-1. Toyhouse is primarily an original character storage site, not an art gallery, not social media. While it would be nice if I could see unwatermarked versions of my own art on-site just for convenience's sake, I still have clean/source files on my PC, with random-ish ones in my stash; that's good enough. I have all my art sorted/tagged off-site where it's much easier to browse in general, anyway.
With how many artists there are on the site, as well as people trying to buy and sell commissions, I think it would be incredibly helpful to have more control over the art tab. It would be so useful to be able to add and hide your own art in that tab not necessarily connected to a different person's character gallery, or even characters not on toyhou.se (like worldbuilding art, fan art, etc).
EDIT: I'm NOT suggesting this as a way to subvert any kind of privacy settings, and definitely don't want this as a feature for artists to show art that should be hidden (like private commissions etc). Optimizing this feature isn't risky or sketchy - an artist who would be shady enough to still post private commissions on here is probably already doing it to other sites like deviantart and twitter and should be avoided either way since that's obviously a breach of contract and so incredibly disrespectful.
A lot of people here are art-oriented either as artists or commissioners. I mean in the forums there's many sections for art only, like "Art Marketplace", "Art Games", "Art Freebies", "Art Trades" etc so I'm not sure it's completely true to say that toyhou.se isn't also an art gallery in some ways. If those parts of the forums work basically as art galleries and art-trading spaces, and the art tab is already conveniently in place on people's profiles, why not also optimize it so that it's easier for overall functionality?
Quick basic summary of reasons:
- Artists will be able to feature their best works and curate the gallery to their wishes without infringing on other character owners' character galleries
- Commissioners / requesters / traders / admirers can get a better feeling of an artist's style and skill
- Art can be kept in an artists' tab even if it's deleted in someone else's character's gallery because of things like trades (I see a lot of complaints about this!)
- Convenient art tab instead of needing to link to external sites and galleries for art samples
- Maybe adding mini folders within the art tab to help with organization even more
- Makes the art tab more functional
- Sketches / messy doodles / memes could be hidden from an artists' tab or organized into a mini folder without deleting the images
There's also many other reasons this would be a useful feature, but in general I just think it would be great for artists to have more power over their own art tab. While it makes sense for character owners to have full power over their character galleries by adding more watermarks etc, I also think that artists should be able to have their art tab separate from that. I just find it strange how my own art can be so watermarked that I can't even see it anymore, but I don't necessarily think the artist should have control over watermarks in other characters' galleries. This is why I think both the "add art" and "hide art" buttons will be so useful, since then only art that actually helps show off an artist's work would be shown and the art tab in general will actually be functional.
-1, though I concede organizing what is available and visible to the artist onsite would be quite convenient for some.
On a personal note, I hide all the characters I have while also making their uploaded art hidden to the public. It would undercut much of TH's privacy settings if an artist even had the option of bypassing my privacy settings on their art pages. While the vast majority of people on TH are decent and would certainly respect others' decisions regarding uploaded image privacy, it only takes a few bad apples to cause a monumental scene--as we have seen, no pun intended.
I am, however, open to the idea of TH developing some sort of formal gallery/portfolio option (perhaps that would be a change bundled into art tab organization overall) and if an artist's TOS allowed them to upload commissioned works as part of their samples/portfolio nothing would stop them from simply reuploading whatever piece was hidden in a format that is safe for use as a display version. Obviously reuploading private commissions is not even a matter of discussion here, but otherwise I don't mind if TH can expand its various functionalities without imposing an unreasonable burden on the admins.
Saruhiko January Whenever you ask for your commissions to be made private I think the risks are the same no matter what - having a functional art tab isn't any more dangerous or risky. I mean an artist who would be shady enough to still post private commissions on here is probably already doing it to other sites like deviantart and twitter and should be avoided either way since that's obviously a breach of contract and so incredibly disrespectful.
I actually feel like having the art automatically affect people's character galleries is more invasive than having it be separate, since some people organize their received art into tabs or things like that. If that art is already uploaded and used on other sites, in agreement with the commissioner obviously, I just think it would be great to be added here as well instead of needing to link off-site - especially considering the tab is already in place. Even though this is a character storage website, a good part of the forums is focused on art, and a lot of people here are art-oriented either as artists or commissioners. Plus like I said the tab is already in place, so it's not that large of a change, it only makes the tab more functional and useful. All I'm talking about is upgrading the art tab section, not trying to undercut TH's privacy settings or character owners' control.
Pepperly Historia receptions While I agree that it's still good enough to post off-site and use that, I still think some of these features would be a welcome addition to the site and like said before, it would help with convenience and just organization in general lot. Like I said above, a lot of people here are art-oriented either as artists or commissioners. I mean in the forums there's many sections for art only, like "Art Marketplace", "Art Games", "Art Freebies", "Art Trades" etc so I'm not sure it's completely true to say that toyhou.se isn't also an art gallery in some ways. If those parts of the forums work basically as art galleries and art-trading spaces, and the art tab is already conveniently in place on people's profiles, why not also optimize it so that it's easier for overall functionality?
kitsutea I think you misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not opposed to a general ability to organize the art tab. I am opposed to the general idea of artists subverting privacy settings directly on art that has been uploaded by someone else. If the artist wants to reupload their own art it is their prerogative, but they should not be able to forcibly show any art that has been hidden, which seems to be something caught up in the original post, but only very vaguely addressed. If the clarification is that you just want a more formal art portfolio look that doesn't directly affects someone's upload settings, I mentioned I'm fine with this particular nuance.
Otherwise general organization of the art tab is just a good bonus and I don't see a problem with it.
January I understand what you're saying, I just wanted to explain that I was never supporting the idea of artists being able to subvert privacy settings. That's what I'm trying to suggest - artists being able to reupload their own art to the tab and then hide / organize any art already there so it just functions more as a separate tiny gallery. I apologize if I wasn't clear about that in the original post and will try to edit it so that it's more clear.
I wish you could at LEAST reorganize them, hide some from your art tab wind be even better. I recently got credited for a slew of designs I did back in highschool and I'm 25 now.
Long story short, my old art looks nothing like my current art and I don't want people to think that's where I'm at when considering commissioning or following me 💦
I use other people's art tabs to get a feel for their work so I figure prior do it for me as well.