Spring is in the Air: Your fan art Town Cryer, Saturday Edition

[red_satin_doll]

Recently tempertemper said she was taking a page from my book and promoted icontest voting specifically otherworldlyric and slayerstillness. I have to admit I had already stolen that book from velvetwhip, who tirelessly promotes fandom activity of all sorts; but I'm very glad to be part of the chain. Shall we call it a library book and simply pass it around?

tempertemper also made a wonderful point about supporting icon/art communities that I think can't be said often enough. There are so many people in this fandom and so few voting at art competitions. As a visual artist I of course vote at fiction contests but I think writers oftentimes feel shy or uncertain about voting in art contests. Maybe a grade school teacher made a cruel remark about one's abilities. Maybe one has heard one too many "experts" insist that you have to have a particular sort of education in order to be able to "understand" art. This really shouldn't be so - art belongs to everyone and we all live, breathe, take in visual images every day. We are all incredibly sophisticated and well-educated simply by dint of exposure.

So in that spirit, here are some worthy art challenges in need of your vote:

Banner by moi for character20n20

**   slayerstillness Challenge 43 "Helpless" Wonderful work and one of my favorite buffyverse episodes - how do the entries end up so often looking go great and of a piece with one another as a group? I'm side-eyeing at least one or two in a "I don't know who made this but back off because I WANT this one" kind of way. *lol*

** otherworldlyric Challenge 200  "Working for the Weekend" I really have to thank tempertemper for bringing this one back to my attention. Some of my first awards were in this comm but I have not participated in a while, and have been very remiss in terms of voting and promoting it.  This comm is also one of the most overlooked in terms of participation overall, which is a shame.

** whedon_elite Challenge 116 "Spring Time" My love of the sepias and desaturated tones is well-known but it's nice to try something different and really welcome springtime in bright, light tones;  the really interesting challenge is to come up with something "pretty and light" that also carries emotional weight. It's been a long, hard winter this year, hasn't it?

Finally, speaking of springtime, congratulations to all the winners of  Round 68 of character20n20. setentpet asked meto make banners for those who had requested it: roseemrys, punk4life1315 and spikesredqueen, and the gorgeous clear, springtime colors and the change of season inspired the colors and design of my banners. I indulged myself in a tie for Banner Maker's Choice: spikesredqueen and x_lostinthesun. Check them out here.  I used a photograph I took in 2013 of roses in my landlord's yard as the base.

       

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I love how enthusiastic you are in pimping the art award communities. They're as important as fic awards and people need to support the folks who create the beautiful pictures as much as the writers who build the stories.

I have voted at all three!


Gabrielle

[feliciacraft.livejournal.com]

You're doing the fandom a great service!

This is a very timely post for me because I've had the slayerstillness poll open in a browser tab for days now, and need to get on with it and vote already. I will admit though, that as a writer, I honestly wasn't sure if my vote would be seen as a violation of the comm rules, since I'm not an artist. I mean, it seems strange to judge without participation, you know? Like, I don't have anything to offer, but this is what I think. :)

So glad you dispelled that misconception!

This is also one reason I love mixed-media comms around a central theme. Because cross-pollination between writers and artists would benefit both parties.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I will admit though, that as a writer, I honestly wasn't sure if my vote would be seen as a violation of the comm rules, since I'm not an artist. I mean, it seems strange to judge without participation, you know?

THANK YOU for sharing your thoughts because there is such a silence around contests and voting and why we do or don't. I have really been curious as to the "why" of it all but there's such a silence around that subject as if it were "unseemly".

Your reasoning does make sense. And I admit I was uncertain if I could vote in comms before I started participating because there is something vaguely "cliquish" about LiveJournal in general and comms in particular.

Rule of thumb - many voting pages will have an "open to all" or similar message and the profiles/rules will usually state it. Basically, if you can click a box in a comm you're not a "member" of , it's an open comm unless someone says otherwise.

I mean, it seems strange to judge without participation, you know?

I just took it for granted that it was the reverse of an artist voting in fiction contests like Sunnydale Memorial awards etc.

Do you think yours are common misconceptions? Now you've got me thinking, this calls for a poll! :D

This is also one reason I love mixed-media comms around a central theme. Because cross-pollination between writers and artists would benefit both parties.

I LOVE this idea, do you know of any successful ones I could peek at? I've had in mind the idea of a comm where artists make banners for a chosen story and vice versa, writers create a story to match a banner. Usually it's fic first, banner second but I don't see why it couldn't go the other way.

ETA: I meant to add that voting IS a form of participation. :D

[feliciacraft.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if mine are common misconceptions. It could just be that most writers are not part of artist comms (and vice versa), and many writers miss the call for voting that get picked up by members only?

A successful mixed-media comm is seasonal_spuffy. Entries this round have so far included stories, banners, comics, and I'd love to see videos as well. I think it's just perfect.

True, voting is a form of participation. But it seems to me a very minimal one. I feel like I haven't truly proved my membership in any given comm until I've made a submission. :)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

It could just be that most writers are not part of artist comms (and vice versa), and many writers miss the call for voting that get picked up by members only?

Perhaps? I still tend to think most artists are part of writing comms because a lot of artists are also writers and we all hang out in this fandom which is dominated by writers.

I've been defriended last year by at least one person who was not interested in my emphasis on visual arts. I can't imagine defriending someone because they only wrote stuff. (Not that writers are bad people or anything - some of my best friends are writers! *lol*)

As a visual artist there are a LOT of art comms out there I don't know about. It's almost like there's too much out there, if that makes sense?

These would all be great poll questions (for the three - five or so people who would respond).

A successful mixed-media comm is seasonal_spuffy. Entries this round have so far included stories, banners, comics, and I'd love to see videos as well. I think it's just perfect.

*smacks forehead* Oh DUH. in my own defense, this round was the very first I ever participated in as an artists. (two years ago I know I voted on the banner.) I think past rounds have included videos and fan mixes.

Every once in a while I've seen art or meta (as opposed to fiction) on sb_fag_ends; I don't recall if anyone has ever posted vids there. Now that you've got me thinking about it, there's no reason other media couldn't be included there.

I guess in some ways Buffyverse top 5 would also count, but it's kind of a special case.

I feel like I haven't truly proved my membership in any given comm until I've made a submission. :)

Not at all! Voting is the equivalent of leaving feedback to a fic or hitting a like button. For myself, being a voter led to me making fan art on a regular and serious basis but some people simply vote and that's wonderful. It takes a village, and all that jazz. When people don't vote, artists are less motivated to enter artworks, and the comms dwindle a slow and painful death. :P

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I could have sworn on a stack of grimoires that I replied this comment. Huh.

I love how enthusiastic you are in pimping the art award communities.

I have had the BEST role models in that regard. :D

I'm very pleased to see quite a few fic banners made as of late. I would love to see the trend the other way round - fics inspired by fan art banners. I see no reason why it always has to go in one direction.

I have voted at all three!

Hurrah and thank you!

[snogged.livejournal.com]

*squish*

Thank you so much for all you do to remind people to vote in art communities (and for making sure I know which ones I've missed.)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

You're welcome sweetie!

I'm sure there are others I've missed - in fact there are TONS of comms out there. character20in20 I didn't know existed until setenpet gave me a heads up. So there's really no way to keep track of it all, but that's true of fiction as well isn't it?

[teragramm.livejournal.com]

Maybe one has heard one too many "experts" insist that you have to have a particular sort of education in order to be able to "understand" art. This really shouldn't be so - art belongs to everyone and we all live, breathe, take in visual images every day. AND you don't have to know diddly squat about art to know what you like. Here's the main rule for voting in an icon contest....look at all the pretty icons......pick the ones you like best. That's all there is to it.

I have to make myself an icon that represents making icons, for these types of posts.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Here's the main rule for voting in an icon contest....look at all the pretty icons......pick the ones you like best. That's all there is to it.

EXACTLY.

Again, I draw the parallel to the fiction contests - nobody assumes the voters have written a single story themselves, only that they know how to read. (Actually, we can't even assume that, but never mind *lol*) Nobody assumes that you need to have written a story to be able to judge the quality of one. Or that you need to have written a novel in order to enjoy one.

I have to make myself an icon that represents making icons, for these types of posts.

THAT would be grand. Even my procrastination icon by ayrdaomie *points to user pic* assumes the stance of a writer.

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

Thank you for pimping otherworldlyric again! As I told teragramm, we can use all the help we can get.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

All due credit to teragramm for reminding me how remiss I've been - even if I don't enter icons there I can still promote it.

I take it no one ever came forward to take over btvs_hush.

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

A couple of people did, but they would only be able to do it as a monthly contest, and I was hoping whoever would take it over would keep a similar schedule. (One of the people ended up having RL go crazy, so it's just as well that I didn't turn it over to her because she wouldn't have been able to keep it going.)

I should probably make the offer again, but I've barely been able to think about since I replaced it with a new comm, which I run with a co-mod, comicsontv_ic, and the SunnyD Awards have been eating up my weekends.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I didn't offer, my newish job would have left no time for it.

How badly do you want to revive it? I ask because, maybe it was time to let it go? I think I was just starting to get the hang of it. But your new comm is very different to anything else I've seen "around town".

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to start it up again myself. I just don't have the time or interest. I probably won't do anything unless someone reaches out to me about it.

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

And that's perfectly reasonable; you already do SO VERY MUCH for this fandom (and randoms in general) with art comms, SunnyD etc, you deserve many many plaudits and kudos.

Thank you for all you do!

[starry-night.livejournal.com]

Bless you for your tireless efforts in community promotion. Seriously, your posts are amazing in both content (because they are always worth a read) and for helping to get people involved in the comms. Thank you so much for all your efforts in this and for just being awesome! :D

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Thank you dear! I always worry that I'm being tiresome and a bore, so your feedback is well and truly appreciated. Lifts my spirits. :D

*lots more blushing*

Thank YOU for all the work you do in running the communities - folks like you are the reason I'm here and have sandboxes to play in!

[starry-night.livejournal.com]

I always worry that I'm being tiresome and a bore...

You definitely don't have to worry about that. Like I said, your posts are awesome! And you can never have enough pimping for communities :D

Thank YOU for all the work you do in running the communities - folks like you are the reason I'm here and have sandboxes to play in!

Aw, thank you hon. I enjoy running the comms and having members like you definitely makes it worthwhile :)

[red-satin-doll.livejournal.com]

Thank YOU sweetheart - I'll pretend I don't LOVE compliments and feedback. :D

And you can never have enough pimping for communities

Speaking of, I see some ties that need to be broken.....