Wednesday, August 17, 2005

  (I know this post looks long, but it’s not. Please just bear with me and read)

Hey everybody. As you've probably already heard, our beloved ElvesAteMyRamen has been wrongly accused of tracing official concept art to create some of her artwork. The artist mentioned has and shall remain nameless for the purpose of preventing a flame-war (which we really don't need right now, especially since the "pepsicola" incident, which reached dangerous proportions).
Elves's account was frozen for a while, but thankfully Lindsey was able to smooth it over with the TheOtaku moderators (Adam's never let us down). Regardless, Lindsey really had her feelings hurt by these ridiculous accusations, which continue to be plastered over the afore-mentioned artist's site. Lindsey will even be removing the 3 pictures said to be traced from her gallery, for the sake of not being hounded by any more of these little dinks.
On top of this, Lindsey's dog Freddie is sick. Freddie's got a tumor on her spleen that's been causing her to collapse and seem like she's too tired or unable to get up. As Lindsey has told us, Freddie is a like a part of the household (Freddie's been with her for 14 years). You can read all the details of this on EAMR's site by clicking here.
I want to ask you all to pray for Lindsey as she enters a difficult part of life. Please pray that God will relieve some of her emotional and spiritual burden and sooth her heart.

Another great artist on this site, Psyconorika, has also come under emotional stress. Michelle had her feelings and artistic self-esteem deeply hurt recently due to an Otaku post she read. The post (whose author shall also remain nameless) detailed how "the new artists on TheOtaku blow the older artists like Seifer-sama, Psyconorika and EAMR away". Even though that is total BS, Michelle took offence to this. Combined with the fact that her mom has been harping on her about her art (as she always has been), Michelle started to loose faith in her artistic talent. I dare you to go look at her artwork and then tell me she has not talent or future in art. You can't, because it's so beyond obvious that she does, just like Seifer, EAMR, Snow Fox, Vankala 86 and all the other fantastic artists on this site.
Please also pray that God will watch over Michelle and help her realize how special she is.

On a smaller note (I know it seems irreverent to put it like this, so please forgive me), please also pray for Kashin and Emmy-San. Kashin is going on a mission trip and a temporary leave from TheOtaku, and Emmy-San has hurt her ankle.

If I may back-track for a second...
First off, EAMR didn't trace.
Secondly, she observed official concept art and put it onto paper free-handed, not tracing. (The only other technique she used was occasionally using a grid-system for some getting the proportions right when mimicking the lining)
EVERYBODY does that! The only other option is original poses (which EAMR has proved she's fully capable of)! My buddy DrunkenMaster's art is a prime example of how free-hand drawings using official images as a guide are legitimate. It sounds weird when I explain it, but ANY artist knows that!

Though you probably can't tell, I use the same technique, just to a lesser extent (that's because I'm too crappy to correctly re-create another image free-hand). My pictures "'It's OK, I'm an Expert!'" and "Resident Evil Megan" used pictures of Rebecca Chambers (Resident Evil) as a reference for the correct way of drawing her clothing. "Victim 205" and "Burning Ghost" are based off of ghosts from Silent Hill 4. Andrea's hair style has evolved over time, often based off of pictures sent to me by other artists as a suggestion for how to draw it. These reference pics span from Naru (Love Hina) to Ariel (The Little Mermaid, which some of you have likened to Andrea).

Like EAMR said, that's how you learn! It's no different from drawing a still-life!
If you sit on a park bench and draw a picture of the park, is somebody going to say, "Hey! You totally traced that park!"?
No, of course not. >:-P

Anyway, please pray for those people, and I'll see you tomorrow.
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