Charter - Please read before posting

Fysh

Comics Production Charter, v1.1 - last edit 16/01/2009

Statement of purpose:

"The forum is intented to cover all aspects of home grown comic creation from where to get it printed, to how to go about laying out a storyboard, suggestions for script and visuals, what pens to buy and which pencil sharpener wont leave nobbly bits that spring off the side of your nib and potentiall poke an eye out."

General rules:

No spam, porn, abuse, trolling, baiting, flaming or general muppetry. The making of potentially defamatory, off topic, disruptive statements such as incitement of hatred, racism, sexism or violence is subject to alteration or deletion. Repeat offenders may be banned at the moderator's discretion; subsequent unbannings are also at the moderator's discretion.

Commercial advertising is not permitted without permission. The overt promotion of commercial activity and the use of the board as a vehicle for such are forbidden in accordance with the general rules of boards.ie. If you want to plug your own stuff then you must contribute to the wider discussions on the forum. That means posting outside of threads associated with your products.

Posts about upcoming events should be kept to the main comics forum unless they are chiefly/exclusively of interest to the creative community rather than the general comics-reading audience.

Artist/Writer requests

If you are looking for contributions to a project or a new collaborator for a project, start a new thread with [ARTIST WANTED] or [WRITER WANTED] as applicable in the subject line. Provide a reasonable amount of information about the nature of the project, along with any requirements (eg schedule, previous experience etc) and links to previous material you have worked on if applicable. If you are offering/seeking commercial work, please post in the relevant section of adverts.ie.

Requests for feedback

Image size: A large portion of Boards users are 56k. This could cause problems with viewing threads. Please keep the pictures that you post "in-post" are circa 150kb in size, and use a maximum of 10 in-post images. Anything over this should be posted as a link or an attachment. In-post images should be no larger than 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels in height. If your images are larger, include them as attachments or upload them to a free hosting provider and provide links to them. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you include any non-worksafe material in-post. This means no strong violence, nudity, sexual content or anything else that could be deemed work-inappropriate.

State what level of critique you want: If you only want the artistic aspects of your work critiqued, say so. Conversely, if you want opinions about the whole piece, make this clear in your post. You should also state how in-depth a critique you're looking for, although you should note that this forum is not suitable for anyone who wants to post up their artwork and have it adored.

Self-censoring your work: Only put up work you are happy with - works-in-progress are for tutorials, not review. If you still have work to do on a project then finish it. Otherwise you will be presented with the obvious question "If you knew that it needed to be changed why didn't you just do it?"

Write a bit about the piece: Where did it come from, what are its influences and why it is like it is. This gives you a first chance to air your views and beliefs so others can air theirs in the same context. Do not post "I did this because it is cool!" It implies you have put no thought into your work.

Do not argue points: Everyone has an opinion, and the law of averages dictates that there will be someone who has a poor opinion of your work. It's not a matter of you vs. them, it's a matter of them suggesting something you may not have considered and you either thinking about that as a valuable route, or dismissing it.

Always thank people for a constructive point: Try to avoid saying things like "Thanks for nothing asshat!" or "Well duh...". It's always pleasant to receive detailed positive feedback, but detailed negative feedback can be just as useful as it can help you pinpoint weaknesses in your work and address them.

Providing critique

"A critique is a systematic inquiry into the conditions and consequences of a concept or set of concepts, and an attempt to understand its limitations."

Constructive Criticism: The most important thing you can do, pointless comments like " This is Shoite!" is unhelpful and pointless as is saying "This is the bestest thing I have ever seen all day!". Instead try "I think that perhaps a more subtle approach in terms of colour would work better, maybe a lighter version?" or in the same vein but positive "I really enjoy the composition of colours, they are bold and intense!". The important thing is to first figure out how you respond to the piece, and then figure out why you respond that way, expessed in as much detail as possible.

Review the work, not the poster: This is a standard rule on boards.ie. Even if the person is a walking source of annoyance, don’t feel the need to mention it.

Try to be a positive critic: Don’t use the opportunity of reviewing somebody else’s work to bolster your own ego. This is usually done through dismissive comments intended to show their own intelligence, for example "I find this work puerile and naive" - this is an insinuation that you are a more mature and accomplished artist. Remember - truthful yet constructive. It is highly unlikely that any work has no redeeming factors whatsoever, and budding artists/writers will benefit as much from being told what they're doing right as what they need to work on.

For some further tips on how to provide a good critique, read this page.

Last, but not least, remember - the best way to get good at receiving criticism is to give it, it allows you to understand the others point of view.

Tutorials/Advice

A series of tutorials are being prepared and will likely continue to be added to in perpetuity. If you find that there is no relevant tutorial, start a new thread explaining what your question is. If it relates to a particular page, include the page in your post but check the "Requests for feedback" guidelines for how to do so. Bear in mind that your problem may be better suited to another forum, eg complex software queries may be better suited to Digital Art & Design, or writing queries may be better suited to the Creative Writing forum.


As this is a new forum, there may be amendments or additions necessary. If you have any suggestions, please reply to this thread.