yourwaifuisagr-mlin:

dokan-satoshi: officialbirdhouse: officialbirdhouse: Alright, actually, I’ve got some serious thoughts on this issue, so bear with me while I try to express them coherently. I really don’t like to criticize artists for style choices, and I think everybody should just be able to draw what they want, but I think there are some things that need to be said about styles that purposefully feature intentionally ugly, character-warping traits, like the now-infamous Kill La Kill fanart that’s been floating around, which I will include here for reference. (I have yet to find a source on this picture, if anyone has one please tell me because I think art needs to be credited even if, or rather especially if it is being criticized.) It’s obvious to anyone who is familiar with the characters that this is a gross (gross as in obvious or very pronounced, not gross as in disgusting) misrepresentation of what they look like. One character has even had their race changed for no reason, which smells like fetishization to me. Lots of people, including me, have expressed that they think this style is ugly, and said they don’t like it. To which others have responded, “THIS IS LITERALLY CENSORSHIP!” It’s not. Everyone is well within their rights to draw what they want, and everyone is also well within their rights to criticize art styles they do not like. Now, there is a bit if a soft rule in the art community that if you don’t like something about someone’s art, it’s probably best to just move on and not voice your displeasure, to avoid upsetting or discouraging artists, who very often struggle to stay confident and motivated (a feeling anyone who knows me at all is well aware I struggle with.) However, this style is intentionally provocative. It is clear from looking at this that the characters being unattractive and strange-looking was a mindful choice on the part of the artist. It’s a social statement - the characters have almost all been placed into some minority group they aren’t canonically part of, and intentionally made to look, well, pretty ugly. So it’s kind of stupid to say that it’s censorship to criticize an artstyle that was crafted to attract criticism. Unlike some other incidents that have happened with artists here on tumblr, no one (that i have seen) is demanding that this be taken down, doxxing the artist, or telling them to die/kill themselves. They’re simply expressing that it’s ugly and they don’t like it. And that isn’t censorship. @dokan-satoshi @boyonetta Thoughts? Pretty much spot on with how I feel.

With criticizing a style, not the artist themselves, it definitely isn’t censoring artists who draw in that style. It’s just people vocalizing what they like or don’t like. Specially if it’s someone you admire as an artist, what they say in terms of what they like or dislike isn’t law. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad artist or that you should stop drawing how you want to. Nope y’all censorship apologists. Also, the original context was made to mock the tumblr style. They weren’t trying to “fetishize” anything. Just admit that y’all have double standards. Drawing fat character skinny is okay, but DON’T DRAW MY ANIME WAIFUS WITH LEG HAIR. Also, just because you aren’t doxxing doesn’t mean you aren’t censoring. What you’re saying is, “I don’t like that, change it” WHICH IS LITERALLY CENSORSHIP. That is what happened with Tracer!!! #ArtistGate

I’m going to try to explain this to you as carefully and tactfully as possible, and I’m going to hope that you can remain civil, and hear me out.

I first want to address the allegations of “drawing fat characters skinny”. This was something taken part in mostly by trolls after the zamii070 incident. Those of us that you’re currently addressing here did not support or agree with it. It should be remembered, however, that zamii attempted suicide due to bullying over alleged “fatphobia” because others perceived a single image that was not even full-body to be “too skinny”. A single arm was the basis for this. They created over 40 different blogs devoted entirely to stalking, harrassing, and mocking a teenage girl over fan art. With this context in mind, it’s easier to see why some people might retaliate in her name. Even so, it was not a widely agreed-upon practice, especially after it attracted the attention of trolls looking for entertainment.

As for the “tumblr art style”, it is honestly more a point of contention for having oddly-specific traits across numerous artists. The main criticism is the fact that these traits seem to be applied to EVERY character, regardless of origin, and regardless of any consideration at all for the creators’ vision. There is not adequate justification for how or why they are still the character they’re claimed to be, because their identity is wholly disregarded. This is where it turns into fetishization, as opposed to interpretation. As I stated earlier today, there’s a difference between “This is how I like to think of this character!” , and “This is how I think of EVERY character!”. It’s going by a specific mold, and stamping it on everything you see. For as much as it claims to be working under the guise of diversity, it’s actually taking every character, and going “Okay…stocky body, hairy legs, oversized colored nose, colored knees and elbows, and random insertion of race/gender identity/sexuality. Nailed it!”.

It comes off as forced, contrived, and yes–fetishistic. It also comes from a place of bitterness at the world, and refusal to accept things any other way than in a way that reflects themselves, and their standards. As an artist, that is not an attitude that will ever take you very far, and it’s a sign that the artist has some growing to do, and definitely has room for improvement. As a woman, it personally makes me feel as though I’m not allowed to enjoy designs that are more aesthetically pleasing, and–conversly–that there’s something inherently wrong with BEING “pretty”. As a bisexual, the careless use of sexuality as an aesthetic feels objectifying and insulting. As someone who’s half Lebanese, it feels like ethnicity/culture is being treated like spice–being sprinkled on everything willy-nilly without valid explanation.

Now, at this time, I’d like to point out that I am someone that is very comfortable with others’ headcanons and ideas. I embrace many ideas when it comes to humanized My Little Pony characters, for example (I have a post discussing this, but I’m not able to do much when posting from Internet Explorer on an Xbox 360 while my computer is in pieces in the other room being worked on). Obviously, there’s more room for creativity when working with characters that aren’t even human to begin with. Nonetheless, I’ve seen race and gender-based headcanons that did not cross the line before, because those people still made an effort to incorporate what makes the character who they are (I remember seeing a very cute interpretation of the Pines twins from Gravity Falls as black, but I can’t remember the artist). They introduced a possibility, and did not act as if they were merely filling a quota to appeal to (or appease) certain demographics.

In our criticism, we are not telling any of these artists that they need to stop, or that they absolutely HAVE to change. We are presenting our impressions of their work, and they are free to take it with a grain of salt. We’re also allowed to point out, “Oh hey, this same batch of stylistic choices keeps popping up in multiple artists’ work. That’s kind of odd”. Clearly, these people have artistic talent, and if they have an audience for it, then that’s fine. I guess we just don’t happen to be that audience.

TL;DR: It is a significant number of artists all adopting the same set of strangely specific traits, and applying them across the board with no regard to character recognition or integrity. In the process, they are fetishizing race, gender, and sexuality as though it were a fashion choice, and it comes off to the viewer as very shallow. That notwithstanding, they still have a right to draw what they want–our words aren’t stopping them. But, perhaps they might think to use these traits more judiciously, and might improve as artists in the process. It is always good for an artist to branch out and explore, especially if their work seems derivative of others.



(via kyuuti-hanii-deactivated2017020)