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Of relatives and galleries


Valery91Thunder
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During a family reunion today, my mom somehow started talking about my graphical works and my aunt and uncle got interested into it; it's not that they didn't know I draw cartoons for money, and they've even seen a couple of drawings I've completed time ago, but this time, as they finally have their own internet connection at home, they've asked if I had a website address.

Being the nervous and anxious wreck that I am, I told I would have sent the address via their email, then rushed to the PC as soon as I could to try make a free website with a couple of my pics as quick as possible. I tried both creating a Flavors.me and a separate Tumblr account, but they both looked trashy and the whole thing made me feel stupid, so I scrapped that idea. The point is, I was trying to come up with a way to show my aunt and uncle some drawings I've made without giving them the ability to roam free into a main gallery of mine and look at whatever other uploads are there. Kinda like when you want to show a pic on your phone to people, but god forbid if they start swiping through the whole gallery on their own.

The problem isn't even about, say, porn-y or fetish-y drawings because I don't even do those themes, it's just that... I don't know, I don't feel comfortable with sharing such stuff with family. I thought about linking them my DA gallery, because I use it for personal art only and not commissions, but I still don't feel comfortable with that.

For starters, even if the content isn't NSFW I still don't know if some more horror-ish scenes I've drawn might generate comments from them; I mean, even though I consider my stuff pretty cartoony and harmless, I still wouldn't use it for kids' books.
Second, there's something that really irks me about being conscious that a family member knows and may follow what you're uploading online, like I wouldn't feel free to share some kind of content I'd like to, at the moment, because I think that a relative might see it. I don't have relatives added on Facebook, but I think the sensation would be pretty similar for whatit concerns posts, likes and reblogs. It would ultimately lead me to abandon a certain account in favour of something more "sheltered" to be active on.

And this is where I ask myself, am I being too anxious about this, or thinking too much into it? Are there people who share the same feelings about this kind of situation and keep their personal webspaces "secret", or maybe the others just don't care about it? Doesn't this this fall into "privacy" stuff, or not?
It's just something I wanted to get off my chest, and hear what you guys thought about similar matters. Discuss, I guess.

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I flipped through your dA, and your stuff is pretty cartoony to really warrant any "OH NOEZ", at least in my opinion. I'm not much of a judge on that kinda shit though.

I get the worry. My close family follow some of my stuff, or basically what I post on FB, but to think of them seeking it out feels a little odd. At the same time, it is cool when people are actually interested in your artwork.

Could you make a separate dA account and just upload the things you're comfortable with sharing there? Dunno how dA treats duplicates or if the site even gives a fuck.

Other option is to go to something like squarespace and make a site that way. If you're really doing a lot of drawing/commissions it might be a good idea to have a personal website. As far as software goes, it's easy as fuck to use (drag and drop kinda thing), though perhaps a little more spendy than alternatives.

Edit: also, I like your artwork :3

Edited by Conker
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I flipped through your dA, and your stuff is pretty cartoony to really warrant any "OH NOEZ", at least in my opinion. I'm not much of a judge on that kinda shit though.

I'm mostly trying to view my stuff from the point of view of someone who is real new to the internet culture and of course, completely oblivious to the whole furry thing. I suppose the animal characters would be viewed exactly as any other Disney/WB/Anime cartoons because there's a plethora of them on TV, but maybe those couple f zombie-themed drawings, or the characters who are dressed in a more tough/rebel manner could drive them to raise an eyebrow, I dunno.

    Could you make a separate dA account and just upload the things you're comfortable with sharing there? Dunno how dA treats duplicates or if the site even gives a fuck.

Considering that DA has a lot of options for what it concerns gallery personalizations, there's also a way to partly "hide" some of the uploads by marking the ones you primarly want to show as "Featured".
Of course, this would also mean that I'd have to go through my whole gallery and remark everything, and once I'm done, even I wouldn't be able to see what I've hidden as long as I don't check the "view all" option, which not even most of the actual DA users do, and that would mean losing quite a lot of exposure on such pieces (also considering that it's getting hard to get exposure on that kinda site).

It's either showing everything or sacrificing some drawings to a full exposure: guess I can't have the cake and eat it too :P

Other option is to go to something like squarespace and make a site that way. If you're really doing a lot of drawing/commissions it might be a good idea to have a personal website. As far as software goes, it's easy as fuck to use (drag and drop kinda thing), though perhaps a little more spendy than alternatives.

The idea of having a completely independent (from online galleries), new and separate webspace to act as a portfolio and a more professional page to show people and real-life customers has been buzzing in my head for quite some time; I mean, with a personal gallery I'd still like to have the freedom to post even shitty doodles from time to time, but a professional portfolio would show only the best.
That's partly why my first choice was to make a Flavors.me (I saw it used by a couple of guys way back when), but it turned out to be an awful choice because, as far as I've understood, it only shows content if you link it to sites that actually allow you to submit stuff; I'd be back to point zero. I'll have to check Squarespace though, or else I'll see if I could buy a cheap domain somewhere.

 

Edit: also, I like your artwork :3

(/°w°\) Thanks!

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My rl friends know what sort of things I draw because I've told them. It's for that reason that they won't look for my galleries. Family knows too, but they have yet to actually pry further.

Why don't you just say your work is more personal and you don't feel comfortable sharing some of the things you draw?

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Why don't you just say your work is more personal and you don't feel comfortable sharing some of the things you draw?

Unfortunately, I know the answer would be "If you're so secretive about your art, why are you confortable with posting it online and sharing it with thousands of possible viewers from all over the globe?".
I remember falling into a same topic of discussion time ago with... mom, if I remember correctly, and her answer was more or less "Why would you be shy of something you flaunt about online?". ._.

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This is how I've avoided the question: I've told them that my clients work with me for private works and violate confidentiality agreements if I show them. 

I also make sure to put some doodles on FB or whatever- completely SFW, expertly picked g-rated, benign artwork that gets em to shut up. I have to go through such lengths because on the otherhand of you, I do draw some nasty shit for money. :P 

Edited by Lemon
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Unfortunately, I know the answer would be "If you're so secretive about your art, why are you confortable with posting it online and sharing it with thousands of possible viewers from all over the globe?".I remember falling into a same topic of discussion time ago with... mom, if I remember correctly, and her answer was more or less "Why would you be shy of something you flaunt about online?". ._.

Because putting it online attracts those of that particular interest. Without knowing your tastes, I am not comfortable with you seeing it.

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I don't even draw a whole lot of nsfw stuff but a vast majority of the stuff I draw is either self-indulgent or practice and I have no interest in showing it to other people. The first thing anyone does when they see a sketchbook laying around is start thumbing through it, which I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't followed by questions or comments about the art, not critiques, but like "what made you draw this" kind of questions that I really don't feel like answering.

So I guess I understand OP to some extent.

Edited by Zaraphayx
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i understand the concept of keeping family/friends away from online personal aspects. Especially with my family they dont understand why I like benign things and get worked up over it,

Plus, I dont care as much if randomstrangers see my work as opposed to people who directly influence my life,

Ido think my work and interactions online is more realistically myself than what I am in life, though. Im not quite as open about things in person...so if you find my accounts, not-barred from social stigma, you find me.

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Perfectly honest, if I linked my relatives to my FA page, they wouldn't be able to see the adult stuff anyway. They'd see a sexualised, chubby, topless dragon, but I don't care who know that. Besides, I had him as my phone background for the longest time anyhow.

And none of the stuff not under mature/adult is hardly of any worry to me. And when I'm drawing non-adult stuff I often show my parents anyway because they're interested.

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