FAQ n "rules" for DSG

[davi]

FAQ/Information...

· What is the DSG?
The dsg is a collection of artists who draw from a topic which is (theoretically) given each day, and DSG stands for Daily Sketch Group. However, since the DSG-Bot broke (several years ago) and WmBHand took the reigns, it's more like a new topic is given every 2 or 3 days.

· When does the DSG start?
The topic is given at random times, completely without warning.

· Where is dsg?
The topics are listed in the dsg forum or at http://www.conceptart.org/dsg

· Are there Prizes?
No. There are no prizes. Unless you count the occasional feedback from your DSG fellows, or the new image you now own.

. How do I post an Image?
For most people, attachments are disabled for the DSG, so you must have your image hosted by some outside place, like Photobucket
(or wherever.. there are a bunch of free hosting sites available).
Once you've done that, copy the url of your hosted image and do this:
paste your image url here
Now your image should show up just fine.

** ALTERNATIVELY, you can post a link to your image by using the good old tags... If you use any reference photos, please include a link to them in this fashion.

· Where can i suggest topics for the dsg?
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10140 -- Suggested topic are occasionally used, so please keep suggesting them, but keep in mind that they're far more likely to be used if they are novel, thoughtfully written, and brief.

· Can we chat in dsg threads or should we only post art?
Share opinions, references, questions and critiques, but [u]try to keep it brief. Keep in mind that you're much more likely to receive crits & pats if you give them to others first. Don't get carried away, though... this is not an appropriate forum for extended back-and-forths -- Do that in your personal threads. Remember that people are getting notified each time a new post goes up.

· Is there a limit of entries?
Nope, No limit at all-- Feel free to post as much as you are inspired to create. Do keep the quality in mind though.

· Are there any standards regarding ability level?
Kinda Sorta -- This is not meant to be a forum for people who are just learning to draw.

· Do i have to sign up, or can i just join in?
No sign up needed, just start posting, view some of the older threads and get a feeling of how it works!

· Is there a dsg chatroom?
There is no chat room specifically for the dsg, but conceptart members chat in #art @ irc.asylumnet.com To get irc you must get a client, i suggest MIRC (www.mirc.com) for windows users and for mac users to pick one from this http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/mac/ (list)

· who do i go to for help?
Currently the moderators of the dsg forum are myself, mtomczek and William b. Hand (Main DSG Moderator). Any of us can be contacted about problems, concerns or whatever else is on your mind, but go to Mr. Hand first since he's probably to blame.

· Is there a time limit for my sketches??
No there is not, but we strongly suggest you put in around an Hour-and-a-half per topic -- Reason being is that we feel if you are consistent with your time schedule there is a higher chance of you staying faithful to doing the dsg's. Also, if you spend 90 minutes on the pic, it's just likely to be superior to something of the 15-minute type. (Of course, If you're a pro, then 15 min. might be plenty.)

· Can we reply to the artists on the thread without posting art???
Yes but, we would really appreciate if they comments were short, so that the images don't get spread out too much. Also, never quote another image, repeating someone else's image just eats up bandwidth and makes the thread longer than it needs to be.

RULES...

Stealing copyrighted art work is a bannable offense. Don't think we won't find out if you do.
When posting, refrain from comments like "i suck", it gets repetitive and could possibly offend artists of lesser experience.
Constructive crits are fine, but please -- no flaming.
When posting images that involve sexual content or provocative nudity please only post a link and not the actual image. And give some warning, like "NUDITY". That's guaranteed to get people clicking to see.
The moderators hold the right to delete/edit posts with vulgarity, images that have questionable content(using other images, tracing, copying, etc), and other unacceptable actions. What's unacceptable is subjective and is up to us power-wielding bastards.


If anyone has questions feel free to post them here, and myself and the other contributors can answer them ASAP.
and if you are reading this you're not doing your dsg, get going!

[Snowball]

Yes I am new here, and I have been viewing this DSG and it seems like quite a lot of fun and learning, but when I read the FAQ I am not totaly understanding exactly what it is. YOu say it is a "collection of artist" so does that mean not everyone can get involved? Not too sure?

[Idiot Apathy]

You sir are in that "collection" if you wish ! ... so... um post !

see you there!

[davi]

yeah what he said :]

no need to sign up or anything, i added that to the faq!

[ceenda]

(PDT, -008gmt)

err... so that's 8am GMT is it? :confused:

[atibapa]

Hi, brand new member here, purely because of DSG. Was wondering if anyone can teach me how to post drawings in the threads. Would appreciate the help. Thanks.

[City]

Originally posted by atibapa
Was wondering if anyone can teach me how to post drawings in the threads. Would appreciate the help. Thanks.

When posting your reply click on "IMG" button above the messge field and enter the URL of your image - link to the web site where your image is currently stored. Yes, your image has to be online already before you post it here.
Text in your post before you click "submit reply" will look like this:
[ IMG ] address of your image here [ / IMG ]

OR instead of the image itself you can post a link to it (see forum rules to learn what kind of images are not recommended for the public display) by clicking "http://" button above the message field.
[URL= http ://...your link... ] ...your optional text... [ / URL]

Good luck!

[atibapa]

City, I kinda thought so. Ill see what I can do. I appreciate the help. Thanks.

[Dave_Lynch]

I posted my first contribution on the steampunk thread. i got a bunch of emails notifying me to a response. In the email it had a url to go to the thread and it just took me back to the thread I posted in.

If I'm recieving replys where are they going? I didnt have any private messages when I looked. Does the email mean simply that someone else responded to that thread or does it mean that they somehow sent me a specific message.

This is a great site by the way.

[Myriadian]

Yeah, what you're getting are notifications that the thread you posted in has had recent replies. You subscribed to it when you posted. I'll look around later for a solution to turn it off, if there is one. I'm sure there is.

[Freakt]

I was just wondering....
My picture of the mars house was deleted, and someone told me that it might be because I used a photograph as a background, that that is against the rules of DSG. I just read the rules, and I can't find any mention of that being forbidden. Did I miss something? Just out of curiosity, I'd like to know why my picture was deleted and where it is stated that using a photograph (in this case it was only used as a background, and I didn't even leave it the way it was, but changed it) is against the rules.
Thank you.

[Signature]

I remember that another image was deleted too.
And I think only a very small part was taken from a stock photo.

I think it makes sense. It's not about getting a good result in a short time.
It's about sketching something ... and for learning afaik.
And it is confusing ... when you suddenly think
"great, this looks like a photo" ...

Probably this rule is just missing here. Most people seem to know about it.

But let's wait for the reply of an authority.

[Swoop]

Yeah signature i think your right..


doesnt matter about the final look so to speak.. more of the learning process involved and the sketching of the image.
But i'm kinda anxious to see the "ruling"

[davi]

well, you're are right, there never was a writen rule, but it was an unspoken rule... i just added it.

[Layil]

· When does the DSG start?
The topic is given at 1am (PDT, -008gmt) and ends at 12:59pm (PDT) so everyone has 23:59 hours to do it.


this is only 12 hours, so im assuming that one of these has to be switched to either am or pm, but which one? im 9 hours ahead wither way, but id like to participate, so please let me know....

danke!
:)

[JABAJAWOOLU]

its not saying that the 23:59 is military time which would make this 12 hours. its saying that you have 23 hours and 59 minutes to complete the DSG. hope this helps :cool:

[ducktape]

The topic is given at 1am (PDT, -008gmt) and ends at 12:59pm (PDT) so everyone has 23:59 hours to do it.

its not saying that the 23:59 is military time which would make this 12 hours. its saying that you have 23 hours and 59 minutes to complete the DSG.


Actually, it is saying 12 hours. The next minute after 12:59pm is 1pm, not 1am. So 1am to 12:59pm is 11 hours, 59 minutes. :)

[BRANDISH]

whats up?
no new topic?
WAKE UP DSG BOT!
I don't want to draw that
coil rifle.

[beeglebug]

2 days in a row now, no new topics! This is not good!

Where's my inspiration?

[BLADES]

What's up with this??

I need my daily sketch!

[S.C. Watson]

Good to know it wasn't just me not getting the new topic.

Thought perhaps I smelled or somthing. :confused:

Cheers,
~Oreg.

[Stray]

The DSG Bot might be out of topics, maybe one of the mods could post a new topic until things get running again?

[S.C. Watson]

I seriously doubt the DSG bot is out of topics.

It's most likely down and Davi or whomever is off somewhere else and don't know yet (at a guess...).

We, of course, could start kicking our own topics out I suppose. :D Maybe a purple Schnorklewhacker or a Horned Dongthinger to start? J/K.

Either way, I hope it's back soon. I'm starting to go into withdrawl...

Cheers,
~Oreg.

[jeroentje]

He? What's happening? No new topic for days...
Can someone explain please? Thanks.

[Myriadian]

Yeah, let's just hope he's alright, where ever he is or whatever he's doing. I'm sure we can think of our own ideas in the mean time.

[Pixel8]

Greetings - I'm new to the DSG. I've been browsing this site for awhile, but the incredible skill level of the excellent artists on this site made me hesitant to post.

The DSG looked like a place where people of different skill levels can post and learn, so I went ahead and boldly signed up and started posting - that's a lot of fun and I'm starting to look forward to a daily drawing challenge.

What I would like to know is: do we have a central area for DSG members to post and converse, or is that supposed to be part of the daily challenge.

I enjoy the sense of "group" and community within a community that DSG offers. I would like it more if I felt there was a place to talk about the group and talk about what we post - how to do better and learn from one another.

This is likely NOT to be the place for this comment, so please direct me to where I SHOULD be posting - I'd love to talk with some of you good people a little more!

[floydshayvious]

Brand new to this whole forum, DSG caught my attention like mad crazy. Ive been reading/viewing past sketch topics and you all seem very nice, some great talent to! I cant wait to get started!

online portfolio: http://floydshayvious.deviantart.com (feel free to browse, comment and critique!)

I look forward to meeting and bettering my skills with all of you! :teeth:

-waves-

[Hamsta]

I have a question for you: How random is the DSG? :upset:
this would probably take reprogramming the bot, and spending time categorizing - but it should have a random category each day

[Dr. Evil Bear]

hi guys, im new to this, and its an excellent idea! the only problem is i do not have a website which i can upload my images to, in order to post them on here. would the peeps in charge consider having an upload section aswell, to place images straight onto this site?

matt

[Firewalker]

http://www.imageshack.us
http://www.photobucket.com

These are good places to upload images to. This way you can share with the rest of us. I'm sure there's more sites like this, these are the only two I know of.

[Dr. Evil Bear]

hey firewalker, thanks for the tips! i'll have to start entering soon then!

[evidence]

what is the proper image size for dsg posts?

[thylacine]

So, out of curiosity, is that rule about sexual content or nudity (i.e. post a LINK and not the picture) ever enforced?

I presume that was made a rule for a good reason.

maybe my idea of sexual content/nudity is different, but last time i checked, bare tits and penises qualified.

Not that i try to be a fun-killer... just a bit surprised when i open this forum and find a dick (or nipples, either way) staring at me.

[Cthogua]

Didn't see this question so I thought I'd go ahead an ask...What is the general rule regarding posting on a topic thats a day or two old? I understand that it would be nice to have the current days topic be at the top, however somedays I just don't get around to it and miss a cool topic.

I suppose I could still do the sketch and hide it away on my 'puter so NO ONE WILL SEE...NO ONE!!! MUWAHAHA...oops sorry :bashful:

James Ball

[GraveDigger8159]

How do you post your pictures?

[Trollboy]

ummm

the dsg topic page, at http://www.conceptart.org/dsg ...

its still displaying the 'human skull as art' topic. I went to that page yesterday, saw the topic, and did a sketch for it. I guess i should have checked what number it was up too... oh well.

I would suggest removing the link from this thread if that page isn't going to be updated anymore, so other people don't repeat my mistake.

[Kman.]

Whats the rules on posting after a new topic has started? Can you post in old topics?

[William b. Hand]

Ksama - Well, really the idea is to respond to the current thread, but it's fine to post on the previous days' topic. Please abstain from going any further back in time than that, though.

If you are so inspired by some old topic that you absolutely must make a pic based on it, don't bother adding it to the old thread, just post your image in the WIP or FINISHED sections.

[RedTiger]

are pencil draw accepted?

[William b. Hand]

RedTiger - Pencil drawing is fine, but try to adjust the brightness and contrast enough so that it reads well. If you have a graphics program like Photoshop or Painter, you can build on top of your pencil-drawing nicely, too.

[Pythiadelphie]

I am kind of curious what it means if threads like the "character:white" thread and the like are called open ended?
I kind of thought it was literal like: you can add pictures later on, but the one I mentioned above is closed. So I thought I'd ask.

[dan liimatta]

Pythiadelphie
I'm not the official word on the matter, but my simple take is that you can be open ended with the concept, not the time.

[Bismod]

When can we expect a new sketch theme?

[Mydrim]

You really could remove the "skull" link.. It sux..

[Mydrim]

Great! Now somebody could fix that "in DSG forum or (redirecting) in DSG forum". You know, if we are repairing, we should do it in the pure way:) Well, ok, I quit now:)

[JL.Alfaro]

Hey guys, Im new to the DSG, never really looked around here b4, I noticed that the topic has not changed in like 2 days now and according to the rules;

· When does the DSG start?
The topic is given at approximately 2am (EST) and ends the next day at 1:59am (EST) so everyone has 23:59 hours to do it.

it should have ended quite a long time ago...unless I missed something...??

I was patiently waiting for the next topic so I could jump right in, but it never came- is it ok to do some of the older DSG's that are not locked?

-JL

[Mischieviant]

Hi, I'm new here and I thought the DSG was a really great idea. So thanks to whoever organises it. I was wondering if anyone could recommend the suitable image sizes for posting.

Thanks in advance.

-Emz

[Sinaz]

I've seen 800x600 being requested in other group activities as a general guideline. That seems pretty normal considering it should play nicely with anyone's browser on any size monitor (circa 2000+).

Of course... correct me if I'm wrong.

[Mischieviant]

Thanks Sinaz. :)

[cucak]

Help please

I cant post my picture in DSG!!!
Why I dont see Manage Attachments there????

10x

SKETCHBOOK (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=77818&page=2&highlight=cucak) --- PAINTING (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=107352)

[Chuckcamo]

plz help

how did you insert image in DSG .
10x for help
Use image tags... value
Replace value with your image link.

example:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/ca_smilies/normal/anj_enthusiast.gif


http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/ca_smilies/normal/anj_enthusiast.gif

[bharat]

hi this is BHARAT RABARI , i want to join this thred pls help me n pls ....see my work on this link n coment on it..
thank you.
my link is:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...=bharat+rabari

[leikosuzuka]

I'm gonna try to work longer on my sketches from now on. I know I've probably annoyed quite a few people already with my quickies...><;

[Lennybird]

Alright, well my picture got transformed into a link. Quality reasons, I can see - but the edit also stated size. I looked over the rules and saw nothing about size restriction concerning the size of the image. I may be missing something?

Thanks

[Edit]: woops, apologies - I assume I've found my answer: 800x600?

[fakhry alazazzy]

:mod: hi

[cnctdsns]

is it cool to add drawings to previous DS's
for example one from 2 months ago...or 2 years ago!

or just the new ones?

cheers! im guna get my sketchbook out and start doodling!

[William b. Hand]

cnctdsns - No, 2 months and older is not okay. Keep it within the past 1 to 3 topics. Thanks!

[kgb]

Whats up guys
and
gals.

Its been a while for me, so my question is for last few days I keep seeing the same old topic 1371.

How does this DSG work? I thought it was within 24 hour period new topic. Do we have a timelimit? New topics? How often?

Someone could fill me in I would appreciate. I read the rules, but they don't seem to apply right now.

Thanks

[omgitsduane]

I was wondering If I could go back and post in older DSG, or just keep to the newer ones and save any "extra" drawings for my personal sketchbook?

I really want to start doing this thing almost daily.

[William b. Hand]

Whats up guys
and
gals.

Its been a while for me, so my question is for last few days I keep seeing the same old topic 1371.

How does this DSG work? I thought it was within 24 hour period new topic. Do we have a timelimit? New topics? How often?

Someone could fill me in I would appreciate. I read the rules, but they don't seem to apply right now.

Thanks

I believe (perhaps erroneously) I amended the rules to suggest that it's not necessarily every day. If I didn't, then - yeah - it's not necessarily every day. More like every coupluv days. Too many good topics were only getting 5 or 10 proper hits, and I prefer something more in the realm of 20, give or take. Also, it takes time to come up with and type out these things, and I just don't like to do it every day. :P Otherwise, the rules should pretty much apply.

Oh, yeah... Here it is. What are you talking about - Did you actually read the rules? First thing stated on page one is the following:

· What is the DSG?
The dsg is a collection of artists who draw from a topic which is (theoretically) given each day, and DSG stands for Daily Sketch Group. However, since the DSG-Bot broke and WmBHand took the reigns, it's more like a new topic is given every 2 or 3 days.

· When does the DSG start?
The topic is given at random times, completely without warning.

was wondering If I could go back and post in older DSG, or just keep to the newer ones and save any "extra" drawings for my personal sketchbook?

I really want to start doing this thing almost daily.

Yeah... Only post on topics that are within a couple of the current topic. Posting in older topics is confusing to others and irritating to me, so keep older ones in your own sketchbook. Thanks! :teeth:

[tuber]

Could we not sticky the most recent dsg?

[Vanvalen]

Why have all the older DSG's been closed...is this a new "no posting allowed after first day" rule being enforced?

VV

[j.s. sabastian]

someone probably ask this but how do i attach my sketch book thread to my posts

[William b. Hand]

j.s. sabastian - Just put a link to your sketchbook thread in you SIGNATURE, silly. ;)

[XXITheWorld]

Why have the old DSG been closed? I've got late entries for 1488 and 1489 (These are still pretty recent) but I can't post them

I can understand closing older topics but these ones are still fresh

[William b. Hand]

XXITheWorld - Because I was deeply bothered by the quality of image postings to the most recent topic (1489:Alien Malady), and that put me in a more impatient mood regarding postings to older topics (Which I generally allow, but do frown upon).

To Everyone: I will re-open all recent threads for 24 hours, beginning now. If you have something to post, then hopefully this will give you that opportunity. My apologies for the sudden and unannounced shift.

In the coming days, I'll be doing some reassessment of how I run the DSG, as I do not wish to play the part of the judgmental curmudgeon, but nor do I wish for the DSG to be a playground for underdeveloped ability looking for undeserved ass-pattery. Which is something I have expressed on numerous occasions previously, but not recently.

I will sticky-post announcement of any functional changes as soon as they are fully formed.

Thanks for your patience.

[Wild-Tiger]

Ouch, that's left me tentative to post again.

[artpersists]

Woah! Im new to the site and just discovered this thread! Its really great! I think I might join in on the fun if time permits!

[sharastar]

Hi, i joined yesterday while googling what is "Concept Art"... and i couldnt find any answers on net that can make me understand it. I love art and play with it when im free yet my field of studies is not much related to art. However i really do want to study Art and i believe this is a good site. Curious...
Which page do i go to for newbies to get around here?
Do i need to make a sketchbook when i already have a DeviantArt site?
Can i join in the DSG thing and when is the new ideas releases?
Haha im asking too much already, Please and Thank You!

[j.s. sabastian]

just curiuse why dsg doesn't have it's own spot anymore are we downsizing?

[William b. Hand]

•

j.s. sebastian - Doesn't have it's own spot where, exactly?

[j.s. sabastian]

in the "ACTIVITIES" between the "community activities" and the "challenge & collaboration arena" there was "DAILY SKETCHGROUP" as in it showed up as it's own categorey and not a -sub-forum... i was just curiouse....that's all forgive my ignorance of asking stupid questions....

[Pomelo]

Not that I have problem with storing sketches in some external host (in fact I've been doing it forever) but, what does "For most people, attachments are disabled" exactly mean?
Apparently, I've been away for longer than I thought. lol

[William b. Hand]

I'm guessing that only people with administrative privileges get to attach... Back then, I likely wasn't sure what the story was. So, yeah, ya gots ta IMG link to an external host. :P

[HightechLowlife]

Alright, I have a question.

It says in the FAQ that this isn't a place for unskilled/beginning artists to post. I don't feel I'm a beginning artist per se, as I've been drawing for years, but I don't feel like my skill level is quite where it should be to post here just yet. I can draw something that's detailed and not just a doodle and all, but I still have a loooooot to learn.

Is it okay to still sketch the prompts and put them in my conceptart sketchbook without posting them in the DSG thread?

[William b. Hand]

HightechLowlife - Of course, that's fine. And, yah know... I've kinduv eased up on the whole thing. I'd say go ahead and post your image in the appropriate dsg thread as you do it, and if you're feeling especially embarrassed about one -- just post a url link, instead of an IMG.

[HightechLowlife]

Alright! Thanks for the quick answer. :)

[Rimestar]

5 days since the last DSG...?
Is there a break I don't know about?

[EDIT]
That reminds me, is the DSG-Bot ever coming back? (automatic, daily posts were pretty damned nice) or has this section been, for the most part, swept under the rug and forgotten, save for the efforts of William b. Hand?

[William b. Hand]

Rimestar - 3-6 days is maybe about the usual amount of time it takes before I post a new topic, I'd say. Occasionally there may have been even longer dry-spells. I tend to play it by ear, and if I don't think that a particular topic has seen the action it's due (or if it's getting LOTS of attention) then I'll leave it up longer. It's an imperfect and often arbitrary thing. I gave up hope of any DSG bot returning many years ago. If I wasn't doing what I am, this nook would've been paved over already. I don't really like the notion that the DSG has been "forgotten", per sé... :P But, ya know, it is what it is.

[GoodSoup]

I don't get it, my post aren't being approved, my comments get deleted without a warning. Did I violate some rule I'm not aware of, or something? I just don't understand where this silent punishment is coming from...

[Ghost_Face]

I don't really like the notion that the DSG has been "forgotten", per sé... :P But, ya know, it is what it is.

I noticed that traffic seemed kind of minimal over the last few posts, the same few individuals I assume. I've only just joined the forums and DSG is a big reason why, so here's hoping that it continues! :D