Commentary Venting Anger on Our New Aggie Cartoonists

Amongst other things, I really regret not at least trying to out-compete one or more of our school newspaper's cartoonist.

Why?

One artists' first comic strip ('Life in General') is about her not having any ideas for one and begging for love from readers. Comp

letely uncute and the egocentricity leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like those self-important kids in Gaia. The dialogue is too small (poorly planned out panels) and she places too much unnecessary details into the strip.

'CannDeeCorn' really irritated me probably because it is not even stupid. It's dull. Maybe the cartoonist is trying to do reflect school life and comment on attitude or something, but

 it didn't make sense; the students looks apathetic, not depressed! The simplicity and featureless style is not bad, but as a result, the details on the face, especially the mouth, stood out so much that it really bothers me. And there's not enough contrast between the focus (the prof.) and the mass (the students). And honestly, usually it's the back row that gets the shading, not the front. So the "..." in the back didn't stand out at all. Just, gah, no thought into it at all. So annoying thoughtless.

Yesterday's 'Iron Easily' is okay in the way chit-chat is okay—it's not funny or of substance, but it's very very mildly entertaining. At least it was zero rather than a negative. Because he used a slanted brush to line, doesn't systematically close his lines, draws everything in roundish free form, and no tone at all, had I had trouble distinguishing his furniture with his people.

'The Kids Aren't All Right' is not even worth commenting on. I'll pretend it doesn't exist.

Monday's 'Confounding Variables' is...in development. Style, planning, lining, printing,...everything. This is the first strip, but it reads like the readers are supposed to know what's going on already. Makes me think that she is a freshmen and this is her experience as the older sibling. Not cute. Especially when I believe that she's portraying herself as a wise older sib whom the younger seeks advice from. Not cute, not funny. I feel that something is missing between panel two and three. It'd probably benefit from some reaction from the younger sib before the older tells the younger to untie her. Oh, and the forehead bothers me, but that's a stylistic thing, so fine. (BTW, she's a sophomore in class standing.)

'Square One' is cute though. Teehee, secret weapon (is ten). It would be even better if she had some depth to her panels (crosshatches, shading, variation on line thickness) so it doesn't look as incomplete. But hey, best I've seen so far!

Other stuff: Hand-written dialogues are only fine if the artists' handwriting is like print. Like an architect's handwriting, with less swoosh. Or rather, consistent, unobtrusive, and doesn't stand out (as bad, messy, girly, fat, skinny, uneven, etc, etc.) I'm really sick of reading shoddy type. 'Nearing Acheron' was so much more pleasant.

HAI I SPENT $55 ON COPICS TODAE. LOLOLOLOLOL.

Banned Heinz Mayo Advert: "Ain't you forgetting somethin'?!"

Heinz Deli Mayo Advert


The Wright Stuff on the pulled mayo commercial in question:


What LJ: furiosity said is so true:

The thing is, it's fairly obvious that the point of the ad is that if you use Heinz Deli Mayo, your creations will be indistinguishable from those prepared in authentic New York delis, so much so that even your family will mistake you for one of those dudes who work in New York delis, accent and all. It doesn't require Mummy and Daddy to explain gay people to Little Joanie unless they choose to. And if Mummy and Daddy are too dumb to work this out, damn, I wish they hadn't bred in the first place. Poor Joanie.

I don't think Heinz necessarily had to pull the commercial because of 200 complaints (since it's a small number and they spent the money on the commercial already), but hey, what do I know about big advertising businesses and their business model?

Doctor Who 4.04, 4.05, and 4.06

4.04 & 4.05 have their brilliant moments, including the Return of the Valiant, the UNIT caps, Ross Jenkins(♥!), Gramps (as always), the last Martha/Martha bit, and the cyberconversion unit, redecorated by the Sontarans with bits of blue light, in no particular order.

4.06 is rather cute. The death bit and the death and Martha bit were unconvincing and skimpy to say the least, but the rest was cute. Jenny was cute ♥ Donna is still absolutely wonderful and lovely. Go forth and wow those geniuses with your wonderful menial office worker knowledge! Oh, and I just had a horrific thought of dubbing Jenny as the Nurse (cringes).

I will really really miss Tennant when he leaves Doctor Who.

House of Rep Resolution 888--One Step Closer to the Edge (to Theocracy in the U.S.)

■ H. RES. 888

Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as `American Religious History Week' for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith.

1st| 1st week of May? Reminds me of China's Golden Week holiday they just got rid of...

2nd| Note: referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

3rd| Urgh. The amount of "picking bones from a chicken egg" is ridiculous. Supposedly there are also historical errors, but I do not know enough to make that judgment. But the word manipulation is...urgh.

4th| "...2) recognizes that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation's most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America's representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures..." Um, what? Without the believe in a Christian God there would not have been government processes, systems, and SOCIETAL STRUCTURES?!? (headdesk)

5th| So...we are to recognize and celebrate Christianity as the dominant belief of lawmakers and country leaders in the United states, and thereby making it an important point of recognition, a tradition,...a permanence?

6th| I have no issues with people's religious faith in Christianity nor America's background in it. It's even fine that a Christian leader refers to his [Christian] god in speech (its existence in the American parole is common enough, even among non-believers). Their speeches and choice in diction represents their backgroundBut writing and proposals like this one just makes Christians look like lunatics in the Middle East.

7th| It's not as egocentric as HRES 847, but that makes HRES 888 scarier. (Good thing someone thought to cross out what they did on HRES 847, though, LoL, because that bit makes them sound like fanatics.

8th| Regarding the (Christian) Religion being an important aspect of historical figures: Yes, they were very religious, but they did have a conscious separation between religion and government. Well, back then it was concern over power of the church taking over power of government. But today? As the resolution points out, it's not made separate (and therefore deserves recognition). The power of the church has become covert and is asserting conscious force to move the government in one direction, which is different from the beliefs of leaders back then influencing how certain oaths were done.

9th| WTF

10th| What is the christian faith teaching these guys that are making them so intolerant, so egocentristic, so...much like a bully?

Tidbits on Final Fantasy, Harry Potter, and etc.

Final Fantasy XII
Started playing it two weeks ago. More than 10 hours into the game and still haven't gotten very far in the story, but that's because there's so much freedom right at the beginning of the game that I've mostly been trying to venture out as far as I can :D Being able to see the foes without needing to go through the battle sequence is very nice, too. The License system is a little confusing, and I'll probably mess up somehow, but it's refreshing. I am ambivalent about needing to buy the skills before using, though. At least now I won't have thousands of dollars just piled up, not being used.

I'm still fuzzy about how license points are rewarded and how it would affect the growth on my party members since there are still only 3 members allowed in an active party but the game is on a real-time battle system. (Gambits are ⌃)

The moogles...aren't so bad anymore. Especially since they can teleport me to places in Rabanastre :D

Final Fantasy VII Ultima
Started playing, but then it started to have more and more errors and unexplained crashes, so it was deleted from my computer. Currently looking forward to FFVII for PS3 instead. (Oh, and I think Cloud's been doing a bit of part time in addition to his delivery service... :))

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus
I utterly fail at shooting games, even if I've only started the game a little bit after going through the tutorials. I think the game would be more enjoyable if I had actually finished FFVII first...? (see above)

Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII
So pretty. Me wants.

"HP - what it's really about when you get right down to it" (AKA "Harry Potter in 5 seconds")


Discovered through LJ: Fourth-rose.

Dancing Harry & Draco elves
Um, lol.

etc.
Wah. Lament on my lack of artistic skillz and creativity.

tl;dr WARNING

Homoshiroi Made a "TRACING IS NOT ART" stamp a few days ago and has been mildly wanked over. Unsurprisingly, the reaction and positions of the comments mostly reflect those of what I observed over in youtube. In other words (and sorry if I offend), they are quite intolerant, self-asserting, and to some degree, authoritative. The negative atmosphere oozed with defensive possessiveness. Oh, and most agree with the stamp-maker, but that's hardly an interesting or fascinating point to make.

In any case, wank about people tracing over others' art and not giving credit, tracing/modified work as/not as a form of art, its merit or the lack of, examples of such "disgusting" behavior, etc, etc ensues.

Now except for Messa and the above-mentioned artist, both of whom I watch and do not know personally, I don't even know these deviants, so I cannot say whether they are professionals or not. The general atmosphere amounts to be "zOMG, my art. Not yours," which I understand on principle. Whether they see it as an art form or not matters little to me, but I was most unimpressed with their lack of understanding in beginning artists or people who have more trouble translating 3-D visuals/visions into 2-D lines and shapes on some other media. I do not believe that stealing art is right, nor do I believe in not giving credit, seeking permission, or respecting the artists' wish where it is due, but I question whether the root of their discontent arises from profit (in monetary or esteem, etc terms) or from the act itself.

I agreed with Messa quite completely on her opinions on tracing. Let's hear a bit of voice of reason here, here, and here, with the dA policy on tracing here.

¤ Some hatin' because hatin' is infectious.
My brain, however, is experiencing the most cognitive dissonance on this one particular lady, who sounded either elitist or very obstinate; she firmly believed that life drawings and learning from "real artbooks" is the only way to go.

Aside from her stubborn adherence, her point is valid to a certain degree. So I thought to myself, "self, this lady probably has a reason for her fervency and unbending will. Go check out her point from her art, since, hey, she teaches other people to draw, and seems to do art professionally too! What an interesting character! I wonder what her art is like!" (with the most non-sarcastic, sincere frame of mind, I assure you.)

What I found was highly unimpressive. I admit I'm a bit of a whore when it comes to reasonable anatomical proportions (i.e., no weirdly sideways features, etc) and not really a fan of superduperpointy!chin style (like this). I drive myself mad with attempts to make the anatomy as natural as possible. So I completely understand her emphasis on knowing the proper basics.

But if I hadn't read her commentary first, I would never have even fathomed the idea of she preaching about anatomical correctness and learning from "real" art books on anatomy basics, or that she teaches drawing and works professionally as an artist.

Oh, and I wouldn't think she's just full of it because she is only 22, and can't bother to spell "homoshiroi" correctly, either:

"I put homoshoiri's stamp in my journal and commented on it, saying that artbooks are the best learning tool and self-study, then all hell breaks loose with these two kids who, like I said, already proved my point. The problem is, they won't let it go after homoshoiri and even myself said that arguing is moot and shouldn't be done on there, they seem very determined to make themselves out to be some sort of tracing saviors or whatnot...kids these days..."

Arrogance that comes with age is often unavoidable in many. Arrogance of the above is just ridiculous. She is not qualified to throw that "I TEECHES PEEPALS" and "I IS PROFESSHIONOL" crap around.

Oh, and I guess she has no problem with riding on the coattails of Nyu's Art Meme...LoL, even the size of the meme is the same, not to mention the style...

Oh, I will stop because I'm just hatin' on her now. And yeah, I'm not brave, insolent, nor intolerant enough to post this section on dA.

¤ Opinions regaring issues discussed.
On the matter of tracing as a learning tool: I believe that, no, tracing should not be the primary way of learning how to draw. However, tracing has its merits in letting a starting amateur to get a feel of "how things should be"—not every one has an innate talent to transcribe one object's relative position, proportion, etc to begin with. It eases him/her (I'll stick with "her" for the time being) into getting a sense of lines. Of course, moving onto attempting to copy a subject would be wise. Tracing helps me to more quickly understand how some features and perspective works, i.e. why does drawing that other eye that way makes it more natural, etc.) It also a quick way to experience and try out a new style, while merely "eying it" makes me stick to my style more often than not.

A lot of concern is centered around how some people traces and makes derivations of other artwork without crediting, asking for consent, using the same outline, etc (some goes as far as saying the same poses, though the example was either a really bad tracing or copying the poses by eye). Yes, I agree with the fact that a piece is only completely Her Art when she drew it from scratch. But, if she modified it from someone else's, consent from the original artist must be given; the derivative artist must respect the original artist's wishes to credit or not publish. Not doing so would just be bad etiquette, stupidity, and rudeness. If said original artist did not respond to such request, that is the same as a "no" to me. In the case where the artist gives free reign of his work or that it is not possible to contact the original artist (i.e. reference from an anime screenshot), claiming that you used a reference would be preferred, if just to save the derivative artist from flames. Claiming the art as your own and not mentioning the reference part, most of the time, will just cause pain and grief. Especially if the original is heavily referenced.

Just because a piece was heavily referenced doesn't necessarily mean it's bad in my book; it just means that the derivative artist is either 1. not comfortable with her "free forms," 2. completely worships the original artist, 3. is unable to create from scratch (and some people don't prefer to, because of various reasons), 4. wants to imitate a style, or 5. learning. A great example is sprite-making. A lot of times people just alter/recolor/cut-and-paste/mix-and-match the original sprite(s) to make new ones. Whether that is plagiarism another issue.

There's also the issue of copying a style. Some think its wrong because "an artist's gotta develop his own," but this is really a matter of preference. Is a fanart better if it has the artist's own style or is an imitation of the original artist? Different people, at different ages, will give you different answers with different pieces of art.

Perhaps my perspective is just different than the others because I'm quite a recluse amateur. A recluse (by comparison) because I don't think it's good enough to flaunt, because I am constantly improving, because I desire criticism but fear it at the same time, because I can't get my arse together to finish something. I am still at the stage of "hey, I'm no good, so why should I be so possessive with these scribbles?" It's probably much, much different than a popular, skilled artist who constantly has issues regarding art theft (the kind without modification and/or for profit) more commonly.

I think I'm getting really tired—sentences are sporting more and more comma abuses and run-ons.

Dan Abrams: "At least they won't have to have abortions now, right?"

This is both funny and sad. But the bigotry and sideways logics is not so shocking as some found it. (Jaded, much?)

I've also heard much about fandom sniping about this...but honestly, this is JKR's book. I dislike the 7th book and almost loathe the epilogue, but that is how Harry & Co. went on being. I still read pre-DH stories and is being dragged on to the epilogue ships, but either way, that is what JK wants Dumbly to be. I can see where she comes from, actually, since I had thought, "wow, Dumbledore is pretty enthralled with Grindlewald back then" as I was reading.

Perhaps it is shocking because Dumbledore is a mentor figure, and generally no one wants to know who grandpas have the hots for, but is revealing so in the book going to make DH a better book? Would putting the Dumbledore/Grindlewald in there help the plot along, or would it be just another useless fact? I am of the latter opinion. It makes sense if he is gay, but it's not necessary in terms of the main plot, like the whole [spoiler]"OMG he helped keeping his squib sister locked up"[/spoiler] stuff. But all that only focuses on why JKR decides to not put it in the book.

As to her decision to reveal this fact at all...well, she was being honest to her fans—that was what she thought of Dumbledore. Perhaps she has an agenda, and perhaps she was trying to make a statement. It doesn't matter much to me, and I don't find searching for a conspiracy theory all that productive. Fans asked for the information; is it so wrong for her to answer to the fans' requests?

Perhaps I have too little of imagination to feel restricted by the abundance of detail JKR threw out since the last chapter of the book; while I have not much love for the epilogue, it is a detail that I like to see the fandom to work around. Certainly I gripe about Draco's receding hairline and the lack of substance of said chapter of Harry's life, but thats more the challenge. If the characters only has a bit of background and minimal personality, thrown into a vaguely described world (all of which the series is skimming the borders of, IMO), without certain cemented blocks, then wouldn't it feel similar to reading an original fiction?

Yes, it does restrict the creative space that "canon-whores" have. But it gives interesting insight on the subtext. Yes, it will stick the writers towards a certain road to make their ship work (coughH/Dcough), but to me, it's more of a thrill to read about how the writer wiggles their versions of the characters out from such a tight spot. Since there is more "history" (canon) to work with, the characters can have more conflict and background to make the story more interesting, as each writer creates their own solutions to the same problem. (I was going to say with more history, the characters would have been developed more and be more solid to write about...but then realized there hasn't been much chara development at all.)

As for Ginny being a JKR self-insert? I don't have evidence to argue against that :)

Fanlib.com and issues around legality of fanfiction, etc.

■ Transforming Fan Culture into User-Generated Content: The Case of FanLib
Henry Jenkins analyzes Fanlib.com and the impact of profit-driven websites that advertises fandom works.

I was linked to this through Pir8fancier's post regarding the cooperative overtake of fandom and while I think she is being a little paranoid and sensitive about its affect on the slash fandom, her fears or nor completely unfounded.

<rant>

Well, plenty of people can make a point much better than I, considering I did not even know of this until now. However, I do see Fanlib as a threat to the current fandom environment because of exactly what they see their goal as: "...[to] create a platform that will harness the energy in a way that can be controlled and moderated by the creators and distributors of that existing property."

I feel that not only are their websites (prototypes and betas and their main site, Fanlib.com are below par, and its page design seem to suspiciously cater towards young teens or children (while extending the legal limits to other audiences). Even without the comments and issues surrounding Fanlib, I feel immediate dislike towards the site. It reminds me of young teen websites.

The Fanlib ads are pretty repulsive, especially to a predominantly female population. The more I read into this Fanlib thing, the more I grow to dislike them, and the more it seems like they are just trying to take advantage of the creative process as a whole. As a reader, I revere the author's creativity and sometimes love the world they create more than the original. The thought of this freedom being harnessed and controlled, culled of all things "not normal" and "obscene" frightens me. I adore the fandom because of the potential it gives the universe (of the original story), because the twists and new things that develop from one common stem.

</rant>

I will be watching LJ community Life Without Fanlib and Henry Jenkin's weblog to see how things proceed. And also, still reading on links and sources.

cross-posted to LJ