Something personal and original
Aug 10th, 2008 by Eve
When looking for an image to portray a roleplaying character, I think personal, original efforts are incredibly valuable. These can be:
- Words. A written description tells me so much more than a picture, anyway; it shows me exactly what you want me to see about your character. In a text-based medium, I would definitely rather see a detailed written description than another super-glossy photo.
- Your own art. Sketches. Crayon stick figures. Line tracings. Full color portraits. Digital drawings. Poser figures. Customizable web avatars. No matter how crude it is or what your skill level is, your own original work is honest and real.
- Commissioned art. The only problem I’ve run into with commissioned work is that the artist is likely to have a different view of my character than what you picture in your mind. If you can get past that, it’s easy to capitalize on someone else’s skill at transforming your ideas into a graphic.
If you feel words are inadequate and your own art embarrasses you (most of mine does), that last option is probably the best. Most roleplaying communities have several artists who are willing to work out a character portrait in exchange for a fee (real life cash or in game coins), help with a storyline, or even just good will.
elf_fu at 2phatgeeks is currently accepting commissions for roleplaying character portraits. Her fees currently range from $5 to $35 and up. $5 is insanely reasonable, by the way.
I would be happier if less people relied on images of airbrushed models, actors, or other celebrities du jour to show what their characters are supposed to look like. Copyright issues aside, celebrity photos always bring with them some subtle and prejudicial preconceived notions – and yeah, I know it’s blending to act on those notions.
Thank you for the link, I really appreciate it!
I am guilty of airbrushing/drawing over and color tweaking some of the stock photos I use for my characters :s
And speaking of commissions, I know that : http://andrea-koupal.deviantart.com/ is looking for commission work too. A really kick ass artist.
But… but.. I worked hard on Kitty’s picture! *lip quiver*
Besides, a few people have tried to draw her and they never seem to get it right. They always try to give her cat ears or leave off the claws or the tail, or get the eyes totally wrong.
She’s so complicated.
I had a pencil sketch of Lucky that I gave to the artist that came up with his DM avatar.
Missy: I do understand your pain. The biggest actual fear I have right now in opening commissions is that I will get a character so far out and wrong as to what the role player/player sees them I’ll get the short end of the angry stick. :3
And if I were to commission another artist, that’s probably the biggest factor in keeping me from doing so. Worry that they’ll not be able to capture a character right.
I used to use lots of shops and stuff for Lydia, but as I drew her more and more I got to the point I could draw her just as I saw her (albeit in different styles) and the shops just.. didn’t do her justice, in my eyes. I much, much, much prefer character art for myself over anything else. And I feel pretty lucky that I can draw my own.
I guess for that reason I hate to be all “NO U SHOULDN’T USE XX OR YY 4 PIX!” since not everyone is that lucky. But at the same time, yeah, there’s lots of good points made by Alysia et. all. At the very least, I think it’d be nice if people would post where they got something from, and credit the original artist/photographer, etc. I’ll likely start trying to phase out from shops and things like that entirely for that reason, and just use drawn pictures, or stuff with licenses that lets me. Because as I start doing commission work and stuff, it gets me to thinking “What if someone stole from me?” then it makes me a sad panda. So I’m gonna work on that.
As far as commission work goes, if you try to commission a piece and the artist just draws something for you and is all “PAY ME PLZ?” you likely.. don’t want them. *makes a face* To my knowledge, most that do artwork like that work up sketches and communicate with the person paying. They come to agreements, picture is done, everyone is usually happy. If you’re not happy with the sketches, just don’t progress beyond that.
And I’ve never had a person wield an angry stick at me, elf_fu, :). I’ve found that people are pretty patient about things like that, and are just happy to finally be getting artwork of their character. More often than not, they’re willing to work with you. So I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
I think it is highly unlikely any angry artists, photographers, models, celebrities, or other copyright owners are going find roleplaying forums and start shooting out takedown requests, so it’s kind of a non issue, except for the ethics of the situation.
So, if someone is comfortable with using copyrighted images without permission, more power to them.
>>I think it is highly unlikely any
>>angry artists, photographers, models,
>>celebrities, or other copyright owners
>>are going find roleplaying forums and
>>start shooting out takedown requests
There was a (book cover/trading cards) artist who found that someone had used and photoshopped her images for forum signatures at an AOC RP site, without credit, because the signature ‘artist’ couldn’t remember where she found them and was playing the “well it’s free publicity for you” card. There was some amusing drama but takedown requests made to the site operator.
Unlikely, yes, but it does happen.