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Questions and Answers

Ah, things have settled, somewhat, and have given me enough time to go over our changes post and answer some questions and worries people may have.

A few people have brought up other sites like ConceptArt.org and CG Society as models of sites that have large communities and high quality. There are different dynamics playing about here. Nobody is looking to "break into" the anthropomorphic fandom, or any fandom, really. They are, however, looking to break into concept design and 3D graphics as careers. The core base on those sites are professionals and companies. The core base of art patrons on sites like this one are other fans.

This is not to say we are not going to be taking a page (or two) from these sites. Already we have a Sketchbook Pages group, the idea shamelessly ganked from CA.org awhile ago. The new ArtSpots site will be more accommodating to things like tutorials, interviews, articles, and similar activities. In short, one of our aims is to become similar to a ConceptArt for the anthro fandom. We feel this goal can be better achieved by taking down the wall that separates the skilled artists from the ones still learning. Better able to have a dialogue, that way, oui.

(A little tidbit. Early in ArtSpots life, we had a technical admin from CA.org contact us, curious if our code was available. If I recall correctly, they were pondering the idea of letting users have their own gallery spaces. Whether the were not able to work this in or are still debating coding it themselves, I do not know. I have not talked to anyone there in a good long while. Food for thought, still.)

Part of the merge was also to try and remove the stigma from posting pieces like sketches to a gallery. I find that a skilled artist's sketch is usually much more interesting to look at then the finished piece that results from it. I am not talking about random doodles, although those are fun too, but rather showing a step during work. A lot of artists, including many ArtSpots artists, were afraid to post anything but what they felt was the best. I wanted to remove that fear.

The Maître de guilde status, otherwise known as master, and the Salon are going to be included to help further our goal. A few people had questions about this. Let me answer those, too. The Salon will include works on an individual piece-by-piece basis, mostly submitted by masters. If a compagnon submits a piece that is included in a salon, they become a Maître de guilde. We are still working on the details. A lot of this is still being worked out to be more self-explanatory. It is not the easiest of tasks. :)

And… for those who are dismayed that there might be nothing to work towards, or that having your artwork next to a previous ArtSpots-only artist removes some of the thrill or pride that existed, I just have to say this:

You thought we were tough before on applicants getting into ArtSpots? That our standards were too high? This new change will allow us to be, how shall I say, utterly ruthless and—this, this is the most important part—without regrets. >:)

now you have me curious, nervous as hell yes D: but curious!

I also want to mention something about the content issues that were brought up earlier. We are a PG site, and do not allow porn/purely fetishistic art and never will. We were expecting a boost from our Anthrocon presence, what we were not expecting was other sites going down at the exact same time, causing an even larger influx. We take care of such art as soon as we can, many times before it even leaves the first page of recents. The merger does not constitute us softening the rules for such material. As a matter of fact, the rules for the site are being re-tooled as I speak. Right now, even, oui! And, I shall remind people, flags exist so that the community can help bring problem pieces to our attention.

This was another reason for the merge, believe it or not! Why try to split up a positive note like a PG art site, and diminish its influence? As far as I know, we are the only active PG anthro art site. Why block that to artists who also want that but might still need some work to improve, and encourage them to go to other "anything-goes" sites to get eyes on their work?

Naryu said: now you have me curious, nervous as hell yes D: but curious!

*rubs hands* Goood. Gooood. ;)

Oh lawd, I'm never going to get in at this rate. xD
Still, I anxiously await the new features!

Ohhhh, fantastic!
:)
I love this website!
Bring on the PAAIN! >:D I am so READY.

When Artspots was originally created, certain artists were chosen to be allowed to bypass the assessment process and freely given galleries on Artspots (That translating into Companion status now), whereas everyone else had to apply for that.

Will this happen with the Salon & Matire De Guild status?

Can you reveal any information about the kind of selection criteria you're going to be looking at for Maitre status? Will it be loose or strict, etc?

Are you concerned about setting the bar too high with Matire de Guild & the Salon versus the level of "payback" people will get for it? When you get to a certain level of skill, I imagine that people don't usually need to "prove it" as it were.

*flexes shoulders*

:)
Muhahahah! Excellent.

Edward of Woodstock said: When Artspots was originally created, certain artists were chosen to be allowed to bypass the assessment process and freely given galleries on Artspots (That translating into Companion status now), whereas everyone else had to apply for that.

Will this happen with the Salon & Matire De Guild status?

Can you reveal any information about the kind of selection criteria you're going to be looking at for Maitre status? Will it be loose or strict, etc?

Are you concerned about setting the bar too high with Matire de Guild & the Salon versus the level of "payback" people will get for it? When you get to a certain level of skill, I imagine that people don't usually need to "prove it" as it were.

Quite honestly, we haven't determined exactly what the selection criteria will be. It is quite possible that Mr. Seurat has some ideas that he has not yet revealed to the rest of us cheetahs, but I will tell you a bit of what I know.

The Salon applications will not be like ArtSpots' applications. The basic criteria will be the same fundamentals as ArtSpots- Anatomy, Perspective, Lighting/Value, and Composition. But there may be additional criteria as well. Pieces will be judged on individual merit. An artist may submit three images, and maybe only one or two will be selected for the Salon. There will be limits on how many pieces can be submitted per time-frame, but we have not yet decided on these limits.

As for bypassing the Assessment process. This is not something we have discussed just yet, so what I say is my own opinion and not written in stone. I do not believe anyone or any art piece will bypass the assessment process for the Salon. We might see a piece that we would like to see in the Salon gallery and strongly encourage the artist to submit it for assessment, but it will still go through the process just as everything else.

Also, having work in the Salon will not necessarily mean an artist will have the title of 'Matire De Guild.' This is another thing we have yet to make a decision on, but it is very probable that the requirements for that level will require at least a bit more effort than just that. =)

Totally agree... *smiles in a senseless-not-undestandable way*

I like it! The spirit of improvement and learning in a nice and structured manner. :) Bring it on!