Things that should go in scraps:

1) snapshots
2) sketches
3) unfinished work

To clarify for anyone who is confused about whether or not their uploads classifies as a deviation or a scrap, i shall go into more detail.


1) snapshots vs. Art Photography

Photography is a form of art. That's why we have several categories for it. That's why we can see beautiful photographs in art galleries and books. However, it is important to note that there is a lot more to Art Photography than simply pointing a camera and clicking. The scene may have to be carefully set up, the lighting adjusted to creat exactly the right level of light and shadow at exactly the right angles. Even spontanious photographs (for example, wildlife photography or photojournalism) takes skill; the person behind the camera has to aim carefully, get the right angle, make sure they are zoomed in at the right level and then time their shot to get the best picture. And then there's processing, which takes even more time and effort.

WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE UPLOADING SNAPSHOPS OF WHATEVER SHIT THEY TOOK 2 SECONDS TO POINT AND CLICK THEIR SHITTY £50 HOLIDAY-SNAPSHOT-CAM AT!?!?!!

Just because there is a section on this website called "Art Photography: Portraits" that does NOT mean you should upload random snapshots of yourself and your friends to it! Just because there is a section on this website called "Art Photography: Animals and Wildlife" that does NOT mean you should upload random snapshots of your pet dog or cat to it! I could go on but I think you get the jist..

"Oh, but it is still art photography," I hear you say, "this picture means a lot to me," well, I beg to differ. The shit you call Art Photography has about as much thought, skill, and passion put into it as being sick in a toilet. But to help make a definition between Art Photography and snapshots, here's a list of questions that you should ask yourself before submitting an image to the Art Photography category.

1) Is the image properly lit? By properly lit, I mean, did you actually put any thought into the lighting? Did you physically set some lights around, and clear the area of anything that made obtrusive shadows? If you didn't, it's a snapshot.

2) Are there random pointless objects around the place? For example, in the picture of your beautiful pet cat, or the image of your friend pulling a silly face, is there a book or a pen or a bottle of pop visible in the background? Or did you clear the area of this clutter? If there are any objects visible around then they should be there for a reason, and "couldn't be bothered to move them" is not a good enough reason. If you have clutter, it's a snapshot.

3) Details. Did you pay attention to them? Did you pick out clothes for your model to wear, and get their hair/make-up/jewelry styled in a certain way? Did you remove the cushion from the chair that's in the shot, throw out the modern lamp shade and replace it with some candles on the table for effect? Or did you just leave the room the way it was anyway? If you did the latter, it's a snapshot.

"But these photographs you call snapshots are a depiction of real everyday life! that makes them art!"

Yes, they are a depiction of real everyday life, and no, that doesn't make them art. If it did, I could upload a scan of a fucking letter to my landlord and claim it is prose.

And, one more point. If you are an art photographer, beginner or expert, and working in a studio or with an on-location set up, take many, many pictures, by all means, you need to in order to find the best ones. But please, please, please, don't upload every fucking picture from your shoot. Professional photographers will discard about 200 images or more for every one they deem acceptable. Not every picture is going to be gold, only a handful will make it to the final. If you simply MUST upload the rejects as well as the good ones, then put them in scraps. Or facebook, that's what it's there for.


2) Sketches

A sketch is what you do before you start really working on a picture. It's sort of like.. a pre-picture picture. You plot the lines and mark out where you want everything to be, but 9 times out of 10, you will eventually erase the sketch later on. While I cannot say "sketches are not art", what they are is incomplete art, they are the germ of art, the very beginnings of a piece. The bulb that has been planted but not yet watered.

Take pride in your gallery and upload your finished and complete images there, but don't litter it with masses and masses of sketches. Would a garden win the flower contest if some of the plants had barely started to grow yet?

That's really all I have to say on that one.

3) Unfinished work

Slightly different to sketches, what I'm getting at here is the people who upload 5 different versions of the same picture, at various stages of it's progress. They upload the sketch, then the lineworked version, then a version with basic colours, then a version with colours and shading, then another version with colours, shading, and highlights, then a final one with a filter background and a border or whatever. This is a bad thing to do because:

a) you swamp your viewers
b) you take the enjoyment out of your gallery for your viewers
c) and the one that probably speaks to most people's hearts; you will get LESS COMMENTS, because people who commented on version 3 might not bother to comment on version 4 and 5 as they won't be able to think of anything else to say!!!

You also spoil any suprise for your viewers; by the time you upload your final piece, everyone already pretty much knows what it's going to look like, so they are not seeing anything new.

I'm not suggestion you shouldn't show the progress of your artwork. On the contrary, I find it really interesting to see how a piece of art has developed but uploading it at every stage of its progress is NOT the way to do it. Here's my suggestion; do not upload the progress at all prior to the finished piece, (unless you really want a critique, in which case put it in your fucking scraps because it's still classified as unfinished art). Simply save a copy of the picture on your computer at various stages of its progress, and stick it in a private folder. When the picture is finished, then you can combine all the work-in-progress images into one image, and upload them all together, this way you avoid swamping people and you also make it easier for the viewer to look at the progress on one page. PUT IT IN SCRAPS, and link it in the description of the finished version.
At least, that's the way I do it, you might have an even better way, but whatever you do, please, for gods sake stop the swamping of the devwatch.

And just for luck: a few other tips and recommendations

1. Clean up your art first. No one wants to see the paper texture and creases.

2. Crop your images. Whether it be a photograph or a drawing or a painting, crop the edges, don't leave white spaces at the sides of your drawing, don't leave empty space around your model.

3. Quality over Quantity. You don't HAVE to submit every single image you ever make, just pick the best ones for display.

4. And finally, PUTTING A BORDER AROUND SOMETHING DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY MAKE IT A WORK OF ART.

Alright, I'm done for now, bring on the flames.