1. @staff made a post pretty much saying “Your stuff isn’t getting deleted, just hidden from everyone but you” and “Yeah we know you hate the term “female presenting nipples” but we ain’t gonna stop saying it”
2. If a blog has a pixelated icon that means they got hit by the ban, you cannot view that blog outside the sidebar. You cannot even view their archive. Allegedly if you follow the advice in this post it’ll be fixed but only if it was an accidental flag (aka a real sfw blog)
3. The post Staff made including examples of what was ok to post. It got flagged.
4. Yes, the bots are still here. Yes they are still stealing posts and putting porn links on them. Yes there are still ads with stuff more sexual than they allow in posts. Yes innocent things are still getting flagged.
5. So yes, the site is still here and staff are still morons.
In response to the NSFW ban being enacted by Tumblr Staff, on December 17th 2018 I propose that we all log off of our Tumblr accounts for 24 hours.
The lack of respect and communication between staff and users is stark. Users have been begging staff to delete the porn bot outbreak, which has plagued the website for well over a year. The porn bots oftentimes send people asks and messages, trying to get them to go to a website full of viruses. They also spam advertisements on others posts.
Users have also begged that Tumblr ban neo-nazis, child porn, and pedophiles, all which run rampant on the site. The site/app got so bad that it was taken off the app store.
However, instead of answering the users, Tumblr has instead taken the liberty to ban all NSFW content, regardless of age. But users have already run into issues of their SFW content being marked as sensitive and being flagged as NSFW, not allowing them to share their work.
Not only does this discriminate again content creators, but it also discriminates against sex workers. Disgustingly, the ban will be enacted on December 17 which is also International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
This ban is disgusting, and while I (and plenty of others) welcome porn bots and child porn being banned, the Tumblr filtration system is broken. It tags artistic work’s nipples as NSFW (when it is art), it tags SFW art as NSFW (when it is not), and does not stop the porn bots, neo-nazis and dozens of other issues.
This ban is discriminatory. This ban is ineffective. This ban is unacceptable.
To protest, log off of your Tumblr account for the entirety of November 17th. Log off at 12 am EST or 9PM PST and stay off for 24 hours. Don’t post. Don’t log on. Don’t even visit the website. Don’t give them that sweet ad revenue.
Tumblr’s stock has already taken a hard hit. Let’s make it tank. Maybe then they will listen to the users.
I just sifted through a seemingly endless sea of online portfolio submissions. I noticed that there were three categories.
1. No, delete submission. 2. No. Save web portfolio because it was good, not what I can use. 3. Yes, email back
Category three is great for everyone. Two is good, though you might not know it because emailing everyone back with “I really like this, I’ll keep it for maybe someone else for later” is a lot when I’m trying to get through these in any sort of timely fashion.
Category one, now this is interesting. Obviously, if I just don’t like the work I don’t keep it. But that’s just one reason why I found myself quickly closing browser windows. Here are the top 5 reasons I left an online portfolio.
1. S … L … O … W loading time
This really is a killer. If I’m trying to whip through a pile of submissions, and I find myself with enough time to think about the possible reasons the site isn’t loading, I probably leave. I have a lot more options.
Solution: get yourself a web provider with great stats. Don’t use flash, audio, or heavy tech or images on the front page. Have your front page be a single image, your best. It will load fast and get me to click on the portfolio.
2. 404 Page Not Found
If you submitted a url that doesn’t work, well I hope this is obvious why I’d walk.
3. Not your brand
Yes, be on portfolio sites like Behance or Hire an Illustrator, but also NO don’t make that your main portfolio. Behance sites all look like Behance sites, your look is secondary to theirs. So two things, one, their layout might not be the best for your work. Two, I can’t tell a thing about you at a glance.
And, real talk, I just saw a boatload of Behance sites with thumbs that looked like 15 different illustrators on one page. I know it’s a project-based format, but if I see a page of images and they’re not consistent, I leave. I don’t know what I’ll get from you, and I certainly don’t know if you know how to hit one look over another.
4. Not enough art
I see some sites where there’s lots of words, and buttons, and lists of services and bios on the front page. I care exactly zero about any of that _unless I already like the work_. So see the solution for number one in this list, keep your homepage simple. Let me know immediately, without reading, what you do.
Now if you’re a writer, you want words, but maybe just a few that are really your best. It’s still the same lesson: I don’t care about how you work until I know I want work from you.
5. Inconsistency
Adjacent to number 3, if you have a set of images on the front page with some kid stuff, some editorial, some drawings, some logos, again I don’t know what I’m getting and I do know I don’t have time to figure it out when I can hire someone else who does the thing I need and just that thing and really well.
TL:DR?
Show your work first. Make it fast. Make it easy to Grok. Make it consistent. Make it yours.
When you’re done, send it to me because it sounds great.
You’re talking about two different kinds of fan art, hero.
1. Dude-approved work-safe cis-het mainstream fan art. Quality and coolness guaranteed. 80s and 90s nostalgia optional. Passes muster at comic book conventions when scrutinized by chinbeards. Sometimes called “mashup” or “remix” or “here’s my minimalist Dune movie poster.” Your bro friends won’t make fun of you for it. Your pals and buds and platonic besties will ask where they can get the t-shirt. Artists sometimes make this kind of fan art “just for fun” when they’re “in between other projects.” Usually sold at places like Threadless and Gallery1988.
This this this. When dudes make fan art, they can get jobs and book deals and t-shirt printings and gallery shows from said fan art, they are respected for their creativity and “reimagining” and “mashups.” When women make fan art, it’s written off as frivolous and embarrassing and a waste of time and talent, something that gross silly fangirls do that potentially ruins shows for dudes (note: unless they make dude-approved “non-embarrassing” fan art.) (Gee, I wonder who the self-appointed tastemakers and gatekeepers are here.) It’s bullshit.
why many male gaze pin ups are more respected than tasteful queer character art.
not even gonna start talking about how female sexualization is more generally accepted in daily life as opposed to male sexualization played off as uncomfortable and generally as a gag by most
^ Agree with these comments.
That pin-up thing is SUPER TRUE. The kind of feedback I get for drawing Nicki Minaj in a bikini versus the kind of feedback I get for drawing Destiel (tasteful, fully-clothed, not obviously ship art) from men is like night and day. They approve of Nicki and call it pop art. They hate the Destiel and wonder why it’s there.
And not even specific to that art—I always gets messages from guys who think I need to draw things for them. Anyone who’s followed me long enough has seem some extraordinary examples of this kind of entitlement.
Basically, it’s okay if the art is for guys and guy-approved. It’s not okay if it’s not. Or maybe it’s okay, but it had better not threaten us. Keep it amongst yourselves, etc.
Even right now—even right as I’m typing this—my followers are dropping like flies, and my inbox is filling up with angry messages. I guess people are shocked or something. Like yeah this is our experience.
The worst part of this scenario is that many women (including yours truly) self censor to appeal to the beards that make decisions about who’s being hired under disguise of having ‘professional’ look to their blog/portfolio website. How many times I was told to not do fanarts, because that doesn’t appeal to powers that are, while in truth, those were always men giving that advice and by “fanart” they meant the kind of art that doesn’t cater to them.
And then I see men doing fanart on conventions, going with sexy pinups to portfolio reviews, doing exactly the thing I was advised against and being praised for it. It puts things into perspective- just likes panels about women in comics without any female panelist; and it’s not good.
