It’s not that you’re not raising a valid concern, Chris, but DUDE. Overweening superiority at six o’clock! Are you actually trying to convince Dean and the other P:R folks, or just getting your shots in?
]]>…and I’m done.
]]>Chris: Revamping costumes of franchise owned characters without monetary compensation is a waste of time, and will most likely end up in the ideas being stolen by the owners of the characters.
Dean and the Project Rooftop editors: Posting some sketches and costume ideas of beloved characters on the P:R site, is for artists, very much akin to discussing it via words on a blog. The P:R is done from a love of the medium and gives the artists more recognition than they would normally get on their own.
I’d have to say that I find the efforts of the P:R staff to be exceptionally admirable. As someone who cannot draw, it’s fascinating to see the process in which artists go through when really interpreting the characters. The dialogue and critique process only serves to help strenghten and improve my own thoughts on comic characters. If anything were to be “stolen” from this exchange of ideas, then it will probably be for the best. Analyzing the costumes behind some of the most recognizable characters in comics truly does invite some fascinating discussions.
Chris, as someone who has also toiled away as a writer for various internet publications for close to a decade without pay, I definitely understand your point about compensation and ownership. However, I can see the artistic benefit of participating on P:R as one of growth for the artists. Add to that, something I think you have obviously missed about the site….it’s fun! Just as writing about your favorite new record, or book or whatever, has some inherent joy in sharing your love with others, so too does adding your sense of style to characters that endeared you to the medium in the first place.
]]>And I kinda hope they do steal some of the ideas from Rooftop, because quite frankly a lot of the stuff the big two are putting out now isn’t very good (in my opinion). And I think Rooftop was partial founded in the hopes that the big two would notice and see it as the public knocking on their door and saying “stop dicking around , and start putting some actual work in your properties.”
]]>Two sides of thought here for me: I don’t think the big two will steal my idea and I don’t like the idea of graded fanart…
Honestly, those guys at DC and Marvel don’t want most of the ideas I’ve seen for these “redesign a superhero” memes. For one thing most of them are all too practical and not slutty… er sexy enough.
For another a lot of the people drawing these pictures are not in anyway DC or Marvel’s demographic. I mean I drew Batgirl… and I haven’t paid for a superhero comic in over ten years that wasn’t an elseworlds, also I’m a girl, they don’t want my ideas. Here take a look at it, I don’t think I have anything to worry about: http://www.ghostcircles.com/dxs/archives/art/i-draw-the-batgirl/ Also as marketing tool, I can’t imagine it would be of any use to the big two either as most of the commenters don’t agree on what would be the best outfit at all.
It seems like Project Rooftop is mostly a fandom thing both for people who like superheroes and people who would like superheroes if it was somehow made for them and thus not like what the other people like about superheroes. Most of the people probably want the attention that it generates and the ability to put their wacky super hero ideas down where others can see them in context to what they wish the superheroes would be like. I don’t know about getting a real comic job from it… and ERGH, I can’t imagine graded fanart… /=O
Getting to the thieving question, there is always the possibility of losing control of an idea if you post up anything anywhere ever, draw anything physically, write stuff down, or talk about your idea to anyone. If you don’t want people to have the possibility of stealing your idea the best way to avoid that is to not ever draw it or talk about it… but I kind of think that’s a bit extreme myself.
Honestly, if anything the people posting have more to worry about their fellow artist using the design for something non-licensed. Every single one of the people I know who had someone steal their ideas in real life, the thieving was done by people the artist knew personally or had pitched ideas to for a paying gig. =[ The random internet thieving companies are really rare, it could still happen but it’s sort of like getting hit by a meteor, it’s not likely.
Where was I going with this…? Hmm, well anyway those are my thoughts on this. I’m not personally a big fan of graded fanart but I don’t think there will be much thieving either.
-Diana
]]>I’m not trying to get an illustration gig. I m not even an illustrator, I can’t draw for peanuts. What I am is an FX artist so i know my way around images (24 of them every second) in an ok way.
I hang around the engine because it is an insanely creative and reflexive community. Things happen in there.
Let me take an example from a totally other field .
There is another forum called highend2d/highend3d for people working in the holywood fx industry, where I hang. You think free witchblade concepts are a problem ? On this forum people share their FX techniques, how they did their shots. Free. We are talking an FX sequence at 300 dollars a frame here.
But no one there complains about “explaining to someone else freely how to do an FX shot”. For the simplest of reasons : we are professionals, and we know by sharing these techniques and reading about them, we as workers grow in skillsets.
also in cg, if you’re not sharing AND complaining, you’re kinda of an ass.
back to P : RT and the engine. It is fan art. I would never have posted anything (not an illustrator, not in the comics industry) if it wasn’t for the crazy energy warren’s post oozes. Just look at the thread, the ball is rolling, people are posting slicker an slicker entries because a friendly competitive “oh oh look at what I have in my head” thing is going on. This is what we look for. Not only to check what people can come up with, but what I can come up with after seeing all the insanely great entries.
Also, you shouldn’t steal responsibility and work ethics from the people posting to P : RT or the engine thread. They are not stupid. If they decide to share there concepts on the interweb, they know it’s a freebie, and they know it’s going to be checked out by the industry, and maybe that’s not a bad thing. Never heard of Rob Levin before he made me cry laughing with his witchblade. Now I plan on buying his books.
P : RT is about the people, get them talking , showing their stuff. The idea is just an excuse.
Revamping power girl, revamping witchblade ? please. it’s the creative equivalent of “Kids, everybody ? draw a house. Let’s see how you see houses. ”
cheers, now i m off to check your site 🙂
]]>About Project Rooftop.
Do you know how many people don’t like to exercise in any medium? No matter if it benefited them, they didn’t want to practice their own skills. There are millions of artists who don’t want to go to coffee shop and draw people walking by. There are millions of artists who don’t want to step outside into a farm and study animals, there are millions of artists out there who don’t want to study french archtectures, they don’t want to study perspective, they don’t want to study anatomy, they don’t want study color, and form, composition, fashion, facial expression, line weight, motion, art history, ect.
Go to any art school, there are students spending well over $40,000 of their parent’s money, and the majority are skipping their life drawing classes to huddle around their computer to see the latest fan-sub anime.
Regadless if it’s copywriten characters, it gets people to exercise.
You know what that makes them a better artist for it.
I respect your opinion on this…which I guess is the difference between us.
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