So basically I've been trying out furry art for a while and was considering uploading one or two to test the waters. Just wanted an idea from people, is uploading to e621 exclusively advised/not advised? Any traps I need to be aware of? Is watermarking/artist protection a problem? Do I tag myself as the artist? (I know it sounds obvious but it feels weird, humble brit is humble)

Basically it's a big ocean and I want a little coaching before I jump in so I don't make a rookie mistake or upset anyone, thanks.

Ryann said:
So basically I've been trying out furry art for a while and was considering uploading one or two to test the waters. Just wanted an idea from people, is uploading to e621 exclusively advised/not advised? Any traps I need to be aware of? Is watermarking/artist protection a problem? Do I tag myself as the artist? (I know it sounds obvious but it feels weird, humble brit is humble)

Basically it's a big ocean and I want a little coaching before I jump in so I don't make a rookie mistake or upset anyone, thanks.

Only upload your art for awhile, then take it down after the traffic boost. There, that's my advice.

Ryann said:
So basically I've been trying out furry art for a while and was considering uploading one or two to test the waters. Just wanted an idea from people, is uploading to e621 exclusively advised/not advised? Any traps I need to be aware of? Is watermarking/artist protection a problem? Do I tag myself as the artist? (I know it sounds obvious but it feels weird, humble brit is humble)

Basically it's a big ocean and I want a little coaching before I jump in so I don't make a rookie mistake or upset anyone, thanks.

For the most part if it's clear that you put some legitimate effort into it, and it appears to have a purpose, nearly any piece of work is accepted. it can be a sketch, ink with flats, fully shaded, etc. One thing I would try and avoid tho is doing the "out there" fetishes, at least if you're looking/hoping for positive feedback. Yes, you can tag yourself, though I'd wait until you have several pics posted. If you're looking for feedback on whether a pic is good or not, judge it by the amount of faves it gets, and not just upvotes. And lastly, if someone gives you crap in the comments, don't take the bait. Respectfully respond, or report it and move on, some random dude isn't worth a record.

SirBrownBear said:
For the most part if it's clear that you put some legitimate effort into it, and it appears to have a purpose, nearly any piece of work is accepted. it can be a sketch, ink with flats, fully shaded, etc. One thing I would try and avoid tho is doing the "out there" fetishes, at least if you're looking/hoping for positive feedback. Yes, you can tag yourself, though I'd wait until you have several pics posted. If you're looking for feedback on whether a pic is good or not, judge it by the amount of faves it gets, and not just upvotes. And lastly, if someone gives you crap in the comments, don't take the bait. Respectfully respond, or report it and move on, some random dude isn't worth a record.

Thanks! That was quite reassuring. I don't think I have anything particularly out-there so it should be fine. I don't suppose this is the place to expect constructive critisim in the comments but it may help me get my eye in.

Ryann said:
Thanks! That was quite reassuring. I don't think I have anything particularly out-there so it should be fine. I don't suppose this is the place to expect constructive critisim in the comments but it may help me get my eye in.

Not usually, you'll mostly get compliments, "complaints", or people going into detail about what they would like to do to/with said character.

SirBrownBear said:
Not usually, you'll mostly get compliments, "complaints", or people going into detail about what they would like to do to/with said character.

Sounds about right. Next is the mammoth task of learning to tag correctly... So daunting. especially when I see how many people complain if 'x' tag is missing.

Ryann said:
Sounds about right. Next is the mammoth task of learning to tag correctly... So daunting. especially when I see how many people complain if 'x' tag is missing.

As long as it's not a obvious or needed tag, most dudes won't notice. Gender, species, artist, and character tags (if character has a name) are definitely needed.

If you need more help, you can always read this

Constructive criticism is usually something you have to ask for, here and elsewhere. Don't expect it to be given easily, either.

People often don't know why they like or dislike something, so only a subset of viewers can really help to begin with. The more someone knows about art in general, the more helpful they tend to be. (As an aside, I am definitely NOT an advocate of the "you can't criticize because you can't do better" mentality, and that's not what I'm saying here. Just saying good artists usually, but not always, have a better analytical eye for this sort of thing)

Also, often artists take criticism, constructive or not, badly. And yes, even when they ask for it. Some artists will ask for criticism in the same way as some people will say "I'm so ugly". They're fishing for compliments. Having people react badly to criticism is one reason some people are hesitant to give it. (Note that not all criticism is valid, and there's nothing inherently wrong with disagreeing with a critique, as long as you are polite, and at least give it an appropriate amount of consideration before deciding you disagree)

Here, especially, constructive criticism may be hard to come by, because often it is not the artist themselves uploading a piece of art. Why would someone try to help an artist who may not even realize that their art is here, and won't even see the critique? Again, this goes back to having to ask.

Finally... I would advise, don't worry about low scores on your art. As you said, you are just starting out. Consider you will be compared, at least in some sense, to artists who make a living through their art. Keep in mind that everyone starts somewhere. Just focus on practicing and improving.

TheHuskyK9 said:
As long as it's not a obvious or needed tag, most dudes won't notice. Gender, species, artist, and character tags (if character has a name) are definitely needed.

If you need more help, you can always read this

Thanks. Actually, on that topic, is there a standard word for a creature with an aquatic tail but no legs? For example a shark with anthro arms and torso, but a shark lower body. I find they are rather lacking besides the odd mermaid and are a favourite of mine. I'm not aware of any standard word like there is for 'taur'.

Clawdragons said:
Constructive criticism is usually something you have to ask for, here and elsewhere. Don't expect it to be given easily, either.

People often don't know why they like or dislike something, so only a subset of viewers can really help to begin with. The more someone knows about art in general, the more helpful they tend to be. (As an aside, I am definitely NOT an advocate of the "you can't criticize because you can't do better" mentality, and that's not what I'm saying here. Just saying good artists usually, but not always, have a better analytical eye for this sort of thing)

Also, often artists take criticism, constructive or not, badly. And yes, even when they ask for it. Some artists will ask for criticism in the same way as some people will say "I'm so ugly". They're fishing for compliments. Having people react badly to criticism is one reason some people are hesitant to give it. (Note that not all criticism is valid, and there's nothing inherently wrong with disagreeing with a critique, as long as you are polite, and at least give it an appropriate amount of consideration before deciding you disagree)

Here, especially, constructive criticism may be hard to come by, because often it is not the artist themselves uploading a piece of art. Why would someone try to help an artist who may not even realize that their art is here, and won't even see the critique? Again, this goes back to having to ask.

Finally... I would advise, don't worry about low scores on your art. As you said, you are just starting out. Consider you will be compared, at least in some sense, to artists who make a living through their art. Keep in mind that everyone starts somewhere. Just focus on practicing and improving.

Criticism here isn't even worth listening to, don't even ask for it. Everyone here is pretty spineless and lack the brain power and proper english skills to give it properly.

I honestly see more people get angry because the anatomy and stuff is correct than anything. And I do mean angry, like literally pissed off at it, rather than legitimately giving valid criticism. They just vent their anger without a purpose. I think they're mostly just jealous of people with artistic skills.

It's that whole internet fuckwad theory thing in action. Furries are notoriously bad people, and the ones that look at furry porn and yet claim they "aren't really furries" are even worse about it.

Clawdragons said:
Constructive criticism is usually something you have to ask for, here and elsewhere. Don't expect it to be given easily, either...

Thanks for everything you've said. While I'm new to furry art I'm by no means new to art itself, though I don't make a living from it. I have other accounts on different sites but I didn't want to mix this kind of art with that, hense looking here. I'm also rather used to the trolls so I should be fine. The format and audience of e621 is just rather different than I'm used to so I really appreciate the reassurance at this stage.

Clawdragons said:
Constructive criticism is usually something you have to ask for, here and elsewhere. Don't expect it to be given easily, either.

People often don't know why they like or dislike something, so only a subset of viewers can really help to begin with. The more someone knows about art in general, the more helpful they tend to be. (As an aside, I am definitely NOT an advocate of the "you can't criticize because you can't do better" mentality, and that's not what I'm saying here. Just saying good artists usually, but not always, have a better analytical eye for this sort of thing)

Also, often artists take criticism, constructive or not, badly. And yes, even when they ask for it. Some artists will ask for criticism in the same way as some people will say "I'm so ugly". They're fishing for compliments. Having people react badly to criticism is one reason some people are hesitant to give it. (Note that not all criticism is valid, and there's nothing inherently wrong with disagreeing with a critique, as long as you are polite, and at least give it an appropriate amount of consideration before deciding you disagree)

Here, especially, constructive criticism may be hard to come by, because often it is not the artist themselves uploading a piece of art. Why would someone try to help an artist who may not even realize that their art is here, and won't even see the critique? Again, this goes back to having to ask.

Finally... I would advise, don't worry about low scores on your art. As you said, you are just starting out. Consider you will be compared, at least in some sense, to artists who make a living through their art. Keep in mind that everyone starts somewhere. Just focus on practicing and improving.

I know a few good artists that use this site solely for criticism. Like they don't upload it themselves but they check the posts comments.

SirBrownBear said:
Not usually, you'll mostly get compliments, "complaints", or people going into detail about what they would like to do to/with said character.

As is the case on virtually every furry art dumping place.

It's not particularly disadvised to upload here exclusively, but aside from putting contact info into your user profile (which almost nobody will view), you can't really make your own gallery with your own space for journals and art folders, though perhaps your artist tag could be considered a folder. Still, if you want to eventually earn some money by taking commissions through a page where people who know you can always find you (as well as info like "I'm open for commissions nao! Check for details"), FA and the likes are far more suited for that purpose.

E6 is great for getting some much-needed exposure as a no name artist though, because the functional and extensive tagging system means that people will actually find (or happen upon) your stuff after it's been booted off the first few pages. That is one of FA's biggest shortcomings, and while you can make decent tags yourself, almost nobody there uses the search because almost no artist tags their shit beyond the extreme basics (or they'll enter some witty garbage instead of tags). SoFurry, Weasyl and Inkbunny are a bit better in that respect, but don't generate as much traffic.

I would just post stuff here and on one of those sites, but it's up to you. Oh, and don't you worry about making yourself an artist tag, that's what they're for.

Jugofthat said:
As is the case on virtually every furry art dumping place.

It's not particularly disadvised to upload here exclusively, but aside from putting contact info into your user profile (which almost nobody will view), you can't really make your own gallery with your own space for journals and art folders, though perhaps your artist tag could be considered a folder. Still, if you want to eventually earn some money by taking commissions through a page where people who know you can always find you (as well as info like "I'm open for commissions nao! Check for details"), FA and the likes are far more suited for that purpose.

E6 is great for getting some much-needed exposure as a no name artist though, because the functional and extensive tagging system means that people will actually find (or happen upon) your stuff after it's been booted off the first few pages. That is one of FA's biggest shortcomings, and while you can make decent tags yourself, almost nobody there uses the search because almost no artist tags their shit beyond the extreme basics. SoFurry, Weasyl and Inkbunny are a bit better in that respect, but don't generate as much traffic.

I would just post stuff here and on one of those sites, but it's up to you. Oh, and don't you worry about making yourself an artist tag, that's what they're for.

Yeah, that is the disadvantage of this place, though like I say, I'm here to test the waters. If I get a positive response I may open commissions on another site, I'll need to explore. I've only onced braved FA many many years ago and I was young and so very confused. So far I've got along mostly with DA and word of mouth. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it I guess.

Well, for that this can be a decent place. People tend to be a bit more critical and blunt than usual, but if it's good art that will usually get recognized. Don't expect to see many comments if there isn't something funny to point out or if there's no erotic content, though.

And as Clawdragons pointed out, (attempts at) constructive criticism will usually only be given if asked for, but that only makes sense really.

Oh, and the aquatic lower body thing... You've actually got me stumped there. :/ ...Merman or mermaid, perhaps?

post #332246 post #108894 post #725298

There's a few posts there with anthro upper bodies instead of your typical human-on-a-fish, so I guess this would be it.

Jugofthat said:
Oh, and the aquatic lower body thing... You've actually got me stumped there. :/ ...Merman or mermaid, perhaps?

post #332246 post #108894 post #725298

There's a few posts there with anthro upper bodies instead of your typical human-on-a-fish, so I guess that would be it.

Oh, that last one escaped my radar! Thank you!
Do you think it'd be possible to create a tag for that? Maybe 'merm' or something. I've no idea how you go about making something like that official but I'm likely to do a lot more of it in the future. Aquatic anthros with legs I'll admit are one of my pet peeves, along with snakes with legs and birds with dicks, but that's my zoologist showing.

Don't know, but if they're going to resemble these three, I suppose it'd be fine to put them under the merman or mermaid tags (the wikis only mention humanoids, but perhaps they're outdated). Though I'll probably make a suggestion thread to alias them both to merfolk, since we're actually supposed to eliminate gender-exclusive tags in favor of a universal tag + gender. Guess these fell under the radar. Somewhere tomorrow though, I'm off to bed.

_{edit: There seem to be a bunch of people on legs under merfolk, so this opens another can of worms. But again, not now.}

If your concept of aquatic anthros actually differs a lot from what's currently under these tags however, you're always allowed to make a thread to discuss the idea of a seperate tag, no prob. :)

TheHuskyK9 said:
I know a few good artists that use this site solely for criticism. Like they don't upload it themselves but they check the posts comments.

Thinking about it a bit more, that does make some sense. Though I still think there's a bit of a distinction between criticism given with the intent of having the artist improve, and criticism just thrown out about what you don't like about a picture. Both can be useful in their own way though. Still, again, fair point.

Ozelot said:
the ones that look at furry porn and yet claim they "aren't really furries" are even worse about it.

I look at furry porn and don't consider myself a furry.

That said, I have seen people get angry about correct anatomy (at least, correct genital anatomy, especially for females). I rather like correct anatomy, so that can be a bit of a pain.

Your first paragraph was silly to me. We don't even have any common ground to discuss it, I think.

Ryann said:
snakes with legs and birds with dicks

Actually, some birds have dicks and some snakes have legs. Though admittedly bird penises are significantly different than mammal penises (among other things, they fill with lymphatic fluid rather than blood), and though some snakes may have legs, they are tiny and vestigial.

Ryann said:
Sounds about right. Next is the mammoth task of learning to tag correctly... So daunting. especially when I see how many people complain if 'x' tag is missing.

Tagging SERIOUSLY isnt that hard. The only thing hard about it is that you need to use your brain a little bit.
All you're doing is typing out what exactly is in your image. You're the one that drew it, so you know exactly what's in it. You don't have to be uber specific and tag the design on a blanket, or the type of thread used to make it, but the obvious things in it. Example; If there's a portrait on the wall that contains a character, you tag that character. If there's also a dildo in that picture, however small you draw it, then you tag the dildo. Just remember what you drew in the image and tag it, if there's anything super specific that needs tagged, I'm sure the professionals will gladly help you out.

Jugofthat said:
Though I'll probably make a suggestion thread to alias them both to merfolk

Thanks for the reminder. I was actually planning to put this through a while back but must have gotten sidetracked.

Alias: mermaid, merman -> merfolk (approved)

parasprite said:
Thanks for the reminder. I was actually planning to put this through a while back but must have gotten sidetracked.

Alias: mermaid, merman -> merfolk (approved)

Oh, alright then!

https://e621.net/wiki/show?title=merfolk

Guess the wiki needs a rewrite, because atm it implies that the tag should be specifally used for Magic the Gathering's merfolk race.

Also, is this then the right tag for anthropomorphs with marine lower bodies? Because the tag now basically has a mix of three things:

• Said semi-anthro characters
• The classic human/fish hybrid
• Marine humanoids (sometimes even bipeds) that are entirely their own fantasy species.

Not a problem with me, but it could be a slight one for people like TC who only wish to see the first and perhaps second category. Would it be an idea to make a tag that denotes if a character has a fishtail?

Though, uh, scrolling through that new tag, I have to say the bipedal third ones are pretty few and far between, so perhaps it's not that neccessary. What I think would be very useful though, is aiming to always use anthro on the first variety and humanoid (or human but probably not) on the second.

parasprite said:
Thanks for the reminder. I was actually planning to put this through a while back but must have gotten sidetracked.

Alias: mermaid, merman -> merfolk (approved)

god finally. thank you!

Clawdragons said:
Actually, some birds have dicks and some snakes have legs. Though admittedly bird penises are significantly different than mammal penises (among other things, they fill with lymphatic fluid rather than blood), and though some snakes may have legs, they are tiny and vestigial.

Don't worry, I'm quite aware of that, I am in fact actually a zoologist :)
I don't consider myself a furry either, I like it as a creative medium and love the art, costumes etc. that comes out of the furry community but I think being a furry comes with a certain state of mind that I don't have.

Rayzr said:
Tagging SERIOUSLY isnt that hard. The only thing hard about it is that you need to use your brain a little bit.

I imagine I'd be fine, I just wouldn't necessarily know the exact correct tag, like with this whole mermaid/merfolk/marinefolk thing. I'll get it with work but it's still a bit daunting.

Jugofthat said:

Not a problem with me, but it could be a slight one for people like TC who only wish to see the first and perhaps second category. Would it be an idea to make a tag that denotes if a character has a fishtail?

Having merfolk alone isn't so bad, they're similar enough I guess. Most of the marine tail anthros tend to just be tagged as their species so finding them is tricky. If we can come up with something I'd definitely appreciate it though! They're possibly my favourite kind of anthro. Thinking of an appropriate term is really hard though...

TheHuskyK9 said:
I know a few good artists that use this site solely for criticism. Like they don't upload it themselves but they check the posts comments.

I've found its a pretty good place for honest feedback. Sure its not always constructive, but if people don't like something they'll let it be known here. People on my FA gallery don't want to be rude, but e6 users often don't even realize I read the comments so they're much more blunt, and I can actually appreciate that :P

@Ryann: as I said above, users can come off as rude sometimes, but more usually they're just being truthful and not filtering their comments, try not to take anything too personally. if you want real constructive criticism make a forum post asking specifically, there are a few artists who lurk around here, and many others who can offer knowledgeable critique as well