Rules for posting in the Art Exchange

[Taralack]

Summary:
The purpose of the Art Exchange is for personal requests for art from people who can't afford otherwise. It is not for people to use people for spec work and pay others for part of the project. For example, asking for a free reference sheet for a fursuit that you are paying someone else for to construct it. It sends a bad message and cheapens artists efforts. It is also being nice for the sake of doing so. You shouldn't expect someone to watch you or get more pageviews if you do a freebie, but "Thank You's" and "Pleases" are the payments and bargaining chips one would need. 

In addition the following rules are important. 

The Art Exchange is to be kept simple for users to follow. 

No contests, raffles or watch farming/comment gathering schemes. 

No Bartering. Unless you are trading creative work, ie writing for art, animation for a reference sheet, music for sketches - please do not trade non creative crafts for free work (ie coupons, gift cards etc...)

No requests for Tattoos. Please hire a tattoo artist to do the flash. 

No Spec Work. The Art Exchange is for personal requests. If you have major projects that usually use commercial work, pay for them.

No requesting for tips. You are doing personal work for free. Tips are optional and up to the discretion of the user. 

No Spamming the forums with multiple requests. If you have been warned and continue to make requests, you will be infracted.

Be polite!

Please note: Do not engage in arguing with people who are rude with requests or chronic beggars. Please report them. They will be handled accordingly.

If you cause too many problems in requests or arguing with people you can find yourself kicked out of the Art part of the forums.

In addition, here are some important guidelines to keep in mind when posting here.

1. The first thing you need to know is that a request is not a commission, a commission is artwork you pay for. If you say "commission" and mention you don't have money to pay for something you end up confusing people. So phrase accordingly!

2. Be polite, most people won't draw for you if you're rude. You don't "need" a drawing, you want it. If you truly needed it you could save up and commission an artist (see above). Remember to say please and thank you! Artists love to be thanked.

3. Include a description, otherwise the artists won't know what to do! Don't expect someone to hunt through your gallery for reference, bring it to them directly. Including very little or no description will not get you what you want. Also, if you have actually been reading and give me this word-- Floof --In a reply I will give the first five (er, six) people a sketch request. Update: FLOOFING COMPLETE.

4. Don't expect full color, full shaded, masterpieces. Some folks are nice enough to do that for a perfect stranger, but don't feel bad if you just get a sketch. Artwork, especially well refined pieces, take time, not everyone has it to spare.

5. Try not to bump your thread a lot, chances are it has been read (you can even see if it has by how many views it has). If you don't get any responces, well, better luck next time. It's bad form to keep bumping or reposting your thread. Which brings me to...

6. Check out those "taking requests" threads! Chances are someone will be happy to draw something for you there. Be sure to note when the thread was posted and look to see if the artist has said they aren't taking requests anymore first though.

7. Don't pester the artist or beg in your post. Just because someone said they might doesn't mean they absolutely will. Things happen, people forget, and people lose free time they thought they had. It's for free, so pestering or trying to play the pity game them doesn't make them want to do it any more quickly. This goes hand in hand with politeness.

8. Please, spell things properly (or nearly so if you can) and use grammar. No one wants to read a description that goes something like: "ok so shes 10 ft tal an has lots of mussls an has a blak bra an panties an she is a leperd w/blak fur an blu eyes." It makes you look like you're five. Stop that. Paragraphs are important, make use of that enter key!

9. Don't specifically ask for a 'good' artist, in all likelyhood you'll only offend. Again, don't expect masterpieces. Don't expect someone honoring your request to be a super artist or even a very experienced one.

10. This goes with the above, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If you get a sketch and it's a little off, be thankful even if it is somewhat inaccurate. If the artist asks "is this okay?" then consider it an invitation to point out what you think needs pointing out, just be nice about it rather than harsh.

11. Don't ask for a request or trade if an artist's list is full. They have lists for a reason, and if they have a waiting list then it is okay to ask. Otherwise, wait until a slot opens up.
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For those tl;dr folks: A request isn't a commission so don't call it one, be polite, have a description (and reference art if you got it), expect sketches and not masterpieces, don't bump/repost your thread a lot, and look for request threads.

NOTE AGAIN
Do not engage in arguing with people who are rude with requests or chronic beggars. Please report them. They will be handled accordingly.

If you cause too many problems in requests or arguing with people you may be banned from the Art Shack.