Shirt.Woot

Re: Laboratory Assistant

This is awesome! I want!!

Re: The One Eyewasher

I'll add my 2 cents. You're being singled out because you've been on the fringe of acceptability lately. A lot of your stuff has been relying on photos too much. It's quite obvious when a photo had been used, even if it's obfuscated with brushes or effects.

To go further, a lot of your stuff ends up looking mechanical, and lacks a human touch. Conversely, I think kharmazero's work always has that quality, which is maybe why he hasn't been rejected.

I've seen older stuff by you that I like a lot. For example:





These use the same techniques and aesthetic, but manage to feel "human". What happened?

great design....lol

Re: The Aftermath

Cool idea, though I feel this would be a better poster than a shirt.

kylemittskus wrote:I would never wear this shirt, but this is a very well rendered creative idea. Well done.

I agree. I feel this is a great poster design, not a shirt design.

Re: Lab Rat

I dig the colors in the test tubes

Re: The One Eyewasher

Wow - leave for awhile and you miss a lot!

Thanks to all, even if you don't like the design and/or disagree.

orabbit - the one-color/one-line/drawing derbies have been frustrating, since I like to use color/gradients/halftones. I like this week's design as much as the ones you've linked to, though more than the ones from the past several weeks (except for Metamorphosis, which was lots of fun to experiment with).

Interestingly, each of the ones you linked to was a "test project" where I was trying to teach myself a specific technique (gradient mesh w/ April Showers, Magna-outlined characters with Cenntipede, and symbols w/ gradients in Namarie). And this design came about because I'm learning how to create fire effects and translate them to a six-color design.

One of the primary things I use this creative outlet for is to learn how to use Illustrator better (so I can use it in real-world applications). I just started in Illustrator, other than basic shapes, last summer, and - because I really need it for my current job - I had to find a fun way to teach myself how to do much more powerful things with it.

The Donner Party design (my only win, as lloyd pointed out) was a family in-joke I designed with my family in the room with me - totally on a spur of the moment. It was also my first-ever rejected daily that I saved up until the time was right that the derby theme fit.

Looking at the designs you've linked, I will try to consider what I was doing differently (how I was approaching design), and see if I can move back that way.

As I've said, I do this because it's fun and is a challenge (which is why I really do want to play within the rules, which is difficult when the rules are unevenly applied). Thanks for your feedback - I will try to incorporate it when I get back from Africa next month (a scary and challenging experience, all of its own).

Shalom.

Mavyn wrote:Text is not incidental. Basic rule--if the design still makes sense if the text is removed or changed, you're good. If the design fails to make sense or qualify for the derby without the text, not so good.

Thanks for the feedback...I just felt the image itself fit with the theme without the text, but I definitely see your point...anyone who isn't familiar with the show wouldn't understand it. Thanks

orabbit wrote:I'll add my 2 cents. You're being singled out because you've been on the fringe of acceptability lately. A lot of your stuff has been relying on photos too much. It's quite obvious when a photo had been used, even if it's obfuscated with brushes or effects.

To go further, a lot of your stuff ends up looking mechanical, and lacks a human touch. Conversely, I think kharmazero's work always has that quality, which is maybe why he hasn't been rejected.

I've seen older stuff by you that I like a lot. For example:

These use the same techniques and aesthetic, but manage to feel "human". What happened?

He was replaced by robots?

He is an engineer, what do you expect? I've seen some of his shirts that I've loved and some that I really did not like. But different aesthetics are more/less pleasing to different people. The designs you listed are of the cutesy variety. Many of them lately haven't been. That doesn't make them less human or less artistic or whatever.

This is all much ado about nothing.

Re: The One Eyewasher

I think as artists, we're constantly looking outside of ourselves for ideas, information, and points of view to help us develop our technique and personal style. On Woot you can see the influence artists have on each other after being exposed to weeks and weeks of designs. We do need to be mindful of the line where influence becomes infringement.

Looking at this submission, I do have a few thoughts. Your technique for creating a fiery eye is very cool! My criticism is the window washer doesn't work because it flattens the eye. Instead of a menacing glare emerging from the darkness, it looks like a billboard ad.

I appreciate that you are exploring your artistic point of view when you're not being an engineer. In general, you have a talent for the technical. But I still don't see your point of view as an artist. A nice image, but where are you in it?

My unsolicited advice: Grab a sketchbook and get out of the house or office. Just start drawing everything you see, and then try to draw what you think of it. You'll get more experience in drawing from life, and develop your artistic style. The more you keep at it, the less you'll need to use other images because it will be all about you.

thePenrod wrote:This is all much ado about nothing.

Ignoring the clique conspiracy trolls I think this is about the fact that Lyon is entering an art derby with a very heavy reliance on photos, clip art, and digital manipulation. Not that that sort of thing isn't art and a very good skill to have in other places, but the woot derby kinda specifically asks to avoid that.

Maybe the best thing for him here would be to pair up with an artist who does the sketching and original design work and then he can jazz it up with his professional halftoning and digital razzle-dazzle.

They might just be the best pair since Drakxxx/Crescentdebris.

He says that everybody else uses clip-art all the time and it's not fair, but I don't see it (disclaimer - I'm not trained to) and don't think everybody else but him would be getting away with it every week without people mentioning something.

amazing!!! We need way more IT Crowd designs! +1!

tomspc wrote:You guys sure are dishing out a lot of crap about this design. Everyone loved it until it was rejected and instead of supporting your fellow artist you're beating him senseless. Let's take a look at all of the designs, a lot of them are clearly traced or clip art yet no one says anything and they never get rejected. Or even worse, using the same characters week after week just posed in a different way on the shirt.

What's the point of this? We all know this design is never going to print because he is clearly not part of the clique and he neglected to put a rainbow or some other cutesie crap in his design. Why beat him up when he never had a chance to begin with.

I need to invest in a tin mine. Hats are all the rage it seems.

I liked the original submission, but Odyssey's evidence is sort of hard to ignore. I'm always disappointed when I find out an artist used clip art or other prior art in some fashion, especially when I know they're capable of doing great designs without it. Orabbit had some nice examples.

My advice: take your lumps, learn from this mistake, and move on. Unless a submitter is a blatant art thief (Seki, BlindDog) people here tend to forgive and forget.

bluetuba wrote:Ignoring the clique conspiracy trolls...

I'm not "trolling" to provoke anyone, just stating the obvious. Everyone sees it, everyone knows it but no one wants to talk about it probably out of fear that they'll never get printed. So let's all go back to pretending it doesn't exist? We don't want to upset the clique, they might be unable to draw those rainbows and happy faces.

Re: Death of a Comedian

People still express displeasure by throwing tomatoes, right? I haven't left the house since 1923.

Re: So Alone...

Thanks for the thoughts and advice guys.

This is quite a learning experience but I am really enjoying it so far.

kevlar51 wrote:What's your method when approaching photoshop? Do you draw by hand, then scan and color from there? Or do you use a tablet? Work with what you're most comfortable with for now.

As for the style, I think scaling back on the halftones will help; though everyone goes through a phase of over-halftoning before they learn how to cut it down. But they're really not crucial to a good design. It helps to look at your work during the process and ask yourself "is this element necessary?" If the answer is "no," then take it out.

When it comes to "cute" designs, try to steer clear of "tear-jerker." Honestly, "Geek" trumps "cute" here most times anyway. Only a couple artists here have really managed to pull off cute designs successfully (but admittedly, they have been very successful with it).

And submission time still matters if you're going for votes--it's easy to get lost in the shuffle when you sub mid week, in my opinion.

Bottom line is keep it up. As people get to know you and your work you'll build a nice following of good people who really appreciate your stuff You're definitely on the right track by constantly striving to improve!

I typically draw the images, scan them in, use threshold in photoshop, and color from there...

As for the halftoning excess, I can see your point. I was thinking more along the lines that halftones on just the shirt have that faded look so may work well as a background with a more solid focal point but in execution, I suppose it did come off a little more busy than intended.

Thanks for the input.

tomspc wrote:I'm not "trolling" to provoke anyone, just stating the obvious. Everyone sees it, everyone knows it but no one wants to talk about it probably out of fear that they'll never get printed. So let's all go back to pretending it doesn't exist? We don't want to upset the clique, they might be unable to draw those rainbows and happy faces.

I believe I've mentioned before that I think you don't know what you are talking about. :P

You keep harping on and on about the cute conspiracy but you are just plain wrong. Does shirt.woot have cliques? Sure, every community does. But there is no clique of artists who win every week and actively seek to keep new artists down.

Who are the 2 best selling artists from the derby all time? Off the top of my head it's Ramyb (who's anime cute you hate) and Patrickspens. Are those people leaders of this clique you hate so much? Patrick very rarely posts and as far as I know isn't a part of the community here. Ramyb is a virtual pariah among the artists.

How can you have a dominant winning conspiracy when the top 2 figures clearly aren't in that crowd?

Furthermore, the only actual big clique I can think of that you might be reffering to are the "cool kids" in a way and in fact mostly don't do the saccharine cuteness you hate so much. I'll avoid naming names but if you'd been around the derby for longer than a few months you'd see this.

That single line unicorn shirt you were railing so hard against not long ago was drawn by Truffleshuffle, whom if you knew anything about, is about as far from a cutesy win hogging fat cat as you can get.

I am somebody BTW, who has spent years around here railing against the poorly drawn anime cute trend and pop culture pandering. I'm not *against* you because I'm for this cute conspiracy nonsense you've been spouting.

I just think you are new and don't understand this place yet. Most people lurk awhile and don't pop off about things they don't know enough about. :P

bluetuba wrote:I believe I've mentioned before that I think you don't know what you are talking about. :P...

You're right, I don't understand this place. I see good art come and eventually sold on other sites. I buy shirts from all over but I have never seen a shirt site as messed up as this one. I read the blogs and the same people are always promoting each others "great art" which looks like the same art they posted the previous derby. I stay here and vote for the people who have great designs. I have been lurking for long enough to know what's going on.

EDIT: And thanks for taking the time to keep up with all my posts. I'm flattered

tomspc wrote:You're right, I don't understand this place. I see good art come and eventually sold on other sites. I buy shirts from all over but I have never seen a shirt site as messed up as this one. I read the blogs and the same people are always promoting each others "great art" which looks like the same art they posted the previous derby. I stay here and vote for the people who have great designs. I have been lurking for long enough to know what's going on.

EDIT: And thanks for taking the time to keep up with all my posts. I'm flattered

I'm a big believer in the whole "if you're going to talk smack, then just name names". I'm interested to see who you think is in or not in the clique, so we don't have to guess.

Re: Princess Duty

Well drawn! I like the Wind Waker stylization.

tomspc wrote:You're right, I don't understand this place. I see good art come and eventually sold on other sites. I buy shirts from all over but I have never seen a shirt site as messed up as this one. I read the blogs and the same people are always promoting each others "great art" which looks like the same art they posted the previous derby. I stay here and vote for the people who have great designs. I have been lurking for long enough to know what's going on.

EDIT: And thanks for taking the time to keep up with all my posts. I'm flattered

Oh I think the derby is pretty messed up too and don't like most of what prints these days. But that's not because of some artist Legion of Doom pulling the strings. The community here is a tiny minority compared to the nameless masses who represent most of the sales and votes here. That's why simple cute, pop culture, and nerd references win so much.

And don't be too flattered, I just read the forums alot and have found your lunatic rantings have really stuck out lately. :P

But this conversation is off topic, we're supposed to be picking on Lyonscc here!

odysseyroc wrote:I'm a big believer in the whole "if you're going to talk smack, then just name names". I'm interested to see who you think is in or not in the clique, so we don't have to guess.

*fingers crossed* I hate feeling left out.

samanthastroud wrote:amazing!!! We need way more IT Crowd designs! +1!

I agree! Thank you!

Of the many many video game shirts in this derby I like this one the best Simple and well done! GMV

bluetuba wrote:...don't be too flattered, I just read the forums alot and have found your lunatic rantings have really stuck out lately. :P

I'm really not a lunatic just very frustrated with the Derby.

odysseyroc wrote:I'm a big believer in the whole "if you're going to talk smack, then just name names". I'm interested to see who you think is in or not in the clique, so we don't have to guess.

I'm not naming names, they know who they are. I'll give you an example, there are a few who put their design out and within a few minutes have 25+ votes Or they post their designs on Tues/Wed and end up in the fog.

kevlar51 wrote:*fingers crossed* I hate feeling left out.

Ha! Love it!

kevlar51 wrote:*fingers crossed* I hate feeling left out.

Oh! Can I join too? Pweeeeeeze?

tomspc wrote:I'm not naming names, they know who they are. I'll give you an example, there are a few who put their design out and within a few minutes have 25+ votes

i thought that was lyonscc!

lyonscc wrote:I have a FB mailing list with about 30 friends/family on it... (make that 2 FB lists, one with close friends/family, and one with friends/acquaintances of my college-age kids)

Even my sister (who couldn't bring herself to buy a Donner Party shirt, because that was too gross for her) gets in and votes, usually in the first hour or so...

tomspc wrote:I'm not naming names, they know who they are. I'll give you an example, there are a few who put their design out and within a few minutes have 25+ votes Or they post their designs on Tues/Wed and end up in the fog.

I have seen that and thought WOW ! I always feel bad for the folks with 1 or 0 votes....

tomspc wrote:Or they post their designs on Tues/Wed and end up in the fog.

Voting ends thursday at noon, a new submission on tues/weds fogging is *really* rare. You'd need to have hundreds of friends or a really really homerun fantastic design.

Have you seen all the kvetching and ruckus about how it's near impossible to win if you don't submit on friday or on the weekend at the very latest?

Wow... Not sure how we got here...

bluetuba wrote:But this conversation is off topic, we're supposed to be picking on Lyonscc here!

Um... thanks?

This. I need this.

Radscoolian wrote:Well drawn! I like the Wind Waker stylization.

Thank you! You are a warrior and a poet.

bluetuba wrote:Voting ends thursday at noon, a new submission on tues/weds fogging is *really* rare. You'd need to have hundreds of friends or a really really homerun fantastic design.

Have you seen all the kvetching and ruckus about how it's near impossible to win if you don't submit on friday or on the weekend at the very latest?

Well I'm learning that there are people with many IDs. Every time they buy something on Woot they create a new ID. I'll have to try that so I have more than 1 vote

Re: Worse Every Year

I think the job of the American Voter is one of the worst... necessary, but still one of the worst.

Plebe21 wrote:I agree. I feel this is a great poster design, not a shirt design.

I would wear this shirt every day!

artulo wrote:Oh! Can I join too? Pweeeeeeze?

I bet you're already there, you have an adorable rainbow/sheep thing for your avatar...must be part of the cute conspiracy.

tomspc wrote:Well I'm learning that there are people with many IDs. Every time they buy something on Woot they create a new ID. I'll have to try that so I have more than 1 vote

This is something Ramyb was accused of a few years ago because of suspicious meteoric rises in the derby and Woot checked into it and found everything on the level.

I think the idea is Woot tracks names and cc numbers on accounts and if one name/cc has 50 accounts they will bust you. So unless you think people are creating hundreds of fake names and unique payment methods this probably isn't rampant.

chachachino wrote:clippy! haha this is pretty good. no one more hated than clippy. and all he wants to do is help.

Thank you! I always felt sorry for him after every rejection it must have been soul destroying - I wonder if HAL and clippy are related?