TallPockets opened this issue on Jul 15, 2009 · 24 posts
ThetaLov posted Wed, 15 July 2009 at 1:10 PM
My opinion on the matter, if it's warranted - it's up to the artist to decide what to show in the thumbnail. The only time we can't is in the situations that JenX mentioned - nudity or violence that falls under the definitions laid out by Rendo's ToS. Once those checkboxes are marked, the upload engine automatically generates the "Content Advisory" thumbnail.
The way I do it depends on what I'm posting. I tend to lean towards character creation, so I'll do a preview of part of the character's face or something. If it's a full-scene, it's a zoom of a particular spot. It's just a preference of mine; I feel that when I put the full image in the thumb (especially in a scenic image) there's too much going on and it's distracting, so I focus on one or two elements from the image to (hopefully) communicate the idea. I also put my username in the thumbnail - I dunno, just a trademark thing I do, I suppose.
I can't speak for other artists, this is just my method of doing things.
No one is forcing anyone to click that mouse button, and you don't have to feel obligated to either.
On the whole topic of trying to garner views/comments and all that stuff - yes, there is some marketing involved in it, because we're all here to share our art. In MY case, whether I personally get views or not isn't an issue. To the small handful of people (and I mean that quite literally) that actually follow my gallery are aware that I'm posting up pieces of a project I'm working on. I post those pictures up SOLELY for the purpose of copyright protection. If people like it great. If not, oh well. And I only comment on work that I feel is very striking, or if they ask for opinions/critique I'll offer advice if I feel I have something valuable to say. I have very few favorited images/artists compared to the average user, I think. That does not mean that I don't think every piece of art here is good, because I will NEVER, I repeat NEVER dog someone else's artwork, because that is an extension of them, it is their creation, and I feel it's wrong to say hurtful things. Helpful critique is one thing - "You suck" is something else entirely. When i favorite or comment, I have to take the viewpoint of: "Does this piece inspire me to keep creating and to push myself to get better?"
Okay I got a little offtopic there, but the point I'm trying to make is that our reasons for posting may have variations, but we're all here to share our creations, and it isn't really fair to ask someone else to change the way they present their art. Just my $0.02.