fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4672 ]

[ SECRET POST #4672 ]

⌈ Secret Post #4672 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 34 secrets from Secret Submission Post #669.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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04. https://i.imgur.com/vtbg6yX.jpg

the thing is (at least for me), when my art was at that level i didn't perceive it as such. i vividly remember once posting a badly drawn manga style portrait on a site and waxing poetic about how i had managed to make the lineart very soft and delicate. it was neither!

and also i suppose it's good if people can find encouragement to continue practicing so they can get out of that stage

Well, speaking as an artist who used to post hideous chicken scratch, you don't perceive it as being ugly at the time. I thought the garbage I used to draw was good at the time. I'm sure that's how most artists feel. So I don't begrudge those who start off posting questionable fanart, it's a good way to develop confidence and keep on trying.

I get where you're coming from, OP, but.....
Even crappy art is a work of love, and you have to practice to get better. Nobody will want to practice if they're shot down and told their art sucks. I'm glad you don't say anything, because it's just utterly unnecessary.

Absolutely this.

Inktober blues? I'm following someone who usually posts meta and memes, but who's doing inktober with tiny fanarts in markers, and clearly hasn't been drawing a lot before.

Yeahhhh... I have a mutual on Tumblr who has a sideblog she puts her (terrible) D&D art on - except that she then reblogs *everything* to her main! What's the point of having a sideblog for That One Thing if you then reblog every single post to your main blog! And I can't even filter it out, because she just tags it as 'art' or 'oc art' :/

As someone who is ashamed to have created zero fandom content in about a decade, I think people who do create content should feel proud to share it, even when it's not much. Even bad content is way cooler than no content.

That said, the one place where I do agree with you is exchanges. If someone is a novice fanartist who just isn't very good (yet), I think it's kind of rude for them to give their recipient poor quality, half-baked fanart. I mean, I would never publicly shame someone for doing it, but I privately think it's cringey and a faux pas whenever I see it done. (If it's extremely meticulously crafted fanart where you can clearly see the artist has spent a lot of time and effort, then I generally think that's ok, even if the art isn't very good. But a lot of the time novice fanartists have a tendency of phoning it in - maybe because they just haven't learned how to work in greater detail yet - and that's where I find it kind of rude and cringey.)

This. It's super simple to scroll past "bad" fanart. (I quote bad, because I've seen a lot of fanart that I would consider bad because I don't like the style at ALL, but that doesn't objectively make it bad.)

"Even bad content is way cooler than no content"

Have to disagree there. Also have to disagree that "cool" is in any way a sensible or helpful adjective.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2019-10-22 09:16 (UTC) - Expand

It’s not the exact same thing, but I used to post so much crappy fanfic back in the day and I definitely didn’t see it as crappy at the time. I saw it as mind-blowing ‘cause it was something I’d created and I was very proud and wanted to share it. I had some super nice commenters who told me what they liked about my fics and offered suggestions to improve them. Those suggestions really helped me grow as a writer since I couldn’t exactly share fic at school. When I read fic these days and see badly written ones, I try to leave nice comments and suggestions (if the writer asks for constructive feedback) because I remember how much I appreciated that back in the day. I can barely draw a straight line, so I wouldn’t comment on fanart, but I get that someone whose drawing skills are lacking may just need more practice and feedback and maybe fandom is the only place they can get feedback.

I disagree. Everyone starts at the bottom particularly with art. While I might not personally care for their output, fandom is a place to share it. Doesn't take much to just scroll past it.

I've seen some elementary school-level fanart that nevertheless manages to be great because the artist managed to express emotion well and the whole thing was adorable in a cartoon-y way.

Seconding this.

Also, the NSFW fanart I find the hottest is usually a lot less detailed and realistic, as well, because I find that a more loose, sketched-in style often allows the characters to be more emotive in their appearance. You can exaggerate certain things to really emphasize the sexuality of the image. Plus, it allows the viewer to bring more of their own imagination to the table, which, for me, always makes things hotter.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2019-10-23 00:37 (UTC) - Expand

I really love seeing anyone's fanart. Even if it's shit. Hell, if someone makes stick figures that have a lot of heart to them, it makes me smile. Looking at fanart takes like two seconds; it's not even the kind of time that fanfic with amateur writing requires.

Tbh I kinda get what you mean. I'm following someone on twitter from a previous fandom -- who is definitely not a teenager, so it's not like a young kid posting -- who pretty regularly posts their art and then reblogs it over and over again and the art is....not good. One time they offered art as a gift in a fandom fest and then got upset when no one wanted it. I would never say anything to them because that would be mean, but every time I see them reblog their latest picture for the third time (and it still has zero likes, so they reblog it a few more times) I just cringe a little.

While I'll agree that some fanart looks terrible to me, honestly some professional art looks bad to me (I don't think I will ever "get" Picasso and while I do think some of the paintings Klimt did were amazing, some look awful and amateurish to my eyes). So, really, I believe there is a lot of subjectivity here and while I might not like something, someone else might.

(no subject)

ninefox - 2019-10-22 02:23 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2019-10-22 05:35 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2019-10-22 08:16 (UTC) - Expand

Totally an almost related story, is that I once took an art class (more concept and history than lessons) where the teacher very much played favourites between the different art styles. He was in love with Picasso and the more modern minimalist styles of artistry. He always said that art is never original, and no one has their own style. (he was very weird) That even without a mentor or teacher, so long as you have see art, you will be influence by the many styles you have taken in over your lifetime. He went on to claim that no art could be considered 'bad' because it is always a reflection of the great masters both past and present.

That said, I will agree with the other posts that said you don't always recognize your art as that bad when you first start out/share it, otherwise chances are they wouldn't do it in the first place. And in particular Sabotabby, when they said it really only takes two seconds to scroll past fanart, to add to that even I would say that like it or not they obviously put in much more work than the two seconds a viewer took to decide they didn't like it. So I always feel particularly bad when people insult art, I guess.
Really though, you have every right to hate it and believe a child could do better. (and chances are you are probably right) I have tendency to inwardly mock the hell outta things regardless of if I like them or not. So yeah.

I think your own tumblr/DW/twitter/whatever is the perfect place to post your art while you're learning. It's easy enough to skim past. What really annoys me is when people with poor art skills go in exchanges or big bangs with it.

this is assholish and ridiculous, unfollow or block them if you don't want to be "subjected" to their art

everyone deserves a space in fandom

NEVER! I will continue with my 4th grade scribble and you will like them!!!1

To be fair, OP, when you start drawing and such you don't notice your mistakes until you start getting better (or in my case, when I scan them and see all the glaring errors). I remember uploading stuff to dA that at the time looked great but now that I look at it, it looks horrible.

Edited 2019-10-22 06:44 (UTC)

Hard same.

You get a great big Fuck You. I AIM to draw like an elementary school kid, because the elementary school kid hasn’t internalized stupid rules and shame yet and just draw whatever they want; a dinosaur, an exploding volcano, a pretty fairy princess, a monster truck, lots of rainbows AND THEY HAVE FUN with it.
Watch me have fun with my colour pencils, draw crappy porn and don't give a single fuck about haters.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2019-10-22 09:56 (UTC) - Expand

I would never begrudge shit art a kid, or a learning adult - I always try to encourage them. But there's a separate category of adults who are really bad and they don't learn. Year after year they keep posting same level scribbles while gushing about their 'technique' and 'process', and it may as well bring them joy and fulfil them like nothing else - but is it really necessary to flood the public fandom spaces with this 'art'?
(They are also usually happy to issue unasked for critical commentary to other artists and are absolutely unable to handle a critical comment themselves. I returned the favour to one after she crapped all over a learning kid and thankfully, it made her behave.)

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2019-10-22 18:11 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2019-10-22 18:22 (UTC) - Expand

This reminds me of a certain user here who was showing off her awful webcomic stuff...

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