The Elfwood Rules / SF&F Art Rules

• (A) Fantasy.
  Fantasy is anything and everything involving magic, dragons, elves, non-humans (but not aliens), swords and sorcery, and so forth. Please be aware, however, that people and places that existed in the world’s history do not necessarily fit within this genre. For example, a soldier from the time of ancient Greece by himself isn’t in genre. But a picture of Hercules fighting one of the titans would fit quite nicely.
  
  Please keep in mind that humans in and of themselves are not technically fantasy. However, a human in a setting that is fantasy is perfectly in genre, as would be a human picture with a good, solid fantasy description. The key here is to ensure that the required element is visible either within the picture or in the description.
  
  Fantasy can include modern elements as well, of course. For example, a troll dressed in jeans and leaning against a brick wall is perfectly fine. However, keep in mind that a human in the same situation would most likely be declined, because there’s nothing fantasy about that at all. Unless, of course, he’s standing next to the troll from the prior example.
  
  
• (B) Science Fiction.
  Anything that involves technology that doesn’t/couldn’t exist, alien races, space travel, exploring distant worlds and so forth is considered science fiction. Again, humans by themselves aren’t considered sci-fi any more than they’re considered fantasy… but with obvious elements (plasma gun, alien as a pet, etc) or a solid description, they will fit within this genre just as well.
  
  Horror is no longer a category in and of itself. Horror is, of course, still allowed; it just now falls within one of the two above categories. Horror that involves vampires, werewolves, ghosts and magically-enhanced killers will always be allowed, genre-wise. Horror that is just about how life sucks, the stalker in the basement and things of that nature is still considered non-genre and will be declined.
  
  Abstract or surreal pictures are the only exception to the above. Even if an abstract picture has a good, solid fantasy or sci-fi description to it, the picture will likely still be declined. A black smear of paint across a brown and orange canvas might represent the battle at the gates of Heaven during the apocalypse to you, but if we can’t tell what it is, it’s going to get declined.
  

Pictures uploaded to Elfwood can be divided into 3 groups.

1. Clear!: Pictures where you can see the element of fantasy or sci-fi element within the picture itself, meaning things like spaceships, elven ears, dragons, fairies and the like. Such pictures are always accepted and you can have as many as you like of that type in your gallery. Dragons, unicorns, elves or other clear genre elements/creatures on weapons, armor, crests, flags, borders and shields are accepted as clear genre.

2. Borderline (BL):When you can't see the element of fantasy or sci-fi within the picture itself, but the description explains why it's fantasy or sci-fi, it's called a borderline picture. Example could be a human man with a sword, and the description says something like this: "This is a ranger named Bamrid, and he's from my story Enchanted where he's the hero who tries to save his world which has been enchanted by an evil witch in an attempt to turn the world into a demon sanctuary." Such pictures are allowed to an extent, meaning you may have up to 50% of that type of pictures in your gallery. This also includes characters from established fantasy worlds (ie. books or text based RPG's), where the characters themselves are not fantasy/sci-fi, such as Aragorn, Theoden or other human characters as opposed to Legolas the elf, Gimli the dwarf and the like. Example: if you draw a picture of Aragorn by himself, it would be a borderline image. If you drew a picture of Aragorn and Legolas, it would be considered fully genre, since Legolas as an elf is a clear fantasy element, and if you drew a picture of Aragorn and Legolas from the movie, that would go to Fanquarter instead.

3. Non-Genre (NG):Pictures where you can't see the element of fantasy or sci-fi within the picture itself, and the description doesn't explain why it's fantasy or sci-fi. Example could be a drawing of a human woman with a description saying "I drew this last night and painted it with watercolours". Such pictures are what we call non-genre, and those are not allowed in Elfwood.
   
   

(G) Steampunk: The Wikipedia defines steampunk as such " Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan "What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner."... "
... and I couldn’t have put it better than that. Steampunk is acceptable within Elfwood rules. An example of steampunk is below, created by M. 'Mijka' Katsillis and used with permission.

(L) More rulings... will be added to this section as the need dictates. Elfwood is an ever-changing beast, and that there isn't a rule for something at the moment does not necessarily mean there won't be a rule for it in the future. Watch this space here for future details.





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.
1. 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.
2. 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).
3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.
5. Timestamps on photos are NOT a quality issue. If you want to edit them out, that's fine, but you don't have to.
6. 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.


1. 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.

Your picture resolution can be no larger than 2000x2000 pixels in size. Anything larger than this will be automatically declined.
1. 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.
2. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.