Weird artstation posts happening today

zachagreg

Anyone know what these posts are about?

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/KadKPW
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/N5eDmP
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/xzrEzO

I've seen several pop up today. Comments lead me to believe that they're either all just taking the piss from some discussion somewhere or they're shitting on someone for some reason.

poopipe

These are based on Sandra Farias' work.

Sandra is prolific and utterly batshit and has been posting work regularly for some time now.  
I'm an avid follower - there's something utterly charming about the work, even if it is objectively awful and I suspect these are friendly homages rather than overt shitting

tbh I feel like a community project to realise the world Sandra has conceived would be a worthy task for the denizens of polycount 

zachagreg

Okay I did see the references to all of Sandra's stuff, where can I learn more about the prolific sandra?

NikhilR

Is this what being Top tier feels like?

jStins

First thought... Some students were required to post their homework to Art Station, but some of those are done by experienced artists so...
Second thought... Bunch o' artists are drunk.

Then there's this thanks to poopipe: https://www.artstation.com/sandraducks I told myself I'd scroll till the end, but I could not. Now I need a drink and have the urge to make a bone arrow and bow. Second thought confirmed. 

zachagreg

Yea I thought the same as well on first thought, and I was just hoping it wasn't a bunch of people shitting on her. As a lot of the people are coming from the same companies in which some called it out as being rude in some comments so just didn't know what to think really

Alex_J

reading the concepters about page, I'm thinking 1. english is not first language, and 2. this isn't somebody that you would poke fun at in a normal professional setting for obvious reasons.

Personally, I think there is some charm to their art. It's not good in the normal sense of the word, but when I look at it it makes me feel happy and peaceful, because I am looking at colorful art made by somebody who is clearly really enjoying themselves when they make it. There's just a lot of innocent imagination and passion, and that's really refreshing. In a way, the sheer volume and consistency is more impressive to me than some hyper-photorealistic characters you see from top artist.

Eric Chadwick

Probably started from a social platform, where the real opinions are being flamed around. Looks like shitty behavior to me. We ran into something like that here awhile back, it was not pretty, a good learning experience. 

zachagreg

Eric Chadwick said:

Probably started from a social platform, where the real opinions are being flamed around. Looks like shitty behavior to me. We ran into something like that here awhile back, it was not pretty, a good learning experience. 

I like the hopefulness in this thread, its refreshing but I also very much feel this.

Spag_Eddy

I don't who this Sandra person is or what she is going through in life, but as others have stated, there is something beautiful and charming about her work. It definitely brought some warm fuzzies to my Sunday morning.

zachagreg

@Spag_Eddy
Exactly! and no one deserves to be made fun of by some elitists for enjoying creating something.

sacboi

The web can be a sewer at the best of times but it seems she's unfazed by it all, if the prodigous output is any indication...good on her.

NikhilR

I think the main issue here is the nature of what on Artstation is considered "Top tier", which creates a sense of doubt in everyone's minds. 
I still think she is "Top tier" in what she likes to do regardless of the outcome.

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

NikhilR said:

Is this what being Top tier feels like?

NikhilR said:

I think the main issue here is the nature of what on Artstation is considered "Top tier", which creates a sense of doubt in everyone's minds.

What is this "top tier" meme? What sense of doubt? If people rack their heads about where they fall in the rankings, they should be putting that effort into practice. The artistic development formula is dead simple. Forget about where other people are at. Make the best asset you can make, post it everywhere, listen to feedback, repeat the process. Look at others only to appreciate and learn from their work. Ranking and ordering is for ego and envy, not appreciation. Ego and envy can go right back to the woodshed and practice more.

As for the topic, these parodies seem distasteful to me, particularly those from professionals. It might seem funny to do a comically good, or cartoonishly bad, interpretation of someone's outsider amateur works. But there is a very blurry line between making a homage, and just making fun of somebody who's likely doing the best they can do. If you don't actually respect the subject then chances are you're making fun of them. I find that mockery angle disgusting.

Ryusaki

Call me naive or too optimistic, but i don't sense any negative vibe in all these parodies.  I can feel neither their intention nor behavior as distasteful, arrogant or disrespectful. I rather see them as a continuation of the childish and pure expression like the original art from Sarah is.

Treating the work of Sarah like any concept art and run it through the usual art pipeline with an proper asset as end result doesn't seem like a mocking angle to me, more like an homage or simple fun. Yes the line can be blurry, but from my perspective it hasn't been crossed.

zachagreg

Ryusaki said:

Call me naive or too optimistic, but i don't sense any negative vibe in all these parodies.  I can feel neither their intention nor behavior as distasteful, arrogant or disrespectful. I rather see them as a continuation of the childish and pure expression like the original art from Sarah is.

Treating the work of Sarah like any concept art and run it through the usual art pipeline with an proper asset as end result doesn't seem like a mocking angle to me, more like an homage or simple fun. Yes the line can be blurry, but from my perspective it hasn't been crossed.

I think what causes the line crossing for me is that from the start it was very much people in the sphere of hard surface/ hard surface weapon modeling from a few studios. Not all hard surface artists of course just those from those companies. People that either would have communication on a work basis or on a basis of being apart of the same community either IRL or online. Then out of the woodwork they all start doing it. They all post comments on each others work with clear references to something said somewhere else. All saying this top tier drivel. 

I would like to agree with you that they are simply running her concepts through the art pipeline but like Amsterdam points out they are intentionally making cartoonishly bad renditions as they see fit and then in the comments pointing out how it will never be as great as the concept. Very much reads as a bunch of people were making fun of someone in a discussion somewhere and someone thought they'd be funny and actually produce the art as a further joke and the people jumped on the bandwagon of being shitty.

sacboi

@Ryusaki on the contrary, aesthetic correlation appears disjointed between parody versus portfolio fidelity of the individual parodist's when also coupled with disingenuous critique thereof, which is patently conceit without a doubt.       

SonicBlue

zachagreg said:

Okay I did see the references to all of Sandra's stuff, where can I learn more about the prolific sandra?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39WEs1fT9qY

That's one of her videos (audio is a bit low in this one), so she's a real person, not some kind of a troll account.

I don't know if they intended to make fun of her, or they just wanted to show that you can make a "good" 3D model from any concept art, without any malevolent intent in this.
I watched some of her videos, and she seems to be a really good person, that's doing what she likes most. If (and I mean IF) they have the time to laugh at this person, I'm sure they'll find some time to invite her to their studio, to show her how videogames are made, since that's what she want to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjTCZ8hueFU

Taylor Brown

To me it read as folks who should have a bit more tact treating a non-neurotypical adult like a joke. Not funny.

That being said, Sandra seemed to really appreciate all the attention to her work. Likely because she doesn't expect the worst of everyone. Having worked alongside my wife with kids on the spectrum, it isn't uncommon for a situation to be read entirely differently than a neurotypically developed person would perceive it.

Ryusaki

I am not exactly non-neurotypical myself, so maybe that's why i read the situation differently.

Shrike

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel said:

NikhilR said:

Is this what being Top tier feels like?

NikhilR said:

I think the main issue here is the nature of what on Artstation is considered "Top tier", which creates a sense of doubt in everyone's minds.

What is this "top tier" meme? What sense of doubt? If people rack their heads about where they fall in the rankings, they should be putting that effort into practice. The artistic development formula is dead simple. Forget about where other people are at. Make the best asset you can make, post it everywhere, listen to feedback, repeat the process. Look at others only to appreciate and learn from their work. Ranking and ordering is for ego and envy, not appreciation. Ego and envy can go right back to the woodshed and practice more.

As for the topic, these parodies seem distasteful to me, particularly those from professionals. It might seem funny to do a comically good, or cartoonishly bad, interpretation of someone's outsider amateur works. But there is a very blurry line between making a homage, and just making fun of somebody who's likely doing the best they can do. If you don't actually respect the subject then chances are you're making fun of them. I find that mockery angle disgusting.

 Given the way they posted their results titled as 'fan art' onto the feed of the person, this does seem like a good willed deed, not a mockery.

almighty_gir

Sandra's work is wonderful and it makes me happy to see any new pieces from her, or from people inspired by her.

And there is something to be clear about here:
It really doesn't matter what the intention is behind these 'fan works'. Ultimately whether you create something out of mockery or admiration there are two things to consider:

1. you are drawing attention to someone else's work, which is almost never a bad thing.
2. you are saying "this work is worthy of my attention".

I'm hopeful that everything going on here is with the best of intentions, but even if it isn't, i think Sandra will come out on top and keep making stuff that makes her, and a lot of other people happy. Only now more people will be aware of it!

Kaine123

I'm worried about this potentially becoming a meme, and then that would draw the attention of awful people who would bully Sandra. 

Alex_J

That's exactly what will happen. It really seems a stretch to me to say any of this was in good faith. Just look at the comments. 

There is plenty of people out there worthy of genuine shitake. How small you gotta be to pick on some.nice young women making fun art everyday?

zachagreg

Might be best to derail at this point, I think we can all draw our various conclusions based upon what we observed. I very much appreciate those that could shine some light on the subject as well as those that maintain faith in other people's motives and genuinely see the best in people, it's refreshing. 

However, I would hate for this thread to become a shit slinging moment on those that are involved in any way. I would much rather take Eric's past experience on a similar matter and view it as a learning experience. 

sacboi

^ well said and hopefully at the end of the day, all pans out in a positive light for her.

musashidan

Seeing the page I instantly thought child. From the video it's clear that this woman is mentally handicapped with the mind of a child. Clicking on the links of the parody offerings it just confirms what we already know...... the internet is awash with spineless cowards. These pricks are clearly mocking this poor woman for their pathetic and sad amusement. Enough said. Time to move on back to Tech Talk.....