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

[theficklepickle.livejournal.com]

For some unknown reason I find shitty art more difficult to accept than shitty writing - and I'm pretty savage about shitty writing, come to think of it. Maybe it's because with artwork you see it all at a glance - although you may appreciate it more the longer you look, if it's good - so it's all 'in your face'. Fiction is more cumulative - you ignore the first couple of typoes, you give the writer a pass on poor characterisation, etc. etc, but it creeps up on you eventually. In short, it may take a bit longer to realise that fiction is bad, but with art you can tell at once. But that also means it's easier for an artist to see the standard of what everybody else is doing, and if they're still producing total crap then either they're comparatively new to it or they've got the hide of a rhinocerous...

[clayangel.livejournal.com]

Would it be horrible to ask you to link to the art? Or at least to find out what the fest is? You can't say something like that and NOT expect us to be curious. ^_^

[leoparda.livejournal.com]

I second this! You've made us want to SEE it now!

[jejo763]

I may have an idea on what you are referring to, or at least I have similar thoughts on two pieces of art I've seen lately in a fest.

They were both... hmm, how shall I put this... minimalistic to the extreme and to me they didn't tell a story (and the first one really should have and it didn't).

I desperately want to find something good in them, but I just can't!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

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

If you're gifted by this person just come rant in a locked post and we will hold your hands and sympathize! ^_^

Being a non-artist, I'm likely to be forgiving of detail and coloring and time taken if it fits one particular criteria: if it's pretty. I'm shallow, yeah? A line drawing that took ten minutes that makes pretty characters will have me going "OMG I LUV" even if I'm thinking it could have had more effort behind it.

As much as I would love to see it so we can discuss merits or lack of, I understand why you're not linking it.

[jin-fenghuang.livejournal.com]

I utterly agree. Now, a lot of people do fest to showcase their own stuff, and I am no exception, but ffs people, it is supposed to be a gift too. It annoys me to no end when people do not even put in a smidgen of effort to please the giftee.

[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]

Yes, that sounds like the same stuff!

Absolutely wretched! *sigh*

Like I already said, I don't have a problem with less skilled people who TRY, you can usually see and appreciate the effort, and they usually have something to SAY with their art.

The only thing this shit says is ... Aw hell, I don't even know what it says!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, you will get locked post ranting! ;)

I have recieved fic that was ... less than great, but there was effort, so I thanked the author, pointed out a few things that I liked, and moved on.

I would seriously have a hard time finding ANYTHING worth mentioning in these pieces.

Wow! You used ... colour! And drew ... a person. ...thanks ...?

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Did you ever see the Oh man, I forget what it's called, but it's a backwards HP fest, where people who write, draw something, and people who draw, write something? (april fools?) Anyhoo, WAY better art in that fest. WAAAY better art, because you can see the EFFORT.

The results are less important.

[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. ;)

[jin-fenghuang.livejournal.com]

Hell yes :D

April Fools I think. I did that fest a couple of times, it was fun. Some of the stuff coming out of it was amazing, and I agree that people put in effort.

What I've seen from the fests I've run is that oddly enough the 'not giving a shit' has nothing to do with skill level. I've had some very talented people 'phone it in' more than once...

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Yes. People suck. ;)

Not that I've never phoned shit in, but ... I try to make it LOOK like I tried? ;)

I've not run any fests, and I think I will keep it that way. :D

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Many times with shitty writing, it has to do with being ESL? Or very young. (or just being a shitty writer!!)

Unless this person is visually challenged, then I see no reason for it..

Ha! There was another fest I was in that featured an abomination of art like this, and now I'm thinking ... different fandom, but maybe same artist?

*shudders*

[jin-fenghuang.livejournal.com]

It's not that bad when it's a small fest. I ran an ATLA slash fest last year and I am considering doing it again. But TBF there were only like 16 people in it max.

[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.

[huntress1013.livejournal.com]

Third this! I am really curious now. I have seen quite a lot of bad art (and also read or at least gazed incredibly bad fics) but this must be really bad.

[florahart]

I feel as though I may know to what you refer, if it's the fest in which I am also participating. Both pieces have summaries that suggest some kind of story, but the images themselves are static and have no hint of the summaries?

[janice-lester.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it's something like the American Idol effect? Mommy always told Little Artist that her merest doodling is a masterpiece, and that belief is now so ingrained that Little Artist is impervious to all criticism and self-doubt?

egads, the unsalvageable scribbles that would emerge if I was made to draw... no one sign me up for that April Fools thing, okay? :-)