Regrettable Headshots

[Sara Julin]

I too can appreciate photo manipulations, but not in this way.
If you do photo manipulations in the aim to earn money you need the photographers permission to manipulate their photo, and sometimes even pay them for the allowance to use their photo and to alter them.
Photo manipulations are never okay if you do not have the photographers permission to touch the photo. All photo's are protected by the copyright law (unless they are public domain, which they very rarely are) and Simhorseracing (and Em) can get in HUGE problems if photographers come to the game, see their photo's being manipulated without their permission, and can sue the game for copyright infringement.

That is why we have artists in the game who draw from scratch, who creates something completely new, it is to avoid copyright infringement. It is up to us artists to look at a photo reference and transform it into a unrecognizable piece of art or sometimes kinda recognizable but with enough tweaks to make it count as a new piece. To charge and earn money by making photo manipulations without the photographers knowledge is a straight down ticket to court if you are very unlucky :/

[Stormy Peak]

I too can appreciate photo manipulations, but not in this way.
If you do photo manipulations in the aim to earn money you need the photographers permission to manipulate their photo, and sometimes even pay them for the allowance to use their photo and to alter them.
Photo manipulations are never okay if you do not have the photographers permission to touch the photo. All photo's are protected by the copyright law (unless they are public domain, which they very rarely are) and Simhorseracing (and Em) can get in HUGE problems if photographers come to the game, see their photo's being manipulated without their permission, and can sue the game for copyright infringement.

That is why we have artists in the game who draw from scratch, who creates something completely new, it is to avoid copyright infringement. It is up to us artists to look at a photo reference and transform it into a unrecognizable piece of art or sometimes kinda recognizable but with enough tweaks to make it count as a new piece. To charge and earn money by making photo manipulations without the photographers knowledge is a straight down ticket to court if you are very unlucky :/

Ok, I see the legality issue.

So to me, it's actually 2 different standards issues. The legal standard, yes, is a must...and should be met.

However, the opinion of 'what is art' standard...

I still feel that if a artist does it legally...uses their own photos, or has permissions...that photo digital manipulation is still a form of art...especially if the end product looks a lot different from the photo other than say the 'pose' used...such as a turned head, or arched neck or the lay of the mane, or the shadowing on the subject..etc.

Also...for me, this is a discussion...but in this day and age, most people always look at things as a debate. I'm just giving an opinion...not arguing with anyone.

I love most styles of art. I'm not a real fan of things like Andy Warhol monochrome variations of the exact same subject...or some of the artwork out there where someone draws a good likeness of a dog or cat or whatever but then fills it all in with sections with colors from the brightest parts of the rainbow.

Nor do I care that much for for cubism, or the kind of art that looks like a 3 year old just splattered 10 colors of paint onto a canvas and even the gallery doesn't know if it's hung upside down or not...which has happened...lol. But...some people do love that kind of stuff..and others love things like sad clowns or cats standing alleys or dogs playing poker or Elvis on velvet.

Art is...in the eye of the beholder. And I've always felt uncomfortable when I hear or read about some highbrow poking fun of some grandma's proudly displayed Thomas Kinkade $10 Walmart print...I think it's wrong dismiss the art style preferences of others because it doesn't fit some kind of aesthetic standard. that most do enjoy.

I have enjoyed seeing the artwork here in the Sim evolve from just a plain and simple side view of the horses' head to what we see sometimes now -- horses with their necks turned to the horse is looking behind their self and at us...the viewer, horses with arched necks and manes lifted in the air, we are seeing some of their shoulder or chest, and even some rearing up in the air : ) They have evolved from true pure headshots to more like portraits showing quite a bit more of the body and action poses.

But too.. I understand that this is the Sim...and keeping it simple is probably easier for the Admin than worrying and checking if a piece of artwork isn't stepping over some legal boundaries.

I also understand that the Sim can only support so many artists who rely on the income and maybe some styles of art, they can't due to their own artistic talent limits, or don't enjoy creating some forms of art. However, if someone wanted to order a headshot filled in with section colors of greens and yellows and reds...I hope it's refused for those reasons, rather than because it doesn't meet someone else's idea of a standard for art.

Stormy

[Lily Wilkins]

Interesting, this is the first I have read about the Kassidy thing. I kind of wondered if her earlier portraits were photo manipulation, as they just looked too "photo-like" to be hand done, and i've struggled with fully appreciating her work since then because it seemed very inconsistent, as Carole said.
Obviously, everyone has their own style and she was still a very talented artist. When she was on her A-Game, she could really churn out awesome work (Extreme Ways comes to mind) and I hope she continues to work on her skills and maybe comes back to the SIM in the future.

Nena and Sara... I am OBSESSED with both of you as artists ❤ if I could afford a portrait for every horse in my barn, I would do it just because I love oogling at your work so much.

[Nena Olson]

Interesting, this is the first I have read about the Kassidy thing. I kind of wondered if her earlier portraits were photo manipulation, as they just looked too "photo-like" to be hand done, and i've struggled with fully appreciating her work since then because it seemed very inconsistent, as Carole said.
Obviously, everyone has their own style and she was still a very talented artist. When she was on her A-Game, she could really churn out awesome work (Extreme Ways comes to mind) and I hope she continues to work on her skills and maybe comes back to the SIM in the future.

Nena and Sara... I am OBSESSED with both of you as artists ❤ if I could afford a portrait for every horse in my barn, I would do it just because I love oogling at your work so much.

Thank you <3 <3

[Sara Julin]

Interesting, this is the first I have read about the Kassidy thing. I kind of wondered if her earlier portraits were photo manipulation, as they just looked too "photo-like" to be hand done, and i've struggled with fully appreciating her work since then because it seemed very inconsistent, as Carole said.
Obviously, everyone has their own style and she was still a very talented artist. When she was on her A-Game, she could really churn out awesome work (Extreme Ways comes to mind) and I hope she continues to work on her skills and maybe comes back to the SIM in the future.

Nena and Sara... I am OBSESSED with both of you as artists ❤ if I could afford a portrait for every horse in my barn, I would do it just because I love oogling at your work so much.

Thank you so very much, Lily ^^ <3 Such heartwarming words ^^

[Nick Gilmore]

I like the fact that the artists are willing to keep us happy and that some times that’s not an easy thing. I see nothing wrong with photo manipulation and let’s face it…isn’t Emily our number one photographer and can’t we get her to sign a waiver?