The Elfwood Rules / FanQuarter Rules , The Rules

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FanQuarter rules rewritten by Nico Danell and polished by Matthew 'Ed the Editor' T. Summers Thanks!

FanQuarter was created for two main reasons.

To keep fan art distinct from original artwork for copyright and legal reasons.
To separate fan art from original artwork to make browsing Elfwood easier.

Because of the distinctiveness of FanQuarter, there are stricter guidelines for what artwork is and is not allowed there. The following will outline what kind of work is suitable for FanQuarter. Rules for the FQ were hammered out by all the FQ moderators and assembled by Nico Danell .

Elfwood defines fan art as any picture depicting characters or scenes from any form of published visual media, including but not limited to television shows, movies, comic books, graphic novels, video and computer games, and webcomics. This includes original characters you created in any fan universe.
Illustrations from novels are not considered fan art and as such they do not belong in FanQuarter. The exceptions to this are novels based on visual sources (such as the Star Wars series) and the Harry potter series; these would all go into FanQuarter.

Pictures of characters belonging to friends or people you know are not considered fan art unless they happen to be published or exist in a fan universe.

Anime/manga in and of itself is not fan art. Original characters done in anime or manga style are perfectly acceptable for Art and do not belong in FanQuarter.

All video games with a visual interface are considered to be a source of fan art, even if you create original characters within the game.

COPIED PICTURES ARE NOT FAN ART!
Elfwood does not accept any copied pictures in any area!

On Elfwood, all fan art needs to be from a source that is science fiction or fantasy in theme. This means that drawing a character from a non-genre series in a fantasy costume is not acceptable; the character must be from a series which is in genre. For example, drawing characters from Titanic as elves. Although elves are in genre, the movie Titanic is not so such a picture would not be accepted. To meet Elfwood’s genre requirements, the source must not only contain sci-fi and/or fantasy elements, but the theme must revolve around them. It is insufficient if a show which is normally not in genre has one episode with some magical influence, for example. In this case we would likely accept fan art depicting the fantasy elements of that one episode, but not general fan art from the same series. Example: A picture of Kodos and Kang from the Simpsons is alright, but general pictures of Simpsons characters are not.

Celebrity fan art is never allowed on Elfwood. You may post pictures of an actor in a role, for example Elijah Wood as Frodo, but you may not post a picture of Elijah Wood as Elijah Wood, or post a picture of Elijah Wood in any role he did not play. The moderators have the right to decide if a picture is protraying a celebrity in a role or if it is just celebrity art. If you want to make sure your picture does not get rejected as celebrity art, make sure to incorporate clear elements from the actor’s role into the picture, for example clothing, hairstyle, props, et cetera.

Just as in Art, no fan art depicting extreme violence, pornography, drug abuse, or other 'adult'’ themes will be accepted. Make sure everything you submit is suitable for a PG-13 audience. Any fan art containing explicit language in the picture, title, filename, or description will be rejected. The moderators have the right to decide if a picture is too explicit on a case-to-case basis.

The quality of your art must meet a standard which shows some care and professionalism. Examples of pictures which may be rejected for quality issues are pictures with excessive smudging, creases, or wrinkles, pictures with visible paper edges or notebook binding, pictures on lined paper, pictures which are too faint, blurry, or otherwise difficult to see, pictures with poor cropping or too much white space around the edges, or pictures which are too sketchy or incomplete to be reconizable.

Pictures that have been copied in any way from other sources are never allowed. The moderators will reject any picture that is copied regardless of quality or skill. There is often a fine line between using another picture as reference and copying it (see below for a more detailed explanation of reference and copying).

Always be sure to include the name of the character(s) and the series, movie, game, etc, they come from in the picture title OR description. We need the full title, not only an acronym, for example writing HP instead of Harry Potter is not enough. This helps the moderators who may not be familiar with the character and speeds up the queue. Any picture lacking this information will be rejected. And yes, this goes even for the really obvious characters like Spider-Man and Pikachu. Try to imagine that you might be the only person on Elfwood familiar with the character and compose your picture description accordingly. With original characters in a fan universe, it is especially important to make sure you mention what universe they are from as well as how they fit into it! A picture of a normal looking human with the description "this is my Harry Potter character" can still be rejected if we feel there is not enough information or content to justify the character being fan art. Always try to give a bit of background to convince us that the character is developed in the universe and not just being dumped in FanQuarter as a last resort. Remember, FanQuarter is NOT a dumping ground for non-genre pics that cannot go into Art. If the picture does not at all resemble the character it is supposed to be, we will not accept it!

Fan Art of things like weapons, maps, plants, buildings, and other "still life" are generally not accepted by themselves. If it is portrayed in a very original way, however, we will most likely allow it as long as your gallery is composed mostly of character pictures. For a first publish we do not allow a "still life" to count towards the four (4) picture minimum. Reproductions of movie props such as weapons or jewelery are rarely accepted, as they are generally viewed as copies. However, you may submit a photo of a person in costume with the props; we consider full costumes original and acceptable. Keep in mind, however, that the costume in its entirety must be designed and created by -you-. Simply putting on a leather coat and sunglasses and calling a picture "Neo from the Matrix" is not acceptable. Landscapes are acceptable as long as they are clearly depicting a distinctive scene from the universe they are representing.

With fan art, it is often necessary to use a reference picture to get the clothes, hair, or facial features of a character right. We recognize that there is often a fine line between something which is copied and something which is referenced. To ensure that you do not cross that line, here are a few pointers to consider when using a picture as a reference.

Use more than one (1) picture as a reference point if possible, to ensure that you do not simply reproduce the details you see for lack of other perspectives. If you are referencing a pose, do not use a picture of the same character you are drawing as reference. Use a picture from elsewhere, and change the body shape, clothes, and other features accordingly. Only use your reference picture for a basic idea of anatomy, not for the entire posture. Do several practice sketches of the character in different poses and from different angles to get yourself a good idea of his/her appearance. After you have done this a few times, you may not even need a reference picture. Use a reference picture for only -one- thing in your picture; either composition, pose, light source, clothing, etc, but not all of the above. If you try to use a single picture to reference all of these points you will most likely end up with a reproduction, not an original work. Always try to draw a character in your own style, instead of copying the style of the creator. With fan art from live action movies, if you are aiming for realism, then try to learn how to draw the character’s features rather than copying them directly from reference photos.

We feel that you will find creating original work much more rewarding and satisfying than copying pictures somebody else already drew. You may not get the best results at first, but you will improve much more this way than if you only copy all the time.

If ever you are unsure if you have copied a reference picture too closely, the answer is probably YES! Always ask a moderator before uploading it; the support staff would be more than happy to help you out if you are not certain. Copied pictures tie up the queue because we need to search for the originals before we reject them. The most common elements that decide a copied picture are pose, composition, and lighting, or any combination of these things. Secondary elements are things like facial expression, the fall of hair or clothing, and accessories or background details.

For more on copying versus reference, please see the wonderful Woodworks article.

Please take some time and make your image presentable. Elfwood is a place to display your artwork; given this, make it presentable to be displayed. Spend an hour or two playing with the following basic functions of your graphics program: cropping, brightness/contrast/gamma or level adjustment, saving in a suitable format and compression. Not only will this make your image much less likely to be declined for quality issues, you’ll be learning how to give your artwork the full effect of viewing that it deserves.

One requirement for all artwork submitted to the SF&F areas are that they follow some clear quality guidelines. The picture below is formatted exactly correct, and was used by permission from Sarah "Gealflings" Trumpp.

(A) Image quality issues.

Cropping issues. If a large amount of white space remains on any side of your work, the picture needs to be cropped to remove a majority of this white space. This also is an issue if the edge of the paper can be seen, or if the back of the scanner can be seen. All of these issues must be corrected before you upload your picture, or it will be declined.

The only exception to the edging rule is when it’s required as part of your picture. For example, an ancient map that has burned and torn edges and shows a bit of the background color behind it would be allowable, or in cases where the edges have been cut to match the shapes of the figure in the drawing.
Color issues. If your image is too dark or too light to make out the details of the work, it becomes a color issue. Colored bars along any side of the work also need to be removed, unless the picture is being presented in a matte finish (framed).
Quality irregularities. Holes in your work, creases, and things of this nature will get your work declined. If you assemble two (2) large images together (say, if your work was too large to scan on one try) and it left an extremely visible line down the center of your work, this is considered an irregularity and will get declined.
Background issues. Homework notes in the side of your picture, being able to see images and writing in the background that got scanned along with your image, and lined work that hasn’t been edited will fall under this category.
Timestamps on photos are NOT a quality issue. If you want to edit them out, that's fine, but you don't have to.
Finally, please make sure that your pictures are all saved in RGB mode, not in CMYK mode. CMYK mode images are not allowed, as most browsers are not capable of displaying them at all.

Lined paper will take some work to remove the lines, usually. A few good programs for this are Gimp and Irfanview as of this writing. Gimp is located at http://www.gimp.org/ and Irfanview is located at http://www.irfanview.com/

Of course, there will always be exceptions to all of these rules. One example of this is when page irregularities, background effects, lines and/or schoolwork notations are used to enhance the actual picture or used specifically for the picture. One good example of this is below. Drawn by Fox Matthew Bruner and used with permission.

(B) Picture size rules and minimums.

You are required to have a minimum of four (4) pictures on your Elfwood page at all times. Please make sure that you have at least four (4) unique pictures if you’re publishing for the first time. Different versions or colorings of the same picture are okay, but they won’t count toward the minimum of four (4).

Example…
1. 1 black/white drawing + 1 colored version of the B/W drawing = counts as 2 pictures in a 1st publish.
2. 1 B/W drawing + 2 colored versions of the B/W drawing = counts as 2 pictures in a 1st publish
3. 1 B/W drawing + 3 colored versions of the B/W drawing = counts as 2 pictures in a 1st publish.
4. 1 drawing + 1 detailed version of the drawing = counts as 1 picture in a 1st publish.

(C) Picture size.

File types. Your pictures must be saved as either a .gif or a .jpg file and NOTHING else. Animated .gifs are allowable as long as they do not exceed the maximum file size.
File size. Your picture files must be 1Mb or less in size. The Extranet will not allow you to create a ticket if any of your uploaded pictures are larger than this.

Please remember that Elfwood is a "PG-13" Internet site. As such, the following guidelines apply to your pictures, your picture descriptions, your biography, and any other section that might be displayed for a visitor to see:

The Big Three (3). There are three (3) words that will never be allowed in any way, shape or form on Elfwood. They are as follows:
1. Shit
2. Fuck
3. Cunt
These words must either be completely censored or changed entirely. For example, a long word like "motherf##ker" would get declined unless the entire thing was edited out. This includes popular cyberspeak for this sort of thing. "****" and "@#$%" are examples of acceptable substitutes.
Rude gestures. The middle finger (or "flipping the bird") is never allowed on Elfwood. This includes pictures where the finger itself is blocked off or it is still obvious that they are making the gesture.
Sexual content. Again, remember that this is a PG-13 website, and pictures of a pornographic or obviously erotic nature are not allowed on Elfwood. While both male and female nudity is certainly allowed, pictures that depict suggestive poses or sexual themes or acts are not.
Graphic violence, blood and gore. Violence, as a whole, is bound to happen within the body of your story from time to time. This is considered on a case by case basis, but as a general rule beheadings and decapitations are usually fine, but visible entrails are usually declined.
Drug use. Pro-drug propaganda and obvious drug use (smoking pot, etc) are automatically declined. Regular smoking and drinking alcohol is fine.
Hate artwork or descriptions. Any drawing or description that includes racially-motivated hate will be declined

The vast majority of us end up having something get declined for one reason or another. Though this is a fact of life, understand this: the moderators of Elfwood do NOT have something against you as a person, or against your artwork/writing, or against any other aspect of your life.

If you have something declined, there is a short process you should follow.

Read the decline carefully. All moderators place their decline reasons in the declining email, so if you don't read this email, you'll never know the exact reasoning behind why your story/picture got declined. Match up what the decline reason was against the appropriate part of your story/picture. If you can see what the moderator is talking about, fix this problem and resubmit.
If you don't necessarily see what the moderator was talking about, review the rules above. Find the appropriate rule that covers the reason why your item got declined, and compare it to what the moderator said was wrong with your work. If you can now see what the moderator was talking about, fix the problem and resubmit.
If you still disagree with the moderator on the rejection, understand this. People DO make mistakes. Go back to the email you received your decline in, and hit "Reply. " Describe in this email what your concerns are, and be SURE to attach the picture in question to the email before you send it.

Moderators do make mistakes, after all. Once you've completed these steps and emailed us, be patient. One of our support moderators will get to your email in time, though it might be a few days. Remember to be nice. A nice email, asking why something was declined and a request for an explanation will get much, much faster response than the email that 's shouting in all caps, calling the moderators every name under the sun and using those words you 're just not supposed to say in front of your mother.

Incidentally, writing nasty emails and calling the volunteer moderators all sorts of neat names not only is a good way to ensure that your email itself is just flat out ignored, but it does have the potential of having your Elfwood account suspended or outright deleted entirely. We're all adults or near-adults here, people. A little bit of nice goes a very, very long way.

FanQuarter rules rewritten and polished by Matthew 'Ed the Editor' T. Summers

ERB Logo created by Devon Cady-Lee