An interesting question from a book: It IS about art, so please take a look.

[Batty Buddy]

READ THIS BEFORE VOTING. You may not understand it if you don't!

Que Passa!!!!

"Hey! I just DRAW him- it's not like I CONTROL him!"
-...Um... Me- Well, actually a cartoon representation of me named "Emmgee".
Snooze and Mat

This is a art question, much like my pose thread. Where did this question come from?
Gary K. Wolf's wonderful book: Who Censored Roger Rabbit?
(Most of you may be familure with the movie with the slightly changed title, and may have never thought that it was originally a book.)
Anyway, here's the deal with the Roger Rabbit book that inspired this question. In the book, Roger has a friend(Named Carol) who is his photographer. A little bit later in the book, you find that the photographers are basically the same as the artists(Example: In RR world, Charles Shultz would have been considered Snoopy's photographer rather then his artist.). This got me thinking for a while and then I kind of hit an odd feeling:
Maybe I'm not really a 100% artist: Maybe I'm more of a photographer.

Here's my reasoning: I put a lot of personality into my characters. I rarely have to deside what they do when I draw them into situations- THEY kind of deside for themselves! All I do is deside who goes where: One guy might solve a situation by talking his/her way through it, another by fighting, and still another might just hide in the shadows before he/she gets into worse trouble. The way I do my stuff: I just supply the problems.

And I kind of wonder if anyone else ever thought about it this way.

So here's the poll:
Definitions for an artist means that the you feel you create your works
Definition for photographer means that you kind of feel that your works almost create themselves...Or that you are kind of a characterwriter/scholar.
(Please note: It doesn't really matter which one you are- there ARE foreseeable advantages and disadvantages to both.)

Oh, and if any of you are interested in the book, it's really a good read, as is it's sequal: Who P-p-p-p-plugged Roger Rabbit. There was also a rumored THIRD RR novel, but I doubt it was ever finished...

(Edit: Did what Captain Spam suggested.)

[GuMmYBeAr!]

I voted artist.. but yet again I'm not sure 'bout my choice 'cause when I actually create a character, I use it into some RP (MUDs, MUCKs, Furcadia-- wee. ). Which actually makes me control their actions, even though they all have different personalities. And.. races. Kinds. Yet I have only two majors characters-- I don't have.. a lot of alts unlike some people I know-- I like to focus on my RPs, heh. Right now, I have.. I'd say.. seven alts on furcadia 'cause I'm workin' on Leiya's litter. She's pregnant with a litter of six cannibal pups. Wee. Pretty. I'll be givin' the roles away though sooner or later.

Examples; Leiya-- that deformed wolf I play; I've had her for four years long (Mkay, if I wasn't so much of a powergamer back then, I would probably not have her anymore.) and she's the deranged type. I use 'er in furcadia-- it's a world of furries, but I play Feral, 'cause Ferals don't have these mushy emotions like furries does. And they're less clumsy. Ferals are 'normal' animals, on all four, with a more or less developped judgement (Heh). Leiya.. just hangs around and controls her territory, or simply slaughters children violently (Or anything that's edible.. I won't list everything I killed with 'er yet, heh. I'm a sicko. :B).. and she's cannibal.

Nocive, my second main character which I play on Desolation, a humanoid-related area with drugs, alcohol, guns and a big load of violence... (Wee); She's that fourteen year old girl that carries some headless doll around, is lacerated and mutilated a bit everywhere and loooo-ooves pain, her own blood, other people's blood, and liver. She's cuddly though, always lacking affection, and has that thing going for a mutant lizard. She also loves to cling to people's legs and eat them alive. o.o

She's slightly insane/demented/deranged/disturbed/and a bunch of other synonyms.


RP with me ;P

[Kaz]

Artists, some characters are considered art, the personalities are considered art. It takes a lot more creativity to create characters, and not to take photographs of them. I choose art.

[Batty Buddy]

Que Passa!!!!

You know, GuMmYBeAr!: I never considered RP characters when I thought up this poll, but thanks to you, I guess they DO count. I have one of my own that I play on occation Named Coolio McCalico. He's a calico style of cat in a leather jacket who almost never gets surprised by anything(Think of him as the feline version of Fonzy from "Happy days.). Still, however, I guess I am a photographer because... well, he STILL has so much personality, it easy to figure out what he's going to do.

Oh, and Kaz- you are right: we DO create characters AND their personalities. It just that, sometimes the characters we create, DUE to their personalities don't really remain in our control... Well, they DO actually, but... you know- they kind of surprise even their creaters in what they do.
It's kind of fun, in it's own way.

[Trafton AT]

Photographer. I can't draw.

[Captain Spam]

Now, see, I've always broken it down to more of a difference between 'artist' and 'characterwriter/storywriter'... that is, I always see the characters as much a part of me as I am of them, so I'm more of a characterwriter/storywriter in that I create characters who more or less live and exist in the worlds I made. Thus, their existance is dependent upon me creating worlds for them in which to interact and my continued drawing is dependent upon them living in their worlds.

Now, creating worlds does not always imply drawing them... you can have characters without any appearance to support them. That's how my characters survived for years until I got my self-esteem about drawing back (Story involves another community and ANGST! Coming soon to a musical near you!); they existed in the plot bit stories I told to a few of my friends and the worlds I dreamed up for them.

Just as well, a characterwriter/storywriter can ALSO be an artist. An artist, in my eyes, is simply someone who draws. Said drawings do not require heart, soul, or life; they are just drawings. If said artist cannot bring life to his/her drawings, he/she will always be slave to a characterwriter/storywriter.

So, mayhaps you should expand 'photographer' to include 'scholar'. You could also be transcribing the events of your characters' lives as they live them.

That's how I see it, at least. Closest I'd fit in this case would be photographer.

[Kaz]

Originally posted by Trafton AT
Photographer. I can't draw.




*falls over*

did you even bother to read what batty posted?!

[JJ BBoy KS]

I'm more of an artist at the moment, but I'm kinda trying to be more of a photographer. I like the idea of personallitys and stuff, but I just haven't gotten around to it. :p