Blimey! You're quick off the mark, @Soran77 . Another brilliant set of images from everyone - although, I don't see Klaus' Warprider board here (easy to accidently omit someone when there are so many entries again). I'll pop back to vote once the line-up's complete. Oh, when's the cut-off time for voting? Edit 14:25 (GMT) - Ah, there's Klaus' entry. Arrrgh! This was such a difficult choice - I wish I had two votes.
Thanks for setting up the vote, @Soran77. Edited the poll and the first post to include @Klaus' entry. Many fine entries this month. Makes it hard to choose just one.
Thanks M, I had his image ready, but I was going off who posted in the main thread, and totally forgot it, this is why main contest thread posting as well as your own thread is important!! Sorry @Klaus!
BTW I usually give myself my vote, but M got it this month, as Picard is my Favorite captain I had to!! <3
- I'd never thought about this before until now. I suppose, one spends time and effort coming up with a piece of art that could be (and usually is here) completely different in scope, medium, and subject matter to everyone else's, that I think it's understandable if someone votes for their own art because it's obviously something that they like (otherwise they wouldn't have done it), and that they are invested in. Having said that, I never vote for my own entry, and I wouldn't even if I thought mine was the best - but I haven't had that quandry here as I never think mine's the best . As I said to someone on my blog, I find these art challenges a great way to keep in touch with my creative/artistic side (that I would otherwise let languish), and they're fun! I don't care if I don't win (or don't even get a vote), I just like to be a part of it. - Hopefully, the "member vote" rather than the "art vote" is a thing of the past, as you mentioned. It certainly doesn't seem that way now - at least not since I first started lurking here in Fan Art last year - as I don't think the same person has won two or more months in a row (that I recall - but I have a shockingly bad memory for this kind of thing). And I agree that the number of votes is on the low side compared to how many people frequent this site. However, we do seem to get more votes than entries, so that's something, at least. - I totally agree! I love seeing what everyone comes up with for these art challenges. The diversity and coincidences (two TOS Oberths last month!) are amazing. What I love about Fan Art is that everyone is so nice (or at the very least civil)! There doesn't appear to be any ranting and raving or personal attacks, criticism is constructive, and there are plenty of "good work"s and "great job"s etc. that, I think, can really buoy someone up and let them feel confident with their work to keep going and improve.
Some thoughts about all of this: I look at these competitions as a fun way to flex artistic muscles. It's just as you are saying, @gazomg, after years of doing this kind of stuff it can become hard to come up with a subject as a jumping-off point for your artwork. And even if you are just starting out working in your field of creativity, it's really helpful to be challenged with new themes and perspectives. Along those lines, I see these contest as a light-hearted tool to challenge yourself, nothing more and nothing less. It not really about the voting and winning for me. And it's certainly not a way to measure your popularity among other users or growing the ol' e-penis, if you know what I mean. In the past, there has been some heated debate around these contests, with some users accusing each other of cheating in the vote and precluding members with certain abilities when choosing new contest themes. I'm glad these times are gone and I certainly hope we can leave them in the past. And I agree with @Cyfa, I really appreciate the civil nature of the way people are conducting themselves around this corner of the board. There are certainly times when a poster can come off a little too unbridled in their criticism of the work of others, just as from time to time there are some who misunderstand honest critique as a personal attack. (Although, please let's refrain from calling anyone names like “snowflake”, okay? Thanks.) But all things considered, the overwhelming majority of people around here are friendly, want their work to be seen and are trying to get input on how to improve it. Of course this place shouldn't be imbued with constant gestures of praise or approval, but we should be able to be honest, constructive and friendly in our remarks. At the same time I hope people can adhere to the time-tested axiom of “if you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all”. That will save all of us a lot of trouble. As for voting for yourself, I'm of two minds about this. And if I remember correctly, some years ago this same discussion arose in the weekly avatar contests, and the consensus was to not allow voting for your own entry. I don't know if there has been a discussion about this around here in the past. There's nothing about it in the FAQ. Personally, I don't vote for myself. But on the other hand, politicians are allowed to vote for themselves, too. What do other's think? Just an idea: One thing we can do to maybe make the voting more expressive is to allow for multiple votes per user. That way people can vote for two or three entries and the result is more conclusive. I, too, would welcome more board members voting in these threads. But again, we shouldn't forget that the spirit of these contest should be fun. I'm not sure I as a moderator really can do more to encourage people to vote here. Sending a PM to every board member seems a bit excessive, to be frank. One idea could be to put a prominent link to the voting in your signature or even advertise it in your avatar. I will give this some thought and see if I can come up with other ways. You guys' input is very welcome, of course.
I personally wouldn't vote for my own entry, but I'm not up in arms about it lol... one of the reasons why TrekArt is about the only forum I'm still somewhat-active in is because it is a nicer place than some seem to be.
Okay, first off....great entries everyone! My two faves were BJ's and M's and it was very difficult to choose between them. M's is a brilliant cartoon, very fluid, great line work, great coloring and a nice play on Picard's iconic phrase. Ultimately I went with BJ's because I like the spot on representation of each Trek culture using sand "castles", and the whole piece builds to a nice "punchline" with the ice world inhabitants building snowmen in the summer. As for voting: I've never voted for one of my own entries no matter how proud I was of it. It just doesn't feel right to me to do such a thing, but I don't begrudge others should they choose to do so. As for allowing multiple votes...I'm of two minds on this. Would I have liked to have voted for the two entries I listed for this months contest? Sure! But only getting one vote makes me have to consider each piece that much more and make me decide which one ultimately takes the prize in my mind. This contest should never be taken too seriously. There's no real prize anyway and it's all in good fun.
Well I seem to have disgusted a few people by saying I vote for my own art, as M stated, politicians are allowed to, usually the only vote I get is my own, as I stated I voted for M because I liked M's image a lot, if I am proud of my own art and vote for it I don't think I should be hung for it, and it kinda feels like everyone is saying they never vote for themselves because it "Doesn't feel right" but it's an option, so I choose to do that, if it's that wrong it shouldn't be possible to vote for yourself..
Well, I'd say we have our winner. Congrats M! I hope I have more time this month to spit out some artwork; last month was... hectic, to say the least.
I can see that yes, but I don't really see the point in keeping the poll open any longer right? It is entirely possible that I'm jumping to conclusions though.
I know I whined earlier that I wish I had two votes, but really, I agree with The Lensman here: - Exactly! - Hey Soran77, don't worry, I don't think anyone is disgusted with your choice - at least, no one has explicitly said as much, and most were pretty lassez faire about it (and I liked M's politician example). Unless everyone here is a professional art critic (I don't imagine they are otherwise my stuff would get torn to shreds ), I think subject matter and medium play a big part in why people vote the way they do. Take our two entries, for example. You've made a (to my eyes) highly technical, sophisticated, computer model that, quite frankly, is pretty amazing and way beyond my paltry know-how, whereas I've just buggered about with coloured cardboard and shiny stuff on the beach! I wouldn't blame you if you voted for your own work if you're proud of it and just not a fan of my low-fi submission. I hope this makes sense and doesn't come across as patronising or annoying or something - that's the last thing I want (so I'm going to shut up now ) EDIT 22:23 GMT (OK, so I didn't shut up) - I keep thinking about what I've written up there and I think there's loads of stuff I've missed/glossed-over/haven't understood, but I don't know how to make it right (other than deleting it). There's a reason why I don't normally write this much. Just know, I have good intentions - yeah, yeah, "the road to Hell..." etc etc . (Now I'm going to shut up)