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September 14th, 2005

violetice

11:49 am - Note from the community maintainers This journal is now closed. Because of this, the community maintainers have relaxed what is allowed in elfwood. If you have a complaint or issue that you would like to bring up for discussion, feel free to do that in the main elfwood livejournal. However, if you're only here to bitch and whine, please do that in your own journal. Posts of this nature may be deleted without warning. If you have any questions or complaints specifically regarding the rules, please see elfwoodrules. If you have any questions, please contact one of the maintainers. Thanks!

seachild_elf

01:45 pm - Stupid! Stupid! This may give you a laugh since it is so stupid but I. Really. Needed. To. Rant. So I read that the rules will be enforced on already existing art on Elfwood. "Fine", I think, "Good idea! I should use this opportunity to fix some borderline descriptions and redo some lousy scans." (On account of my scanner not coming with a manual and me never really finding the right balance between sharpness and small enough files in my first years on Elfwood. Still haven't entirely.) So in effort to comply with the latest rules I rescan some of my work where the old scans in my gallery show paper wrinkles. Among them there's this drawing of gryphon which had it pretty bad. Seen I don't have or know my way around fancy or decent graphic programmes, getting the wrinkles out this took me a while. I had to do it all by hand so to speak. "But", I was thinking, "my gallery will have much better quality art afterwards so this is worth it." So I happily upload my drawings only to find out my gryphon got rejected this morning. You see, I forgot this one little grey line at the bottom of the drawing. I edited out a MASSIVE, distracting amount of wrinkles, I give my gryphon a wonderful squeaky-clean white background, the whole scan is even better than the previous one and I stumble over ONE TINY grey line?! AAAARGH! This is so stupid! How could I miss it?! Bye bye, squeaky-clean rejection-record... :( And the worst thing is probably that my ticket got processed in less than 9 days, which was deliciously fast. Current Mood: cranky

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September 3rd, 2005

dustphantom

01:10 am - Things just aren't the same! Are things ever getting back to normal? Since the crash, the elfwood I knew and loved is slowly deteriorating. I discovered elfwood about 2 years ago, joined up and it really became a great part of my life. I loved uploading my art! Once i published a piece, i'd get excited about getting through the queue, couldn't wait for feedback. don't know about you, but when I draw or paint something I absolutely love it, but once i create more the flaws begin to show and I usually end up despising it. thats the problem with the queue now! I will finish something publish it, but it take practically a month before it actually gets through. by then, i have created new things to be excited about, and couldn't care less what comments or critique people have to offer on my old work. by that time, I have noticed all the flaws and pretty much critique it myself. about a year ago I got an account on deviantart, loved the quick posting and response, hated the comments! rarely do you get a good critique on deviantart, most often its "awesome!" nice getting feedback but that really isn't helpful! so, i abandoned deviant art, but after the crash, I found myself on deviantart again because of the whole quick response thing. when I create something I want people to tell me what they think as soon as possible! after a month or so, I don't really care. i want the old elfwood back!!!! I promised I wouldn't leave, but I'm just not feeling passionate about it anymore. elfwood used to be my life, maybe thats pathetic, but I LOVED it. I used to check my comments every day, now lucky if i do at all. what is the future of elfwood? do you think more and more people will abandon? are things ever going to get back to how they used to be? gra! sorry I just needed to rant. Current Mood: disappointed Current Music: Suffragette City - David Bowie

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August 27th, 2005

violetice

11:02 pm - ATTN Ranters I've posted a poll in elfwood here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/elfwood/813876.html Please vote; your opinion may decide the future of this community.

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August 25th, 2005

violetice

01:04 pm - A note from one of your elfwood lj mods Asshattery ...will no longer be tolerated. Yes, this is a rant journal, so be pissed off, rant, complain, etc. However, members that continue to be overly antagonizing/immature/rude may find their posts or comments deleted. The rules/userinfo for the elfwood journals will soon be changed to reflect this. EDIT: After some discussion, the community mods have decided to temporarily set this journal to moderated. Spamming posts with inane, trollish, off-topic comments is rarely allowed in any community; elfwoodrant is no exception.

August 23rd, 2005

elvish_exile

08:38 pm - ARGH! I am attempting to update on elfwood. (I'm actually trying to start my elfwood gallery.) However, I cannot seem to. The system keeps telling me it is having an internal error. All I know is that sucks for me! Has anyone else had this problem? (I'll keep trying.) Current Mood: cranky

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visionari

02:50 pm - AAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! *ahem* Anyone know what Indigo Children are? Because I'm here to tell you that we appear to have a lot of them on Elfwood these days. Don't mind me, I'm just going to go assume a fetal position in the corner over there. Current Mood: frustrated

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August 21st, 2005

ratwings

09:50 pm - Two rejections in one ticket... I can't believe I got two rejections on one ticket! *wah* One of them was caused by quite a bit of stupidity on my part... I really can't believe I didn't rememebr the rules properly... I wanted to post a painting I did for a friend. It's a handsome asian elf samurai type guy, with a bow, and a phoenix in the background. There is also this inside joke between my friend and I, because she's obsessed with this Chinese singer named Jay Chou. Yeah... the painting is *sorta* based off of Jay Chou, who *is* a celebrity. But honestly, the resemblance is miniscule and I would bet my rats that if I hadn't said anything in the description, no one would have recognized him. I just made him look like your generic handsome anime-ish guy. And now I've blown my chances of ever posting this picture, which I happen to quite like. The other rejection is a bit more puzzling... it's a re-upload from before the crash. Which means that yes, it was accepted before. It's a firelizard, so it's Anne McCaffrey fan art. I was very careful in my description to explain all that, basically giving a flippin encyclopedia entry on Anne McCaffrey and her brilliant works. BUT apparently I did not put in the proper little (R) thigy... you know what I mean, the little R inside the circle. ACK!!! I am so computer illiterate, I have no idea how to make one of those. The mod suggested copying the symbol from the rules page. I will try it, of course, but I'm kinda sad that I'm gonna have to wait like.... another month or two before this drawing is actually published. (I don't believe in single picture tickets... I like to save 'em up for a bit so I have a few...because I know i'll be in the middle of the queue when i have something new i want to upload). This really stinks. Current Mood: sad

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August 19th, 2005

ghostbard

12:40 am - Tired Do you know how tired I am about hearing about how Elfwood is "too strict" just because we don't let people upload whatever the heck they want? I mean, come on, people. You're getting a free service. This free service has a few rules that you need to follow. So, quit whining and follow them. I get e-mails from friends of mine that are members who are telling me they're leaving because they don't like the rules. I see a lot of posts in the various elfwood journals from people who don't like following the rules. The rules are "too strict", or the rules "are stupid", or the rules "don't allow freedom of expression". It's "too much trouble" to write a description that tells us why an image is in genre. It's "not fair" to make a writer put a translation in because of foreign language. It's "just too dumb" to make people honor copyright laws by telling us where the lyrics/poetry/book excerpts/etc. are from. Having people make the effort to submit clean, neat images is just "too much work". If we can't tell why the image is in genre, we're going to reject it. Medieval stuff IS NOT FANTASY. There are some excellent medieval stories out there that don't contain a jot of fantasy. They're fiction...and Thomas has said fiction =/= fantasy. If we don't know what's being said, it gets rejected because Thomas has asked that everything written on the site be in English, or have a translation provided. Thomas asks us to follow the copyright laws because he doesn't want his site shut down due to lawsuits. So when people are asked to provide a note as to where they got a written source, this is to keep us from getting shut down. If you want to sell your art, get commissions from people with real money, submit your art to a real gallery, etc. you need your artwork to be crisp, clean, and neatly presented. So when you are asked to edit out the lines on an image, cut off the piece of your scanner bed, etc. this is so you can present your art in the best way possible. Every rule on Elfwood has a very sensible reason behind it. The rules aren't there to make everyone's lives miserable. They're to help you present your art and stories in the best possible light, and they're also to help keep this wonderful site open and available to the public. Current Mood: aggravated

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August 11th, 2005

kharmii

07:20 am - Noone Loves Elfwood Anymore...... I remember the good old days when I used to go look at the recent additions of Elfwood and see pages and pages of new stuff. Now, I only get to see, like, five things a day. Noone have time to process tickets? How about getting some more moderators? SOMEONE STILL CARES, PEOPLE! :( Current Mood: soso very sad Current Music: Cradle of Filth- Nymphetamine

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August 9th, 2005

diraskyria

01:09 am - Crickets? Yar, what's the point of having elfwoodplugs if the plugging gets you nowhere? >_< Err, maybe I'm just not being charismatic enough, but, oof, two plug posts in a row get completely no responses and I am confused. I would go back to the whole just giving out loads of comments, but that didn't quite work out very well last time, either. Okay, irritation has ceaded. all is (sorta) well. Current Mood: irate

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August 8th, 2005

eshkenazi

07:17 am - Inspired..or not? How many of you think that inspiration is necessary to art? As in...how many feel that they cannot draw/paint/sculpt/create unless the Inspiration Anvil of Doom falls on their head? The recent post got me thinking about this again. I have to say that I'm somewhat torn on this subject. I know that personally, 'inspiration' is important to my art but I also find that simple practice --without inspiration-- is important also. Sometimes doing simple sketches or 'doodles' without any real purpose or idea in mind is what leads to that light bulb going off. Mostly it doesn't. Mostly I'm just left with pages and pages lying around filled with drawings of random stuff. But I don't consider them a waste of time. I may have pages filled with hands in different positions or feet in different positions or random people standing in a blank background but I tend to use these pages for reference or if not, I still feel that they've contributed to my improvement. Plus, they satiate my need (desire) to draw. I tend to use the term 'muse' for whatever is my source of inspiration but after recent comments, I realized that I do tend to use it more jokingly or to describe my laziness than in seriousness. Ie "My muse went on vacation." Translation: "I'm too lazy to paint/write at the moment." I think a good point was brought up that artists who rely to heavily on the 'muse' or 'inspiration' aspect of art, often use it as a crutch when they don't feel like practicing or to somehow show that they can't help what they draw and how they draw it. And certainly it does seem to imply that we're just hapless artists subject to create only what this mysterious 'Muse' tells us to create. I would think many artists would disagree with that thought. I know on a recent art board I frequent, a similar topic came up about what it means to be a 'true' artist. Most of the artists commenting on that thread insisted that they could not create without inspiration. I find that really strange. I mean, there's always a moment where I conceive an idea for how I want a finished drawing or painting to look, where I suddenly stop drawing without purpose and have a finished goal in mind. To me, that is inspiration. Sometimes it comes before I put pencil to paper and sometimes it comes after I've been drawing for a while. But it always comes...otherwise I don't turn out a completed piece...just some sketches or doodles. Sometimes I *do* feel like I have to draw *right now* but that generally happens if I get an idea of a specific pose or composition and I want to get it out while it's fresh in my mind. I usually just do a quick thumbnail so I can go back later and refine it. I don't feel like I have to sit down and get the whole thing out or my head will explode. I just know how easily I forget things and going back two days later and thinking "What was that idea I had again?" is frustrating. I don't know...I feel like I'm rambling or not making sense. It seems like there have always been two different ways to view art...either it's some sort of magical 'talent' that you are born with where you have some mysterious source of inspiration that enables you to create art. Or it's viewed as simply learning a bunch of technique and putting it to good use. In a way, I guess I feel it's a little bit of both. I don't think you have to be born with talent (though there are those to whom it seems to come far more naturally) or that you have to have that magical 'inspiration' to guide you. And yet, I do feel that what separates an artist from those millions of people out there that just like to draw and may or may not be good at it is a special need to create. That's how it is to me anyhow because whether I'm inspired (that is, do I have a clear idea or goal in mind for a particular drawing) or not, I always have a need to draw.

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July 26th, 2005

twyleth_teg

07:36 pm Hmm... People keep mentioning using the Internet (And Stuff) to find reference pictures to use... So heres my (Must hurry pizza burning as I write this) Two cents worth: ~Start Random Tangent~ If, say, I want to paint a picture my Muse demands I do it "NOW goddamminit!" Or else it holds off like a Dealer who knows I'm broke when I come looking for an art fix... I'll spend 2+ hours (of frustration and erasing and redrawing again and again cause something just isn't working right) drawing the stoopid thing out.. but when I have the urge to paint (whatever the particular subject is..) I must do it Now. Screw being at Work or on the bus or in the bathroom- when the Muse hits- (and when it hits it overflows, damn unpredictable Muse of mine..) it's "Must Paint" and don't bother me with a brush in my hand... as my roomies and parents fount out the hard way.. (Sap Green oils on the doorframe, the carpeting, Clothes that are Not Mine...) Wandering down to the internet poking Google for hours on end to (Maybe) find something along the lines of whatever I'm trying to paint this particular day (insert subject here) just doesn't enter into the picture! Not the picture picture but err.. you know what I mean.... I might take ten min. to dig around in my accordian files for "Random picture I cliped from an ad three years ago that might be of use" (and if I can't find that particular pic I do without..) but thats as good as it gets! Maybe clipping photos is passe, I don't know.. 'Course.. thats just me.... ~End Tangent~ (And now I must save the pizza. Xtra large, the Works... Ooo pineapple!!!) O.o P.S.: I was wondering- can you use old songs lyrics in art on EW if you don't know who wrote em /slash/ listed as "Anon."? say like an old church hymn or a traditional ballad? I haven't yet (or anything) I was just curious to know... O.o Current Mood: amused

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purple_aardvark

05:50 pm Can someone please explain to me why My Little Pony counts as fantasy art? I don't see Barbie hanging around the woods. (And I am grateful for that!)

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July 18th, 2005

lukadia

12:53 am MetaRant: It's rude as hell to delete a community post if you don't get the response you expected. Even freezing the comments, which is still cowardly, is better than simply erasing everyone else's contributed viewpoints and, in effect, WASTING OUR PRECIOUS TIME out of sheer spinelessness. It all boils down to: either get an opinion worth defending, or shut the hell up! I have no respect for wimps who simply delete other people's carefully contributed input as if that somehow wins the argument or un-makes their mistakes. But on top of it, to drag out the drama all over again in ANOTHER subsequent post? Talk about passive-aggressive! Indian givers don't get a second chance for calm and logical discussion. You're fair game to whoever's pissed enough to give it a go, and I assure you, you'll find plenty of people bored and annoyed enough to sign on for the beating. There is no shortage of maniacal rage on the Intarwebs. I firmly believe that when someone makes a public spectacle of their personal issues, our resident devil's advocates have a responsibility to jump in there and make the ensuing wank at least interesting for those of us who would otherwise be rolling our eyes, stabbing ourselves in the ear, etc. Bottom line: Delete your posts and you're a butthole. And if people give you a hard time afterward, GOOD. Maybe you'll learn a lesson about not being a butthole in the future. Or at least to stop playing 'ding dong ditch' with that gods-damned POST ENTRY button. Love, Luka Houlilan J. Grouebenhebber III.

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July 16th, 2005

darksavvy

07:21 pm - "Rejected..." Let me just say first off, I've NEVER had a picture rejected from elfwood before. I'm a long time member I've been around here at least 5 years, I've read the rules. And I'm just a little ticked off to have waited in the ticket que for over a month just to have my ticket rejected for a reason that has nothing to do with the picture... Here's my rejection notice: "Sorry, but some of the items you chose to submit to Elfwood was not accepted by a moderator. We have deleted them from our storage space, and you will recieve a copy of all removed items in a separate email. Sorry, but your image had to be rejected as the poetry quoted in the description needs to be credited, even if it's just to say that you wrote it. I've kept the image at the Extranet, so you may alter the description easier." Anyone who's ever visited my gallery should also notice that I dabble in poetry and often like to write poems to go along with my drawings (I've seen many other artists do the same). So it bugs me that the moderator didn't take the 2 seconds it would've taken to visit my gallery to realize that I am indeed a writer as well as an artist, no I didn't plagerize my poem, if I were posting someone elses poetry I would of course quoted their name (not that I would ever post someones poetry without their written consent), I had no idea that I needed to say "written by myself" my name is already at the top of the page after all... I've never had a problem with posting my poetry with my images, I've been doing it the whole time I've been an elfwood member and I've never been rejected for it before. I know the mods have a hard time going through the images protecting the artists from art thieves/copycats etc, and I simpathize, I'm just feeling slightly peeved about this unexpected rule change... Edit: I have to add... I don't hate the moderators but I disagree with this policy. Yes words that are not your own should be cited (or in my opinion not even used at all). But citing your own words??? I merely wrote a description, granted it was a flowery, wordy description with some rythmic patterns, yet still a description of my picture. If elfwood has suddenly decided that our descriptions need to be cited, why not add it to the copywrite notice that already exists... Does anyone else find it a bit ridiculous to have to say "I r teh wrot dis descripty" after a description in your own gallery under your own name next to your own copywrite notice? Artistically it ruins the whole feel for me, not to mention the redundancy, redundancy, redun- is this thing on? Current Mood: aggravated

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July 14th, 2005

bogfrog

04:04 pm - Art dyslexia? :P Partly so that people don't think that I'm just a horrible meaniehead who mocks strange comments left in my gallery, but mostly because it's funny, I shall now tell you about my STUPID ART MISTAKES!¡! When I was an Elfwood newbie (just last year!) I painted a picture of a Werewolf playing guitar. I didn't (and still don't) know a thing about guitars, so I used a reference photo for the basic shape of the guitar. I altered some details so that it had a fantasy look, but still tried to retain the correct structure/placement of strings, etc. So, I put the painting on Elfwood and almost immediately someone told me that I'd painted the guitar upside down! (that I'd painted a left-hand guitar when I should've painted a right-hand guitar, more or less) Recently, I painted a small ship coming across a very large SeaSerpent. Like guitars, I know nothing about ships. Again I used a reference, again changing some things so that it looked more fantasy-oriented but still retained proper ship-conformation & structure. Put it on Elfwood, and one of the first comments I got was that I'd painted the sails backwards! !!! What's wrong with me? Do I have art-specific dyslexia or what? Of course I sometimes make mistakes when I don't use references, but rarely things so glaringly obvious. Anyone else want to share some silly art mistake stories to boost my crumbling ego? :D ---- Edit: Oi! *cough* Because people have found my cavalier (leap first, look later!) attitude offensive and rude, I did delete my previous "weird comments" post. Just let me reiterate: I am pleased and flattered every time someone comments on my work -- even if it's a tremendous flame or an incomprehensible jumble of Liek Woah!, at least I know that my art has had an effect on the commenter. I did not and do not intend to offend anyone. Statement of fact! I'd further like to say that aside from the response to that post (my questionable attempt at a humorous & lighthearted rant), my Elfwood and Elfwood-LJ experience has been nothing but pleasant. Please don't let a bad apple spoil the whole bunch, even if you perceive me to be that bad apple! [/whine] Edit 2: (yes, this is getting out of hand) I apologize to those people who took the time to search out weird comments in their galleries and share them, only to have those efforts deleted (by me! OMG, I am a jerk! It's all true!) I imagine I'm overreacting and being overly senstive, but there you have it. Current Mood: amused Current Music: Commander Cody - 20 Flight Rock

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July 13th, 2005

visionari

10:58 pm - A note from a weary mod We don't hate you. We are not clairvoyant; we cannot find that picture of that whatsis (it was green and had 3 wings) for you. Yes; real, live people do answer support emails. We do not know if Abby Normal is the same chick you went to high school with. The rules were not created to mess with your head. Yes, you still have to follow rules you don't like/agree with. And finally: If you pitch a fit and threaten to leave Elfwood, we will give you instructions on how to do so. Thanks, and have a pleasant evening. Current Mood: frustrated

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July 8th, 2005

kehrli

01:28 am - Ew Naming your anime elf a Japanese name is not cool or original or neat. Because everybody does it. PLEASE STOP.

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July 7th, 2005

halwyn

06:04 pm - Don't want to wait? I'm wondering - if you don't like the wait for moderation, how much would you pay for a gallery on a site where you could put up your own pictures any time? Maybe there would be an submission where you showed several of the sorts of pictures you wanted to put up and agreed to obey the rules, then if you didn't obey the rules you were kicked out after one warning or something like that? I know the wait is long, but are you willing to pay money?

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