24: On Art Theft Online

With me going on and on about posting my art on Tumblr, the most common question I've heard from friends is "Aren't you scared of putting your art online? What if someone steals it?"

First off, art theft is an awful thing to do. It is the swiping of someone's creative work, emphasis on work. Stealing any piece of art means also stealing the person's time and energy spent making the piece, their emotional and physical stress of thinking up something original, their possible financial gain from the piece, and their joy of having made it. A little on the extreme and emotional side? I think not. When someone's work is stolen, this leaves a sour taste. This person may opt to never again post their work, show their art to anyone, may even be so crippled with fear that they stop making art completely.

However, I believe there is a distinction between art theft online and art theft in the "real world." Art theft from a museum or gallery or your rival's locker in art school is clear-cut. It is a consciously malicious selfish act, it is an obvious crime with clearly stated laws broken. It is an act with selfish personal gains; financially by selling a rare or expensive piece, esteem in passing off a work of genius as your own, or maybe even just spite.

Art theft online is not always so clear. Many have internalized the ideal that the internet is practically a hippie commune. Everything should be free to share and if it isn't, then the person/company is evil. Once something is put online, then it is free for all. The person uploading it should have known better or should have expected it by now. This is propagated by free data that, in the past, would have cost a premium to access. (For ex. newspaper archives, medical information, pornography, music, television etc.) Whenever a company tries to institute a paywall, there is immediate derision followed by failure. (See article on Newsday's subscription attempt.) Others simply do not know that it is etiquette to attribute an image, song or video to the original creator.

Another difference is the outcome of art theft online. There are definitely instances where art is stolen for financial gain (ex. John T. Unger's firebowls). There have been (rumored) instances of chain companies (clothing stores and the like) stealing designs for mass production.  The majority of art theft, however, doesn't result in major losses. Most art thieves are kids in middle school who see a drawing of a fairy or a vampire, post it in their blog to share and forget to link to the creator. They may print the image out and say they drew it. In comparison to "real world" art  thieves, this is a mild case of un-educated misjudgment.

It is at this age that educational systems should be teaching people how to write essays with proper bibliographies, annotations and the results of plagiarism. On the part of the artist, there should be friendly but many reminders that works posted are created and owned by an individual. I think there should also be an encouragement for people to share the work by posting on their blogs, Facebook or Twitter....with a link to the creator. Make it easy for them. Provide the link in text form, have your website URL on the image itself.

Personally, I do not worry much about art theft. Mostly because my work is of an auto-biographical nature and it is difficult to pass off work like that as made by a different person. Also because I like to subscribe to the positive, even naive, side of art theft...if someone thinks your work is good enough to steal, make something even better. I like to think of it as not being naive but rather choosing not to be afraid of making art at all.

22: Musings on blogging platforms

I've been doing a lot of reading, researching and comparing of  blogging platforms lately. Mainly because I'm trying to find the best home for the comic, but also to keep up with what's going on in the technological world.

I've been with Blogger a long time simply because, for a while, it was the only free platform. Then I got to know it inside and out. I could customize it endlessly and learned HTML in 6th grade just so I could write up personalized templates for it. Blogger feels like a comfortable old apartment. It's pretty run-down, has a few creaks and leaks, its nothing like the fancy new lofts going up everywhere....but its mine and I'm used to it.

WordPress holds no appeal for me other than the ability to use ComicsPress. From what I've seen, this is THE theme and platform for webcomics unless I go through the trouble of creating a site completely from scratch. Almost every webcomic uses ComicsPress and common opinion seems to be that it is a pain to set up but is smooth afterward. Until a different platform is made, I will most likely be moving my comic to WordPress. My biggest concern is that I will miss the inter-connection of the Blogger webcomickers I've come to know and love. There's a whole slew of top-notch artists still using Blogger and I love the ability to "Follow" them and have them show up in my RSS reader.

Lastly, Tumblr has been intriguing me more and more. I'm violently opposed to anything new, so initially I despised Tumblr and the idea of micro-blogging. It seemed to me as an excuse to just re-link and re-post random crap from the internet...and a lot of tumbleblogs are just that. There are a few, though, that are pretty interesting and some with original content. The ease, both in visual aesthetic and in posting, of images is what hooked me in.

I think I'll be making a Tumblr account soon. Perhaps make a Tumblr just for posting daily sketches. I love that I can host files directly on Tumblr, so no more uploading to Photobucket then linking. I will most probably keep this Blogger for my lengthy ramblings and musings.

21: Photography ramblings

In a previous life, I was a photographer. I did some freelance work for small-time newspapers, some editorial work for local magazines, and worked in a portrait studio/lab. An old friend messaged me today asking for advice since he's recently become interested in photography. I figured I'd copy my rather lengthy response here.

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Ahhh! Those aren't "the basics." Most people spend their entire lives trying to figure that out what makes a good angle and whatnot.

With photography, you have to learn the rules, learn the systematic techniques, read your camera's instruction manual backwards and forwards, follow the numbered directions, the mechanical recipe of a "good" photograph, all the un-creative boring stuff. Once you've got that down, then can you figure out what rules to break and what directions to ignore to make something completely original.

Stepping away from my little highfalutin rambling, here's some specific tid-bits that come to mind right now:

1. The quality of the camera does not = the quality of your picture. The "lil thing" you keep in your pocket will be just as good as an expensive camera in terms of angles/composition/visual aesthetic etc

2. Frame the picture IN CAMERA as close as possible as what you want the finished picture to look like. (as opposed to taking a picture then expecting to crop/edit in Photoshop later.)

2.5. Frame the object/subject as tightly as possible. Zoom in. FILL the frame with the object. Even if the picture is of a landscape, a deserted horizon, a tiny object in a vast emptiness...I don't care. Basically, every single space of your frame should be part of the image...as much as possible, nothing empty or useless meant to be edited/cropped out later.

3. Composition > angle. Don't confuse a fancy/crazy angle for a good composition. You can come up with an angle no one in the history of photography has ever used before and it would be pointless if the composition was lacking. Vice versa, the most amazing photographs are composed beautifully and taken with the most mundane angles. (Some people would even say that a fancy angle is just compensating for poor composition.)

3.5. Learn the basic rules of composition. Rule of thirds, rule of diagonals, triadic composition, use negative space, figure-ground confusion, framing etc.
Some useful links:
http://www.galitz.co.il/en/articles/composition.shtml
http://digital-photography-school.com/rapid-composition-how-to-compose-a-photo-quickly
http://www.digicamhelp.com/taking-photos/advanced-techniques/composing-photos/

4. Learn photography terms/tools. Not everything...just the most common and important. A good starting list:
http://www.arecintophotography.com/blog/photography-tutorials/common-photography-terms-and-usage-examples

5. Use as much natural light as possible (unless it night-time. Then use a tripod or stead your arm/body against a wall/railing/table.) When shooting indoors, use light from a window/door/etc. Indoor lights leave an un-natural yellow/blue glow and using a flash over-exposes everything and leaves harsh shadows.

6. LOOK at photographs. LOOK at good photographs (this is subjective...but a general idea of what is considered "good" is a start). LOOK at bad photographs. Compare and contrast.

7. TAKE PICTURES. I cannot stress enough how monumentally important this is. Photography really is one of those things that you learn just by doing. Specially in these days of digital cameras where you can take hundreds at little to no cost. Think of it in these terms: You have an unlimited number of amazing photographs inside you just waiting for you to take them....but you only get ONE per 100 shots you take.

17: Future studio space and musings on success as a working artist

Last semester, I was introduced to oil paints. I fell in love with the medium (that is, after I got past the first month of cursing it) and worked with it exclusively for a while. I plan on returning to it once I'm healed.

The biggest problem, however, was that I quickly realized the dangers of working with oile paints and the necessary spirits and chemicals. Painting in a room that is inadequately ventilated led to awful dizziness, nausea, flaring asthma and other harmful side-effects. I'd asked my dad if we could convert the un-used garage into a studio space for me. We hadn't talked about it since 4-5 months ago so I assumed he'd forgotten about it.

I woke up this morning to hear banging and crashing and hammering going on in the backyard. My dad loves to do home-improvement type stuff and he had spent most of the summer laying brick-work and a cement patio, so I thought nothing of it. Later in the afternoon, he had me come and take a look.

Our backyard

The garage

Old exercise equipment, an extra bed, and a table/shelving unit my dad built

Walls painted pink by the previous owners

I'm pretty darned excited! From what I could gather about the previous owners, this garage had been rented out as a bedroom. This means the walls are very well insulated from both heat and cold, there's pretty bright lighting, windows with curtains, multiple electrical outlets and plumbing. There's also some built in shelving and a mini-bookcase. Oh, and the walls aren't the ugly bareness of a garage. I'm not crazy about the pink, but its better than nothing. Haha!

We have a giant round table we'll be moving in so I'll have a surface to draw and sculpt, while having space to set up my easel for paintings. I am seriously so stoked about this.

I've always held to the idea that be what you want to be, you have to believe and act as if you were that person. That is, if I want to be a talented, connected, professional and productive artist....I need to believe I am and act like I am. To that end, I impose on myself a 9 to 5, 6 days a week schedule of painting/drawing/creating. I talk and introduce myself to people as if I already am a successful artist. I carry myself online, set up my shop and website as if I already am a successful artist.

Most importantly, I try to WORK as if I am already a successful artist. Unfortunately, working on my bed isn't the best way to get myself into a productive mindset. When I had my own apartment, I had a designated space meant only for working. I think eventually your mind recognizes this differentiation and snaps into work mode the moment you sit at your work-table or wear your work-hat or put on your work-music...whatever it is that takes you from goofing off to working.

I'm hoping that with this designated studio work-space, I'll be a lot more productive. I think there will be something about actually leaving my room and entering what is essentially my job that will make sticking to my (rather un-glamorous) 9 to 5, 6 day a week, working artist schedule.

16: Pages and genres

Page 2 of "Love Junkies" done. I decided to start with this mini rather than finish OMGcow comics for now because the minimal style is easier on my arm.

I've had the story for this mini sitting around in my sketchbooks for almost a year now. I knew I wanted to make it "someday"...but this fund-raising venture has really given me a kick in the butt.

I think the hardest challenge I deal with in my personal comic-making is deciding what kind of comics I make. I'm surrounded almost exclusively by boys, having never been very good at making friends with girls. As such, I sometimes forget that there are comics outside of the superhero/macho-man/adventure/fight-scene type. I start thinking that maybe the only way to succeed in this business is to make those type of comics.

Unfortunately, those comics don't really interest me. I guess I have the internet and its immense capacity for underground and web-based comics that encompass slice-of-life, diary/autobio, psychological, mystery, horror and other genres that don't really fit into the Marvel/DC world-view.

I just need to constantly remind myself that if I just make the comics that I would want to read, maybe somewhere, other people might like it too