists themselves, most likely the next "online" -generations will have this behavior more "built in" everyone ticks different, but especially when it comes to money - artists want to hide, this is just wrong.

If you do work, you should be payed, period.

 

http://fantasio.deviantart.com/journal/poll/1150000/

Above is a little statistic gained from a poll which is from about the last two days.

Not something that could generalize things, but it proves to me that theoretically 50% visitors want something in return and the other nearly 50% would donate something, just to support the artist. Interesting fact is that 53 voters would spend a total of 826,00 $ against 58 people who want something in return!
Also it might be taken into account that some misunderstood the intention of this poll, and a lot of visitors are artists too.

The result is more than I´d ever suspect, which motivates me to encourage artists who hesitate to ask or simply put the donation button on their page unless they make 100k in a year, (and even then; if their work is great, they deserve it!)

Thinking about subscription or patronizing...
I really think about  doing a kind of subscription/patronizing model that makes it possible to a donator gaining influence and benefit from the personal work that others don´t have.
Supporting a motivational behavior towards the artistic development of the art leaves more space for the creative freedom that is not so big in most temporary patronage like commissions for example.
This would be a very nice initiative for supporting ones personal work, which commonly is only possible rarely while artists patronize themselves but then investing time, which is usually short for artists.

Another thought about the (this kind) patronizing of artists of today can be found here.
I really like the comparison between the gallery consumer and the benefits for a patron, in our times and through the wire we have the possibilities to get in touch with the consumers, clients, patrons, whatsoever..

Find a gallery, make the big deal...
Why chose some artist the "cold way" and frontline assembly work through a gallery which result in speculation rather than in pure interest of their customers?

I´d really like to read some insights from artists and galleries about that subject.

When realizing the capitalization of artists through galleries and collectors alike, theirs a shiver down my spine that makes me think more on a machine than on colorful, creative and exceptional things that can be called art.

Copyright = the right-to-copy, or not?

This article over at Illo-Island shows that there´s a lot going on in the Illustration front and copyrighting war today...

These two are the main problems creatives are plagued with:
 
1) Stealing / art theft / ppl taking images and uploading them somewhere else


2) Plagiarism / being ripped / copied by others who sell it as their own idea

 
My thoughts about Nr. 1:

On one hand it shows how important it is to have a community built around an artist that keeps an eye and an ear open and is eager to support each other when its due.

On the other hand, I have to say:"c´mon, its a blog, and he linked back, whats the point?"
We must accept that copyright as a whole is in order to change these times, mostly because of the perception of today´s internet users.

Fact is, for example; Instead of a Rep. I do spread my works over the internet  and if people come across them (and a lot do in fact) i can´t blame someone to share what they like, this would be trivial.

Facebook, twitter and deviantart do change the way we link to references, to resources and to fellow or favorite artists. This behaviour will grow in the next 10 years dramatically with the next generations, this all depends on the developers and the communities within, not the government.

Additionally attributions like Creative Commons and other alternative copyright models that allow remixing or publishing are in the shadows for years.
Why do artists, Authors, musicians and publishers fear them, because a loss of money? Because giving art away for free make you a starving artist? Really?
Well then lessons in marketing can give you serious changes of perception...

My thoughts about Nr.2:

I found myself in the situation but when observing this case below, it comes to mind that there could also be the same inspiration, the same resource / influence or anything else, so I´m relaxed with that and rather enjoy the success of others as it were my own:

 Descendants

 by Goro Fujita Jan. 2010

Eclipse
by Fantasio Feb. 2005

Plant(or not)
by Fantasio Jan. 2003



Some of my works are also inspired by others (which i usually credit in my descriptions on dA and elsewhere), maybe we just share the same source for inspiration and it falls into just this case.
I´m not the one to judge if this a copy or not, reviewing other works from the artist, it makes clear there is a lot of original stuff.

Btw. this short movie is deep, its wonderfully animated and has a story to tell that i really like,  so be with me, a little more relaxed when it comes to "the sincerest form of flattery" and watch it. 

By reviewing youthoughtwewouldnotnotice there are a lot plagiarism cases that raise a big facepalm, because the similarity is so abstract that it comes to mind someone might only strive for being recognized.    

Sometimes commissioned work depends also heavily on references, the problem in this instance is again the client that wants some "lookalikes" it then depends on the artist to not just do a "rip off", but finding a better, more pleasing and original approach.   

Because no one can reinvent the wheel, the one without guilt might throw the first stone..