Mondaily

[ellenmillion]

Business as Usual

2009 may go down in my log book as 'the year of the purge.' Next up on the chopping block: Fantastic Portfolios

I am not entirely sure what happened here... the core group I recruited was wildly enthusiastic... for about 6 months. People were gung-ho about submitting to it... and never did. I feel like this is currently dead weight that I'm dragging forward on my own, having to nag and nag and remind about.

Is anyone still interested in it? I think the concept is gold - where else can you get FREE, thorough, detailed and private critique? It's HARD getting (or giving!) public critique - so much of what you say is colored by who you're saying it to and who else is seeing it. (I'm sure most of us have stories about getting bitten by trying to give helpful critique by a totally uninvolved third party who didn't understand the concept of critique and thought they were riding to the rescue...) I've tried to be really responsive about how the critiques and submissions are handled, but... maybe there's just not much interest in the concept. I've sure loved what I get from it myself (scroll down for results!), but I'm not enough of an audience all by my lonesome and I'm not enough of a workforce.

IF you are interested, would you be interested in critiquing? Or submitting? If we go forward, we are need to refresh the critics pool, and I'd need some fresh blood to make that happen...

In other news, orders are piling up by my door to go out, but I am at work right now.

Art and Authoring

I had to scan this piece today to hand over the original. That's a good thing - I've found seven more things I want to do to it, and would NEVER be done. (Much of this, note, is due to the great advice from the Fantastic Portfolios critics!)



Home and health

This weekend (and so far, this week) has been made of frustration. Finishing the stairwell? They were out of tongue and groove, no stairwell for us. So, we got a new showerhead... and the wrong attachment. ARGH. Lunch with Catie? Squashed. Sunday plans? Was in at work*.

Planning

Work. Orders. Packing. Cleaning. Do not plan to stop moving until I board the plane Wednesday morning.


*Another rant, but not a public one...

Comments

[shellstar-art.livejournal.com]

I really like Fantastic Portfolios! I was waiting until I could submit a portfolio again, which is january I think. I've found the critiques on what I've submitted in the past hugely helpful, in fact they have changed the way I paint for the better and highlighted some issues that I wasn't seeing myself but were obvious once pointed out :)

[jeliza]

I've always loved the idea of Fantastic Portfolios, especially the critiques (like Critters, but for artists!), but this hasn't been a year I could realistically add another online commitment and be sure I could follow through.

[kerstitch.livejournal.com]

I think the Fantastic Portfolios is a great idea! If I had gotten further along in my own artwork, I would be submitting. I am always looking for constructive criticism. As it is, yet another hand injury is delaying that.

I don't know if anyone would consider me an eligible critic. My qualifications would only be as a long-time fantasy art consumer who pays a lot of attention to detail, colour and emotion in artwork. But if I can help in that capacity, I would.

[valdary.livejournal.com]

Got ill halfway through, then had forgotten where I was intending to go artistically with portfolio pieces, or had fallen out with them.

Realistically I don't think I have drive at moment to put it together, one piece at time maybe but not a set.

Every time I start to get into a project I'm back into hospital. Didn't do last few planned Tornworld competition pieces for that reason

[pixiewildflower.livejournal.com]

Very lovely piece!

[faebyl.livejournal.com]

I love Fantastic portfolios, I think people just need to be reminded of it again, I know you have to wait six months before you can submit again so I think some people forget, but the citiques are fantastic and thats what we all need i think, some honest, hard love critiques, I know I'll be submitting again, it's made me so much of a better painter, I just keep trying to be better and better:). I do understand about it being too much work, but maybe spreading the word around again will help, especially for the new artists out there, again, I'll be submitting again. hope that helped a bit:)

Jenny Heidewald

[(Anonymous)]

I keep forgetting about FP as well. :\ Maybe a email reminder when a persons 6 months are up for submitting? Or an e-mail when new art is up for looking at? :)

[metasilk.livejournal.com]

I love Fantastic Protfolios, because it encourages me to stretch.

However, the whole kid (and now two) thing plus the desperately behind on work (let alone invoicing) has drastically slowed me down. Which puts me in the lame (and personally frustrating) position of wanting something to continue without the ability to help it do so and without making enough time to paint, to do the very stretchy thing that FP has encouraged me toward! (At least I can more or less fill in some months on the EMGzine calendar every 2-3 months, which is probably the most volunteer stretch I can manage at present.)