Danbooru

About art styles

Posted under General

I have a general question about what is and what isn't accepted in regards to diversity in art styles here on Danbooru. I've noticed that while the majority of all works posted are directly influenced by eastern and anime art styles, some are not. While I love and appreciate well done anime art, I also appreciate more representational art, as well as art influenced or inspired by other cultures and methods. So what are the limits on this? I generally understand that we shouldn't be uploading things like say; fine art, classical art, "toons", and modern or post modern art, but what about concept art, illustration and fantasy art? Here are some examples of these styles and genres I am talking about:

http://fischart.com/assets/art/artwork/Prints/SeraAvenger.jpg
http://jonfoster.com/illustration%20images/illustration%20images1%20copy/vampirates_1.37%20copy%20copy.jpg
http://goodbrush.com/cpg146/albums/commercial_projects/book_covers/exile_kiss.jpg
http://justinsweet.com/GALLERY/DETAIL/002_finalice2.jpg
http://jamesjean.com/illustrations/thefallfinish.jpg
http://s186734871.onlinehome.us/web_gallery/galleries/2004-2005/slides/tiger_infantry_small.JPG

So what are your feelings on this? I'd like to know what you think. Especially admins and mods. Are these types of art styles acceptable? If not then what are the limitations to the styles of art in the images we can upload? =)

Updated by 葉月

Well, danbooru is defined to be a general image board, but has shifted to the direction it is going now. I don't mind seeing such art if it's along the good taste.

Some of those pictures are damn fine.

Thanks, I'd like to hear some more opinions about this. I have over 3000 images like the ones posted above, and well over a hundred bookmarked artist sites to source them. I haven't uploaded much except for anime inspired/styled art, but if these types are ok as well, I could create some new artist tags and start uploading some images.

I posted one or two images similar to that and they got accepted (post #152272), but a black and white pseudo-old illustration involving chtulhu (http://www.daikenkai.com/junkboy/blackwhite/pages/bw_cthulhu.html) was rejected cause it was too... chtulhu. After that I decided not to upload black and white images like that one and others in junkboy's gallery there.

I don't think there is an exact 100% guideline as to what is okay and what is not (aside from the guro/yaoi/etc. stuff that is), so I just generally try to upload whatever is amazing art that I think people would appreciate. If it gets rejected, at least it's not for poor quality. :D

While some of those are really cool, particularly the third one (I thought it was a photograph at first), they're just not relevant to Danbooru, in my opinion.

Danbooru was created for and is populated by anime fans almost entirely, so it's best if the material is connected to anime, manga, japanese light novel characters, japanese music (think vocaloid, sound horizon), and to an extent, japanese games.

It's not a hard and fast rule and never can be, but for the most part common sense will tell you what to do.

Extollere,
You seem to have very good judgment. The stuff you've uploaded so far has been great, even if some of it does deviate slightly from the danbooru norm. If you start posting stuff that the community or mods disapprove of, they will let you know. Until then, trust your judgment and the feedback of the other users (in the form of scores and favorites). I personally look look forward to seeing many more of your uploads and their respective sources.

Thanks for those replies. I have one more question for anyone who might know. Is there a chance that we are in anyway, infringing on any unknown copy write rules or laws by uploading images here? I ask because on many sites it is stated that no image may be used outside of the site unless permission is given. I do not know if this applies to a site such as this. As an artist myself I have met some of these people in person before. The last thing I'd ever want to do is to step on any body's toes.

extollere said: I ask because on many sites it is stated that no image may be used outside of the site unless permission is given. I do not know if this applies to a site such as this.

Heh, if we abided by those, there would be no danbooru. Or 4chan. Or 2chan. Or internet >_>

So go ahead and post. Hey, at least we (well, some of us) make huge efforts to give credit to the artist, link to the image, and link to their site. If ever anyone starts pointing fingers, we certainly won't be the first called out.

I don't see a problem with non-doujin culture content (not that I'm in any position to make rules or give comunity-sanctioned opinion), within reason, and the stuff you've been posting so far is excellent. I'd not upload too much off-topic art in one day, though - users who don't want to see it might get annoyed at a flood. Maybe limit yourself to one page of posts per day of off-topic stuff?

extollere said:
I have a general question about what is and what isn't accepted in regards to diversity in art styles here on Danbooru. I've noticed that while the majority of all works posted are directly influenced by eastern and anime art styles, some are not.

Consider, however, that in the early days of the site there was little moderation; we still have pictures from back then that would never get approved now. Posts with low ids should not be mistaken as proof that something is allowed.

Also, "influenced by anime styles" is already too broad. I'd be unhappy if people started posting "anime-style" DeviantArt stuff drawn by random American kids.

While I love and appreciate well done anime art, I also appreciate more representational art, as well as art influenced or inspired by other cultures and methods. So what are the limits on this? I generally understand that we shouldn't be uploading things like say; fine art, classical art, "toons", and modern or post modern art, but what about concept art, illustration and fantasy art? Here are some examples of these styles and genres I am talking about:

I'll respond with my personal opinions:

http://fischart.com/assets/art/artwork/Prints/SeraAvenger.jpg

I think I saw that on a Magic card many years ago. Although I did play MtG at one time, I have no use for fantasy illustrations like that.

http://jonfoster.com/illustration%20images/illustration%20images1%20copy/vampirates_1.37%20copy%20copy.jpg

That's silly. What are Hokusai's waves doing in that picture? And... "Vampirates"? Just no.

http://goodbrush.com/cpg146/albums/commercial_projects/book_covers/exile_kiss.jpg

Cel proceling. I like this one.

http://justinsweet.com/GALLERY/DETAIL/002_finalice2.jpg

I wonder what happened to his shirt, and why he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt in that weather in the first place. But thought-provoking as they may be, I still don't need random fantasy pics.

http://jamesjean.com/illustrations/thefallfinish.jpg

I don't know... there's dynamism, but that seems like the wrong frame for depicting the fall. Anyway, it's not something for danbooru.

http://s186734871.onlinehome.us/web_gallery/galleries/2004-2005/slides/tiger_infantry_small.JPG

Why would you use tigers for infantry? Is it even feasible to keep that many of them? And how would they be used? Each soldier holding his tiger on a leash as the ranks march towards the enemy? I could accept "special tiger unit" or even "tiger cavalry", but "tiger infantry" just makes no sense. He looks more like a warrior than a soldier, anyway. A warrior with a broken leg.

So what are your feelings on this? I'd like to know what you think. Especially admins and mods. Are these types of art styles acceptable? If not then what are the limitations to the styles of art in the images we can upload? =)

Danbooru is focused on japanese artists, with a special attention for hobbyists. It works well for what it is. I think that diluting its focus would make the site and the community less useful for everyone.
That said, I think you can post other kinds of pictures as long as they're very interesting, and few (no floods). Note that I said "interesting" (to the community), not "high quality"; quality is just one of the factors.

You've been posting a lot of great stuff, so I'd like you to continue like you've done so far, without opening the floodgates of fantasy vampire-pirates riding tigers. :-)

Thanks for your opinion. Remember that fantasy art, like many styles of art (anime included) doesn't always make or have to make sense. It is a fantasy, and the limitations of the world the piece resides in is only limited by the artist's intent, or in some cases - such as producing for an art director - someone else's. As to why someone isn't wearing a shirt in cold weather or why tigers would fight next to soldiers, I don't know. Why are there chocobos in the infantry? Why are animals personified and talk in anime? Almost every fictionalized fantasy has it's own flaws in relation to the real world, but I don't think that these attributes take merit from the art piece itself. =) I personally would rather see more art that does not make sense and buy into it, than to be constrained by the questions of logic pertaining to our own reasoning.

No, you see, the problem is not that he's not wearing a shirt, but that his chest and shoulders are white, while his face and arms are tanned. That tells me he's been wearing a short-sleeved shirt, which kind of ruins the "Conan the Barbarian" motif.

That is called "lighting" my friend, which is more at play here than tanning. Even if you were to take this as a tanning issue entirely, who is to say that this barbarian wasn't at some point in his life wearing armor, or a vest, or a ragged tunic, or nordic clothing, as opposed to simply a short-sleeved shirt as you put it. There is some complexion in the forearms, but this isn't uncommon for most people, even Conan.

http://frankfrazetta.org/viewimage.php?loc=ffcolr32.jpg

This is besides the point I was trying to make. Art isn't outside the realm of questioning, but we don't have to question it to accept it. Anime art is no different in this regard, it too has measurable amounts of oddities, flaws and inconsistencies. Just because any given style of art is not your bag doesn't mean it's merit is less than another's. I think you are right however, about Danbooru being a resource site for Japanese artists, and that is the general interest of the site. I am also a little leery about the copy write stuff regarding many western artists, so I'm going to refrain from uploading art like this. After all, there are plenty of other sites to obtain and share images like that, and I still have plenty of Japanese art to upload ;)

thanks for everyone's opinion on this =)

This is a TEST. It has huge TESTicles, producing loads of TESTosterone, enormous bare chest and eats only raw tiger meat for breakfast, that is when not busy fending off elephant infantry using only a stick and a smallish apple.

Move along.

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