Welcome to the Twenty-First issue of Stockilicious

Index
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1 - Thumbnail Feature and Stock Tips - Emotive Stock
2 - Featured Stocker
3 - Featured Stock Club
4 - Stock FAQs Explained
5 - Monthly Stock Project
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FEATURES AND TIPS:
Have you tried to search through the thousands of thousands of stock images for someone smiling? Or crying? Or so angry they have steam coming out of their ears? Well I can't help you with the last one (humans aren't capable of that Duh!) but out there in the great wide world of the dA Stock Art gallery they ARE there! It may be a little hard to locate them but don't let that deter you!

If you ARE looking for an emotive stock image, use the search or ask in the Stock Art Forums if the search fails you. Don't limit yourself to ONE word. Go back and try a few. You might find the perfect thing for you. If you're stuck for words, pull out your trustly thesaurus or even use Thesaurus.com.



TIPS FOR EMOTIVE STOCK:
Realistic. These are the general faces you will pull in just about every-day life. Happy, smile. Sad, frown. Shocked, gasp. Nothing out of the ordinary here. You don't have to pull a muscle to get THESE to work.
Exaggerated. The expressions you use when something out of the ordinary happens or you want to try something in-between two different, strong emotions. The 'OMFGWTF?!?!' face comes to mind Or maybe you are mixed between screaming in anger and crying with frustration. Warning: Don't pull these faces when the wind changes direction
Pleasure & Pain. If you've done one side of the coin, don't be afraid to do the other. As humans (I hope) we feel the widest range of emotions out of all animal species, so sticking to just the happy, cheerful and excited expressions can get boring. Screaming is very therapudic, after all
A Pose To Match. What's the point of being expressive if you can't be emotive too? Expressions are great for art with a specific theme in mind but if the pose doesn't match it will be even MORE limited in uses. If you're angry, don't just snarl. Clench your fists, hunch your shoulders and (pretend to) scream at the top of your lungs! If you're happy, make yourself look like you're lighter than air. 'Float' around with relaxed arms, swaying as if you're on a natural high.
Silly & Serious. Silly faces are made of win and can be very inspiring for art. BUT not many people search for silly faces in particular. Usually they are just stumbled upon and used when found. Seriousness, on the same note, is much more common and therefore used a lot more - but sometimes it isn't as inspiring as their silly counterparts.
Blank faces. They are the bane of my existance. Blank faces are THE MOST common 'expression' in Stock Art. Why? Because they can be used in all different sorts of art. Anything from horror and macabre to fairies and fantasy. The biggest problem with blank, emotionless faces is that they don't hold the same depth as expressions. So, while they can be used in a variety of work, there is less chance of drawing a viewer in on an emotion level. Blank faces tend to rely more on pose, costume and location. Expressive faces can tell a story.
Want MOAR?!?. Then check out the Expressions In Stock Tutorial.


FEATURED STOCKER:
A little section to showcase a particular stocker each week. Its not just because I LOVE their stock - but because of how useful it can be and just how generally amazing it is! You will be kicking yourself if you don't take a few moments to check them out!

This week: ~Morf-stock
I was introduced to ~Morf-stock's gallery by none other than ^LawrenceDeDark (who, by the sounds of things, is Morf's biggest fan ). Wherever I roam on dA I will ALWAYS make sure to check his gallery and see what goodies I can find to get my creativity brewing. Morf has an awesome collection of EXPRESSIVE stock. Directed more towards the dark arts and doing a bloody good job of it! (No pun intended, honest )



FEATURED STOCK CLUB:
*createbyweek
*createbyweek is a rockin' club founded by =pendlestock and ^Hanratty-Stock to get artists working with stockers on a set project per week. One stock photo is selected and artists need to use it in their art. Sound easy enough? Well it is!

Even better - you can win PRIZES with these fantastic challenges. Anything from subs and features to exclusive stock packs, stamps and more! Just like any other contest? Well, no... with a challenge being held weekly that means there's even MORE chance of winning something AND its the COMMUNITY that votes for the winner each time!



STOCK FAQ EXPLAINED:
Since a lot of people, including some stockers, don't realize there are FAQs in the Help Desk I've decided to do a few mini-features on FAQ entries involving stock and explaining just what they're about.

This week: FAQ #809: Why was my stock image removed?

A brand-spanking new FAQ entry that outlines the BASIC requirements stock art needs to adhere to to stay in the main gallery. This FANTASTIC FAQ is initiated when a stock image is reported using the 'Report This Deviation' link.
If a stock image doesn't adhere to these guidelines it gets moved to Scraps.
Size must be a MINIMUM of 600x600pixels. Say you're a manipulator. You want to make something very detailed and possibly even make a print of your work. You come across the PERFECT image but its only 540x320. You try and resize the image to something better, like 1000x1000 but OHNOES! Its PIXELATED now. To be of ANY use, stock needs to be over 600x600 pixels. Most manipulators I know work with areas of 1000x1000 and over, so having a stock image as close to that resolution as possible is fantastic. You can always resize DOWN with no worries... but resizing UP causes problems. Do us a favour, stockers - DON'T resize your images before uploading. Keep them as high resolution as possible.
No heavy distortion due to blur/noise/grain. It may look 'cool' and 'artistic' to some but blur, grain and noise are all just about completely unusable to the majority of artists. Vexelers lose the smooth lines and sharp colours they crave, manipulators can't get that crisp look to their manips and all in all... the stock LOOKS like a photo. Not like part of the artwork its being integrated into. Most digital imaging programs offer the ability to add these things. So don't upload blur/grain/noise. Offer the crisper, clearer alternative and let the artists decide whether they want it or not.
No webcams or cell phone images. Although there are cell phones out there that have a reasonable megapixel count to them these days that doesn't mean they should replace the good ol' camera. Phones, in general, don't offer a very good DPI count. The quality to use in prints is decreased dramatically to their photographic friends the cameras. It may be a nice big size but it gives that at the cost of quality. Even worse are webcams. DPI is shot to hell, colours are either too blue, too yellow, or non-existant, megapixels are so low it makes babies the world over start crying... So be kind to the poor artists and leave your webcams on Myspace.
No sexually explicit imagery. Although nudity IS allowed in stock art, we don't exactly want to see you getting in all those naughty positions with your partner. Neither do we want to see you getting 'happy' and naked in front of the camera. dA doesn't allow sexually explicit images in other categories - Stock Art is no different.


MONTHLY STOCK PROJECT:
Whoever you are, whatever kind of resource you upload - check out and join in on the monthly challenges to both Stockers and general Resourcers. Get featured in the Monthly Newsletter, find inspiration in a simple phrase or theme and join in with other stockers in a throw-together collaboration!

This month's challenge topic was suggested by *AilinStock (thank you, schmoo'. Word around the neighbourhood is that there are an awful lot of Clichés in the stock gallery! Well, that's true. But they don't have to be horrible rip-offs. They can be awesome resources on their own - no matter who else has done the theme.
So, that's our aim of this monthly game. Find a cliché and WORK WITH IT!
October Challenge closes October 31!!

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PREVIOUS ISSUES:
Vol 12: Horror Hour (MC)
Vol 13: Ready-to-Use Backgrounds
Vol 14: Technology
Vol 15: TV & Movies
Vol 16: Kids Stuff
Vol 17: Unknown Stockers
Vol 18: Stock Tutorials
Vol 19: Poster Boys (MC)
Vol 20: Stock Prints
Stockilicious Index!

And there we have it for another week!
Tune in for the NEXT STOCKILICIOUS... featuring Architectural Stock!!!
Demonic