ARS GRATIA ARTIS:: The Lost Art of Illoing

[njpax]

I am a fandom dinosaur. But you know that already. I wonder if there was  a day when the actual dinosaurs - the Brontosaurus and the T. Rex and all the other great beasts - looked out upon their diminishing world and despaired at how much had been changed, how much had been lost. I can't speak for the behemoths, but I can speak for myself and what

Comments

Ars Gratia Artis

[njpax]

Art is a creative expression, and critiqueing it has always been difficult. Odd that I, as a writer, allways found it easier to edit/critique a story than to say what was right or wrong about an illo or drawing. I can only say what I "think" of it, but I'm no judge. We were fortunate, when we were doing Contact, to have a fairly large stabile of artists do draw from (no pun intended!).

Where have all the artists gone? Anyone know or know of their whereabouts? Many GAFIATED, it's true, and as you say, some left for shiny new fandoms. A few have passed away. But then again, new fan artists have joined the ranks, so that's a good thing.

"Quote" ...Illustrating also takes a long time and in online publishing, nobody would wait for that. If stories are illustrated by online friends, it's usually in the order "story published - art follows" AFAIS."Unquote"

This is something I haven't met or encountered before! Story first, illos later?? Come on! And why "can't" readers/publishers wait for artwork to be done? We always did, in the old days. Many zine deadlines were changed because of still missing artwork. Nobody seemed to mind, because they knew the final product would be worth it.

Oh, well -- guess that's what makes me a dinosaur.

Thanks for your insightful comments.

Re: Ars Gratia Artis

[syredronning]

"Story first, illos later?? Come on! And why "can't" readers/publishers wait for artwork to be done? We always did, in the old days."

Because the illo is e.g. a gift from a friend who liked the story. It's not planned or a must-have, as in a print zine. You've got a website? Add anything you want later. Publish the story now, add the art, link a video, add comments, fix typos, rework the ending, link the sequels...publishing online isn't one-shot. It's a more fluid process :)