[ Rant ]


Every so often, I'll have something that I just need to get off my chest. ; o so this area is reserved for it. <3

Rant # 3 : Age/Race/Nationality/eye color/whatever ridiculous other reasons, in regard to art.

This one just baffled me for a long time.

People are often under the impression that they should be competing against artists that are of x years old (ex: 18, 21, etc ), or at least y number of years older than them. oh but wait! If that other artist is of z nationality (ex: canadian, japanese, etc), obviously they're going to be so much better! And for the hell of it, if they have h eye color, they'll be better too. Nature is obviously against people who can't fit x, z, and h.

Or some mess like that.

Er, what now?

While certain factors might have some small effect, it's mostly going to change the amount of free time or social pressure the artist has, which affects how much, how, and where they can practice their art. For example, some people can't draw in school, some can. Others that have outside art classes or artistic friends can become more subjected to art that way. But as far as saying they've reached 18 and their magical hazel-eyed asian blood blooms into full gear and they're now an art guru... sorry, life doesn't work that way.

Whining and putting the blame elsewhere only wastes time that could be better used on oh, I dunno. Practice, perhaps.


Rant # 2 : Art programs; they are not your fairy godmother's magic wand.

This is a pretty common misconception, so common that I didn't even think of writing about it for awhile. @__@; But really, just because a certain art artist uses a certain art program does not mean that program necessarily special, or more importantly, that it will sprout out magically brilliant pieces of artwork.

It doesn't matter if you're using real media, digital, or any kind of art. You need to know the basics, and you need to keep in mind that what you do should depend on your skills and hard work, not by relying on special tools. I've seen many artists freak out when they're separated from their favorite brush or don't have their tablets to draw with or anything like that.

I like to mix things up whenever I can. I draw with my mouse monthly to stop myself from being too relient on the tablet, and I do trad. media pieces just as often as I do digital, even if I don't show them on DA. And I honestly don't think it matters if I have a lot of art programs, since I don't know how to use more than half of them, and the ones I do know how to use, I only ever use 3 or so tools on them- two being pencil and eraser.

So this pretty much why I dislike being asked what art program I use. I don't stick to any in particular. I have favorite, sure; almost all artists do. but it doesn't matter much because I try to keep my art simple enough so that I can reproduce the effect on any program. A lot of the times I get asked about art programs, it's because the person believes that if they get the program they can draw like any artist they wish that uses it, or that their skills will magically go through the roof.

Sorry loves, but that's just not how life works.


Rant # 1 : Art Theft; the Internet is not always your free clip art gallery.


I have always been vehemently against art theft. It's disrespectful, stupid, and shows more weakness in the thief's character than any fault of the artist's. Now with the internet, it's almost too easy to just yank an image off of Google Images or a DA gallery.

Digital artists have their advantages, sure. It's a growing field, and the art programs provide the lovely tools of Undo and Layers. But most decide to share it ( surprise, surprise ) over the lovely internet, opening themselves up to a variety of art theft risks.

That having been said, how many people think about the people that drew the images they take, and how they would feel about their art being used like that? The whole "ask for permission before you use" rule is hardly ever followed by a majority of people. How much easier is it to just right click, save, than to go through the tedious process of e-mailing the artist and then waiting for a reply and abiding by their rules?

While I try to believe in the best of humans, I also understand human nature. I cannot /expect/ people to follow the rules and standards I have set, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't LIKE for them to.

I like to display my art ( and therefore open it to the world ), yes. But I do not give the world permission to use it as they will. To see and enjoy is one thing, to take and manipulate for yourself is another.

And to keep this simple, I'll resort to something most people have heard of:


"Every time you steal art, Spatula Queen chucks a pink penguin at you.

Please, think of the pink penguins. Don't steal. "



Oh~ho. I am so witty. notreallythough.