A big thanks to all of you who've been answering questions on /r/ArtFundamentals!
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/5ftgxe/a_big_thanks_to_all_of_you_whove_been_answering/
2016-12-01 00:49
Uncomfortable
Hey folks, been a while since you've heard from me. I just wanted to drop in and thank all of you for being so proactive with responding to community homework submissions and questions. I've been keeping an eye out for those that fell through the cracks, but for the most part, people's questions are getting answered!
I particularly wanted to thank /u/perlatus for being so active on the board, as well as /u/Ezechield, /u/neopatogen, /u/598452, /u/razvanc87, /u/spoopyghost_1 and /u/krankynico. It's one thing to sit quietly and benefit from the material we've shared here, but it's something else entirely to be so eager to help others. Keep it up!
Also, it's worth mentioning that I still have plans to overhaul the figure drawing material. I'm going to have a bit of time off during the holiday season closer to the end of the month (I think) so I'm going to try to take advantage of that and hammer out some of that material. Ultimately where I've had the opportunity to really put the dynamic sketching lessons through their paces with the large number of homework submissions in that area, I haven't had quite the same opportunities to see the specific failings of the figure drawing stuff. Still, I'm developing a good sense of what holes exist there, and now it's just a matter of me figuring out how to pin down my own methodology so I can share it more clearly with the rest of you.
Anyway, keep up all of your great work!
perlatus
2016-12-01 04:45
Cool, thanks for the mention. (Although this is good evidence I should be drawing more and redditing less, haha...)
Jackson622
2016-12-02 01:31
Question RE: the new reddit structure...
How do you think it is going so far? Is it accomplishing what you intended in terms of lowering your work load? Are the posts how you want them to be / thought they would be?
One piece of unsolicitated feedback / opinion is I don't like how your material and posts have gotten buried, particularly the lesson posts. It's not hard to find, but still of note. Is there any merit in having weekly threads for public feedback and/or "lesson specific threads" for public feedback (similar to what you were doing before, if that makes sense?). Edit: and one other area I'm interested in your opinion...most people are submitting to the lessons, but a few threads haven't, some are clearly jumping ahead, seem to have not read/understood the lessons, etc. Do you consider this an acceptable use of the new format?
Uncomfortable
2016-12-02 03:37
I'm pretty content with how things have shifted. The number of critiques I deal with on a monthly basis has gone down by over 50%, and people seem to be much more active in terms of critiquing each other and answering questions which has overall helped the subreddit grow (we just hit 30,000 subscribers!).
It's true that my material gets buried, but it'll always be accessible through the lessons list on the website, as well as on the sidebar. I guess there's the little articles that I write now and then as well, but those are referenced where relevant within the lessons. Most of them are just me rambling anyway.
While it's definitely less organized, I think letting people post directly to the subreddit helps growth and also shows those who are newer that their submissions and question are welcome. Comments are easily buried when there's a lot of them in a given thread, and when people tend to get ignored, others are less likely to bother to try.
As for people jumping around or not following lessons - I wouldn't say it's acceptable as much as inevitable, and ultimately their loss. The instructions are there, and even beginners here are pretty bold in pointing out when someone's trying to interpret the material before they're remotely ready to do so. Beyond being told, it's ultimately their loss if they want to misuse the information being shared.
Ultimately it's definitely not nearly as clean as it used to be, but I'm no longer losing hair over the running of this community, and I'm pleasantly surprised with how well it's been self-moderating. I expected much, much worse.
quarnster2
2016-12-01 11:37
Though being able to explain something is also part of mastery. Combine both by drawing your explanations?
perlatus
2016-12-01 16:19
Yeah, I like this idea.