Reeeeallly bad art

[tripperfunster]

So ... I'm part of a fest that is posting right now. There is both fic and art, but I've seen TWO pieces of 'art' that are ... beyond horrible. I didn't check, but I assume they were done by the same person. WTF?

I'm not even talking skill level here, I am talking time/care taken. They look completely slapped together. Minimal colouring, and it's blotchy and not even in the lines! Geez, my kids can do at least that!

If that art were fic, it would look something like this:

TWO GUYS MET. THEY LUVED EACH UTHER. HAD SEX. THE END.

Again, I can generally tell when someone who is a 'new' artist has tried hard and when someone just doesn't give a shit.

I would be beyond shocked if this person took more than 10 minutes to make either one. (or both?)

Thoughts? Honestly, if I am 'gifted' this person's art in this fest it will be very hard to not say something nasty.

Comments

[writcraft]

I read this and wanted to offer an alternative view. I have recently started doing some art for fests. I know my art is rough around the edges as I am still learning, but what might look as if it's been thrown together to an experienced artist actually takes a lot of time for me to get right...now I don't know the fest or the art, so it is quite possible this is the equivalent of a poorly constructed doodle and someone scribbling (badly) inside said doodle with no time or care taken. I just wanted to throw out the suggestion for discussion to see if it is possible that the art actually did take them a long time? As someone who has started doing a little more art, it can be extremely intimidating to post when the quality in fandom is so strong. Writers vary hugely in quality as do artists but it seems a shame to stop people from having fun and participating. HOWEVER for a gift exchange, I hate busting a gut and producing a 10k fic which I have slaved over only to the get a thrown together 1 - 2k piece which has clearly not got any thought behind it and so on (appreciating of course a short fic can be superb) so if this is the art equivalent of that, I can totally understand the meh.

EDIT: From the looks of your post again it does seem as though this isn't the 'well they tried' sort of newbie art, as opposed to something just hastily thrown onto a page with minimal care.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Ahaha! I just had a mini panic attack, thinking "Oh fuck! Are you the one???", then I went and looked at your art, and no fucking way.

Your most recent Ginny pic is ... unpolished? (and god, i suck so bad at drawing digitally that my stuff would have the same critique.)

But there is SHADING and depth and highlights and all sorts of things that scream "I am working hard at this. I haven't mastered it yet, but I understand the concepts and want it to look good."

This other person ... just no. Especially not for an exchange where your work is a gift. Just like *I* wouldn't sign up to bake a cake for someone when I don't own the ingreedients and my oven is broken! ;)

Edited to add: I just wanted to point out that I am fairly new at drawing. (well, less new every year!) I just started in 2005, and I never would have come as far as I have if wonderful, generous people had not commented positively on my work. When I look back I can see all the things wrong with it, but moreso, when I look back, it is VERY obvious to me, the stuff I worked very hard on, and the stuff I slapped together.

We all have to start somewhere, and I try to be positive and encouraging to 'new' artists, because there were some AMAZING artists that were really helpful to me.

This person is not one of them. ;)

[writcraft]

LOL!! Sorry for freaking you out :D

Thanks for the encouragement on the Ginny picture! Much appreciated. I totally understand what you mean then if it really is the lack of effort, particularly when a gift is being created for someone, that sucks. It can be just as apparent when fics have been pulled together with no thought for the giftee or any desire to try to work in some of the things they like, the pairs they enjoy and so on, so I definitely understand your annoyance with seeing the art equivalent of that.