bassanimation wrote:LOL, yeah, I rag on everyone here who's any good Adder. That's why I try to visit as many artist's threads that I like and leave nice comments on them. Just because I leave a crit or don't comment on things you like doesn't mean I'm ragging on people :\. But, you'll always see everything I say as negative.
It honestly confuses me that you are ok with someone cashing in on a fanbase someone else built with their own ideas/characters/art. But, you're -not- ok with shinydesu art that at least the artist created themselves. It may be banal or cancellation to you, but at least it's not cashing in on someone else's work on a national tshirt site. To me, that is _my_ definition of "pandering". Using an existing fanbase to get attention as opposed to your own work.
I personally see entries like this as akin to fanart. It's very, very easy to get an audience when using a familiar idea that people recall fondly. I would rather see people's original art here. That's why I come here, for these artists work, not fanart. If I want that I can go to the mall.
Parody is far different from fan art, though. First, it requires a creative concept pulling from the original content. Good parody requires clever use of the source material. It also requires a very diverse skill level to be able to adequately represent so many different characters (Weird Al Yankovic has an -incredibly- competent band considering all the diverse styles they are able to ape for the sake of humour). Parody is easy to do, but hard to do well (ie; most parodies on woot, or most homemade parody songs on youtube).
Comparatively, chibi-desu is like Nickelback. It might be done purely by one's own hand, but if it's all boring and the same, who cares? A good parody is BETTER, because it still requires being hand-crafted, but also RELIES on a strong concept, where the Nickelback designs certain people give require nothing but a formula the same schlubs without doing anything of worth.
I am the first to say that woot would be better off getting rid of all parody work, because most people here don't get it. Most people here do it horribly. But overall, a well done parody is far more creative and skillful than the chibi nonsense. It's like a comedy routine... you can spout catchphrases, or you can take your time to create unique commentaries and punchlines. A parody consisting of the latter humor and conceptualization exists out of respect for the art, not just profit (how many comics slum through the profession without ever garnering widespread respect? Most). On the other hand, the normal junk we get is Git 'er Done. Shout it over and over again, and the gumballs will laugh, but it doesn't make you a good comic. Most of woot is the artistic equivalent of Carlos Mencia or Larry the Cable Guy... Thieves or cliches.
