5 replies to this topic

[winter soldier]

I don't like to do this, but it seems like there's a little reminder in order.

I've been going through galleries for the upcoming promotions and noticed, especially in the senior section, that there is a sad lack of originality and variety in the galleries. There were times where I went into someone's gallery and had the impression I'd seen that gallery before - and yet, the galleries were actually from two different artists.

First on originality. Emulating styles from artists you admire is all good and well, but not to the expense of your own style. If I go into a gallery and think "Wow, this person's work looks a lot like that person's work" I will probably not promote you - and neither will Beth or Susan. It's okay to get inspiration from others, but when your graphics almost look like a carbon copy of those artists, your chances at promotion will drop considerably.

Another thing is the variety in graphics: There are some artists I've seen with a very sound style, but who do the same thing over and over in every graphic - use the same sort of stock, the same colouring technique etc. Those galleries are, to be honest, boring to look at, no matter how good the style of that artist. I can frankly tell you that in doing this, you're never going to reach staff level - because to reach that level you need to go outside your safety zone and try and make graphics others/you haven't made before yet.

Perhaps a lot of you will think this obvious and this should be obvious, but I've been disheartened by what I saw and have the feeling a lot of you need a little reminder of this. If you don't step up your game (and this goes for juniors, seniors and graduates), a lot of people who could get promoted because they have the skill will not be promoted because they're not being creative/original enough And I, for one, would rather see a long promotion list than a short one.

Edited by afterglow, 08 February 2015 - 12:07 PM.

[hayley jade]

Bumping this because more and more I've started seeing people more than emulating higher-ranked artists' works. This sort of thing will not get you promoted, no matter how good your work may be, because you are not using your own ideas . Don't be afraid to go out and try new things!

[winter soldier]

I just want to add a post to this to bump it, just a little reminder - I went through senior and graduate galleries and couldn't help but notice that a lot of galleries had the same style, same composition, same sort of colouring, same background images etc etc. You might think I'm overexagerating, but I can assure you that I'm not and it's disheartened me quite a bit - last month we had a nice long promo list, but it seems like this month won't be the same case.

So I just wanted to remind you of this.

[hayley jade]

I severely dislike having to bump this again, but it seems necessary. I still see artists either relying on tutorials too heavily or outright stealing ideas from the higher-ranked artists in order to be promoted. These kinds of actions actually prevent you from being promoted because you are not showing any creativity. Keep that in mind when attempting to create your own, original, art.

[Lady Plantagenet]

Bumping this again. There have been a few instances of artists getting way too close to the graphics of other artists. Remember, folks, that if you want to be promoted, you have to develop YOUR OWN style.

[afterglow]

I'm going to bump this again. Going through galleries, there are a lot of artists repeating some of the more popular trends--all ranks included--and personal styles seem to have dropped off the grid a bit. As said in this thread before, developing your own original art is important, and emulation will not help during promotion time.