About a month ago I wrote this editorial about tracing on deviantART and the staff's new definition of what is "valid fan art". Well, since then I've found some older news articles and new additions to the FAQ and all sorts of interesting new things to add. So, I'd like to ramble some more!

I suppose I'll start off by mentioning the recent addition (or maybe I've just been overlooking it for a long time) of a fan art "vector" category. Now, anyone who knows anything about vector art is going to stop me here and say, "Hey dumbhead, vector art is a perfectly valid form of art!"

Guess what? It sure is. So don't think I'm ragging on real actual vector art, here. This is about vector traces.

Now, the reason I'm pointing this out is that back in the day, there were not many different categories for fan art. It was, if I remember correctly, pretty much just digital or traditional. It seems now that the list of categories for fan art is rather jumbled. Here's a little activity for you: if your browser allows tabs, open deviantART's submission page (handy link provided for your convenience!) in a new tab. If your browser does not allow tabs, smack yourself on the wrist and go download a browser that doesn't suck, then come back and open the submission page in a new tab. Check out the submission categories under "fan art."

Look at what a big jumble this is. Instead of going Digital or Traditional first, and then branching off neatly from there, we have this crazy grocery list: Anthro, Cartoons/Comics, Digital Art, Fan Fiction, Manga/Anime, Skins, Traditional Art, Vector, Wallpaper.

Shouldn't Vector at least be under Digital Art? Furthermore, some of these categories aren't even necessary- either that, or according to the addition of things like Vector, we don't have nearly enough fan art categories. Where is the category for fan art sculpture? How about fan metalworking or fan 3D modeling? I don't see a category for those...

Where the heck am I going with this? Okay, so it's somewhat of a flimsy accusation, I'll admit- but doesn't it seem like this was maybe just a random addition to shut people up? I remember several times making reports to the admins of traced artwork they wouldn't remove and saying, "if this is valid fan art, why isn't it being moved to the fan art category?" And I'm sure I'm not the only one that argued that. Non-traced vector art could have fit in under fan art > digital art > drawings.

Make what you want of it. I'm not trying to be a crazy conspiracy theorist here () and I'm not trying to paint the staff as being entirely composed of evil trace-facilitating curly-moustache-wearing villains or something, but I find it pretty weird, and tracing issues aside I think the fan art submissions categories could use a loooooooooot of cleanup.

Now that I've got that strange little happening out of the way, let me bring you to this article by $realitysquared.

I would like to direct your attention to the last few paragraphs, regarding fan art.

<sub>"One area which receives more complaints of this behavior is the various Fan Art galleries. Now the staff views the fan art galleries in a slightly different manner from the other galleries on deviantART.

For one, the very nature of a fan art gallery indicates that you will not find very much originality; all submissions will be directly based upon someone else’s artwork and concepts. One is also more likely to find a younger, less experienced artist submitting to these types of galleries.

For these reasons the various fan art galleries are granted far more leniency when it comes to the subject of direct copying or tracing. The works which will receive the most leniency are those that copy from official sources of popular shows and series while those which copy from original artist creations will be afforded less leniency.

Essentially this means that if someone copies or traces a screenshot from their favorite cartoon the staff will be more forgiving and if someone has copied or traced your original artwork or photograph they will be less forgiving; especially if you are the one to file the official complaint.

Please take note of this clarification and adjust your reporting habits accordingly."</sub>

Excuse me while I tear this apart.

"For one, the very nature of a fan art gallery indicates that you will not find very much originality; all submissions will be directly based upon someone else’s artwork and concepts."

Perhaps, yes, but trust me on this one- I have seen a lot of very creative fan art. Like I said in my last article, the joy of fan art is seeing your favorite characters in new and interesting situations, styles, etc. etc. etc.... and when people post something that's nothing more than a copy of an official art or a screenshot, it's boring.


"One is also more likely to find a younger, less experienced artist submitting to these types of galleries."

I'll admit it- I pretty much got started drawing fan art. When I was eleven, I discovered The Grand Adventures, a Legend of Zelda fansite, and its collection of fan art. I loved it. I was hooked. I spent hours and hours looking at Zelda fan art. At one point I was an administrator at the Zelda Legends Fan Art Gallery. I remember, once or twice, copying or tracing some official art, but I also remember it being terribly boring and not as fun as trying to draw things myself. Thankfully, the people at the galleries I visited were very encouraging and I continued to do my own "original fan art" (for lack of a better phrase).

I also remember finding the most gorgeous little gallery in Kasuto.net's fan art section. I thought it was brilliant. I printed out some of the pictures and I think one or two of them are still stuck to the bulletin board on my wall- yep, looking behind me, they are. But when I was thirteen, I found that they were only copies, eyeballed from the (beautifully drawn!) Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time manga by Akira Himekawa. I was totally disenchanted. The gallery lost its magic.

I went back to look at that gallery today, and it appears said "artist" has submitted some more in the past few years that looks like it might actually be original art, but now I can't be sure.

The works which will receive the most leniency are those that copy from official sources of popular shows and series while those which copy from original artist creations will be afforded less leniency.

Essentially this means that if someone copies or traces a screenshot from their favorite cartoon the staff will be more forgiving and if someone has copied or traced your original artwork or photograph they will be less forgiving; especially if you are the one to file the official complaint.

What Just, what? There is so much wrong here.

So it is now okay to trace over artwork and claim it as your own as long as the source is "official" and popular. And artwork that is popular on a mass scale is no longer "original"? Once you're famous, all originality is lost and you become a valid stock resouce? Wow! Now I really don't want to be famous.

Oh, and now the original artist has to know about it and complain? Sometimes we can't notify the original artist. Sometimes we don't know who they are. Sometimes they don't even speak English.

An example of this is something I reported a few weeks ago. Someone was making pixel "doll bases" from an anime artwork that they found on Photobucket. There was a signature on the artwork, but unfortunately I could not track down the original artist. I did, however, have the art as an example, and included it in my report.

The administration would not remove it, even though it was

a. lacking proof that the pixel "artist" had permission to use said drawing for their "doll base" (after I confronted them, the deviant added "credit to the original artist! " to the description. Better than nothing, some would say, but it basically is nothing.)

b. obviously somebody's traced-over original art (I included an animated .GIF layover)

c. not submitted to the fan art section

d. admitted by the "artist" that they did not draw the art they traced over

There wasn't even any room for their flimsy "it's valid fan art!" excuse here and the administration completely ignored this. Even though it was an obvious case of art theft.

Furthermore, I tried to reason with the thief in question and her excuse was this (atrocious typing left intact):

<sub>"as i say in half my comments i find all the pictures that i make my bases out of off of PHOTOBUCKET

i ask for credit only in makein the base NOT the picture

and really im not the only "doll base" maker that does this im not even one of the big doll base makers y dont people start talking to them about it

This is a hobbie for me not a carrer and when a hobbie becomes more of a pain in the butt then fun i stop so if i need to i will remove ALL my bases so no one can have fun makein dolls out of them

thank you and go talk to some of the bigger doll base makers"</sub>

I'll let that jumbled abomination of the English language speak for itself, for the most part. But I must ask, where is the justice for the original artist, who will probably never be notified? Their art is now being re-distributed as a pixel doll base, when they have never given permission or even been told about it.

And now we come to the final and possibly most drama-filled recent incident regarding tracing.

Here is a link to =budgie's journal about this litle dramafest.

The story goes like this: deviantART holds a contest to create a poster to represent them at the AX convention. A winner is chosen and it's later discovered that their artwork was a vector trace. Shit hits the fan, artist gets flames left and right, deviantART yoinks the "THIS IS OUR WINNER!" article, and comes back later with an alternate winner chosen due to "extenuating circumstances." You'll notice many of the comments on that article and the new winner's deviation are things like, "This entry totally deserves it!"

I think this is evidence enough that a lot of the community is very opposed to tracing. I also read somewhere that if AX had found out about the traced artwork, dA could have been kicked from the con, though I'm not entirely sure if that's true. But, if a method is considered cheating when you use it in a drawing contest- should we really be allowing it at all?

I am very glad that deviantART, for once, made the right decision, but why only in this one instance?

I urge you to simply stand back and look at this from a distance now- I do not encourage any more flames. Instead, please continue to support the winner, and original art in general. If I were popular enough to organize some kind of big movement against tracing, I would, but I don't have that kind of fan-following...

So, that's my rather sloppy addition to an already rather sloppy ramble.

I would like to do a feature sometime. A fan art feature, with the most creative fan art I can possibly find. I'd need help, though.

What do you think?