THIS JOURNAL IS BEST VIEWED NAKED

EDIT: Already some people are noting me offering to volunteer with miscats. While you cannot officially volunteer you can use the "report deviation" button so that work that does not belong in the gallery gets moved. That button is not just for policy violations, but section violations as well. You can also send me links if you wish, however, using proper channels is probably best. Let's all try to make this gallery much nicer to surf. I thank all of you that are offering to help. </END EDIT

The Artistic Nude Gallery Is Not Your Dumping Ground.

One of the most frustrating parts of the Artistic Nude Gallery is sifting through the things that do not belong there while trying to find actual artistic nudes. I have been a proponent of the genre for a long time. I want people do be able to surf the gallery and find wonderful work by our community. Unfortunately, there are a number of problems preventing that from happening.

As of right now, surfing the gallery for me is absolutely no fun. Of all the "People and Portrait" galleries, artistic nudes seems to be the worst. There are many who are using it as their dumping ground and this needs to stop.

I would say that 70% percent of my administration time here is spent trying to clean this gallery. This is ridiculous and prevents me from serving the community in a much more productive manner. And, I have to tell you - most days it seems like I am shoveling shit uphill. There seems to be no end to the submissions that do not belong there. The other night when I couldn’t sleep I spent a good three hours moving shit. I am a volunteer, I am not paid by deviantART. I would rather spend that time promoting the artistic nude community.

So, what do we do about it? Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. However, I am going to try and clear up some basic submission guidelines for the gallery in hopes that some just making honest mistakes in the submission process will correct their errors. But I am also here to tell you that the artistic nude gallery is not a dumping ground in the photography gallery. If it doesn’t belong there, it will be moved.

So, here goes…

Webcam/Shapshots: These shots DO NOT belong in the Artistic Nude Gallery. It does not matter if they are nude or not, they belong in your Scraps. Snapshots of any kind belong in your Scraps and nude snapshots are no different. These shots are cluttering the gallery more than anything else. Please, if you are taking a nude shot of a friend with your cellphone, submit it to your Scraps. These shots will be moved there anyway so it will save us all some time.

Low Resolution: Please note that low resolution images are not allowed in the Artistic Nude Gallery. If they do not meet the size requirements, they will be moved. Images can be no smaller than 300 pixels on the short side. Anything below that belongs in your Scraps.

I am naked, I swear!: If you take a headshot and are naked, that does not constitute an artistic nude. I keep getting people protesting that they are naked, I just cannot see it. If you are naked and I cannot see it then it is not an artistic nude. Please submit to the proper portrait gallery.

Lingerie: Another common misconception is that sexy lingerie shots belong in the Artist Nude Gallery, they do not. The most likely destination is Glamour Portraits. However, depending on the nature of the shot it could have any number of destinations. If the lingerie is revealing enough to clearly see breasts or genitalia, it may go into Artistic Nudes or Glamour Portraits. Please note that any piece revealing adult content MUST be flagged with an adult content warning. Therefore, if you are submitting that sexy lingerie shot that is revealing private parts to the Glamour Portraits gallery, you must check the “adult content” box. It automatically appears for the Artistic Nude and Fetish galleries but needs to be checked for anything else. More on the “adult content” flag and submitting nudes to other portrait galleries in a moment.

Manipulations: Photo-Manipulations that contain nudity do not belong in the Artistic Nude Gallery. They belong in one of the Digital Art > Photomanipulation galleries, again with the ’adult content” flag checked. If you have questions about the digital art galleries please see one of the directors of that gallery. You can find all of the Gallery Directors listed HERE.

Sexy Chests: You or your male subject may have a great chest, but shirtless guys do not automatically go into the artistic nude gallery. Such shots can go into any number of portrait galleries. If there is no nudity, it does not belong in the artistic nude gallery and will be moved.

How About A Date?: A disturbing trend I have noticed that has become worse by the day is those who treat deviantART as a singles site. The biggest problem with these people is their “sales pitches” are ending up in the Artistic Nude gallery. If you are submitting to the Artistic Nude gallery with no artistic intention, but instead wish to see what guys/girls are interested in your hot bod, please seek a singles site. DeviantART is not a singles site, it is an art site. There are plenty of fine singles sites out there. If your “sales pitch” does not meet the gallery requirements, it will be moved to your Scraps.

Headless Wonders!: I cannot believe how many headless nude self-portraits are being submitted to the artistic nude gallery. For the love of god please stop. I only have one thing to say about that. If you don’t believe enough in your art to show your face, no one else will either.

Check out my junk, no really, check it out real close!: The extreme close up shots of male and female genitalia are easy to find in the artistic nude gallery. Some of these shots, despite being nude, would be better suited to the Photography > People And Portraits > Closeups. There is nothing written in stone here but please use your judgment when choosing where to submit these types of shots. Same thing applies as before, by the way, low res webcam shots of your junk belong in Scraps. It is possible that they are also policy violations, but that is another story. Again, if you submit to the Closeups section you will need to flag it with “mature content” if it contains nudity.

Influx of nudity in other galleries: Yes, you can submit nude work to other portrait galleries provided you flag them as “mature content”. The filter does not come on automatically for other portrait galleries therefore you must check it yourself. Failure to do so could cause a report to the help desk by your fellow deviants. If you have an artistic nude that you feel carries a great deal of emotional weight, you can submit it to the Emotive or Expressive galleries provided they fit the criteria of the gallery in question. I think it goes without saying that this should not be abused. By allowing artistic nudes in other portrait galleries it takes a bit of the taboo out of the genre. Abusing it to a level that would jeopardize the privilege would only set the community back and none of us want that.

If you have any questions regarding the placement of artistic nudes in other portrait galleries, please get in touch with me. I would be happy to help you in that regard.

OMG! It’s Freakin’ Porn!: I do not believe in the never ending art vs. porn debate. However, it is obviously something that needs to be addressed since it comes up so frequently. This point will get an article all its’ own very soon, however.

I hope that clears up some of the questions regarding submitting to the Artistic Nude Gallery. Again, if you have any questions please let me or ^MissShyly know.

Thank you much.



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