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The Elfwood Review Board Homepage
Home of the Elfwood Rules & regulations
SF&F rules rewritten and polished by Matthew 'Ed the Editor' T. Summers and Becky Allen.
Thanks!

Welcome to the rules page for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Artwork
pages of Elfwood, hereafter referred to as SF&F. As follows will be
the breakdown of the vast majority of the rules within the SF&F area,
detailing what is and is not allowed, things to be careful of, and
general procedures that are good practices to follow.
Also, please note: the usage of the word "picture" from this point on
refers to any and all artistic works submitted to Elfwood. This
includes photography, moving graphical icons, paintings, sculpture, 3d
artwork, digitally created artwork, and so forth. "You" of course
refers to yourself.
Rule clarifications were done by a combined effort of all SF/F
moderators and compiled by Matt Summers and
whipped back into normal speak by Becky
Allen. Yes, I write in big sentences, which is why Becky helped keep my writing a bit more down
to earth.
 
Your picture is required to have a clear fantasy or science fiction
content. If the picture is only borderline (such as a generic picture
of a knight, see CONTENT SPECIFIC RULINGS
below), the description must be enough to push it into acceptable
limits.
Or, to put it more simply: you’ve put a lot of time and effort into
your picture. All it’ll take is just a bit more effort in your
description to get it approved. And the more you have in your
description, the easier you’ll make the moderator’s job in the long
run.
Genres:
- (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.
Groups:
Pictures uploaded to Elfwood can be divided into 3 groups.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
 
This will be the
largest section of the rules for SF/F pages, simply because there are so many
specific rulings on so many different subjects. It is recommended that if you’re
looking for something in particular, run a SEARCH command in your browser and
go right to it.
(A) Anime: drawing in the style of Asian or Japanese artists and artwork,
typically with big eyes and gravity-defying hair is NOT in genre unless other
genre elements are within the picture or the description. Anime does not equal
fantasy or science fiction.
(B) Goth: punk, teenaged angsty pictures, spiked hair, all black clothes,
tattooed and pierced pictures. Punk is a modern-day style of dress, and is NOT
in genre unless other genre elements are within the picture or the description.
(C) Photo manipulations: as long as the genre elements are within the
picture, photo manipulations are perfectly fine. However, there are some requirements
that are necessary to be in your picture description:
- You must state where the photo came from. If you took the photo, just
say so. If it’s from an online stock archive, include the link to the archive.
If the picture is from another source, you must include a link to the source
(if possible) and state that you have permission to use the photo. Pictures
that are copyrighted and/or do not have this information are not allowed
and will be declined.
- You must have permission from the people in the photo to use their photograph
in an online environment. For example, you take a picture of your friends
dressed as the Lord of the Rings troupe. You must have full permissions
from each person in the picture before you can post the picture, and you
must state this in your description.
If it's a photo of you, it's of course fine, just remember to state in the description
that it's you in the photo.
(D) Celebrity art: very easy rule to follow here. Celebrity art is not
allowed anywhere in Elfwood. Period. We have a team of gnomes that
track down celebrity art and beat the artists with dead herrings
routinely, so don’t make us use them.
Celebrity art is basically artwork using images of existing real life
people (musicians, actor/actresses, etc) as a base for the picture.
John Lennon as an elf wouldn’t be allowed, for example.
(E) Song lyrics: Quoting lyrics is allowed, but only one stanza or
verse at most. Do not use the whole song, as it will get declined because of
copyright laws. Also, put in the picture description where the song came from
for proper credit. If you wrote the song yourself, you are of course allowed
to use the entire song lyrics, but you still need to state that you wrote the
song.
(F) Collaborations: When two (2) or more people work on a picture together,
that is a collaboration. This is perfectly fine under Elfwood standards. Both
parties may have the final picture on their individual Elfwood page. However,
you must state in your description who the picture is created with and provide
a link to said person if possible. You must also indicate that you have full
permission to post the picture.
(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.
(H) Anthromorphic art: simply put, anthro (or furry) art is humanized
beasts. Simple ruling on these – as long as they meet the other guidelines (not
too violent/sexual, etc) then it’s perfectly fine.
(I) Logos and brand names: no logos or brand names are allowed on pictures
beyond those that you make up yourself or have explicit permission from the
original owner to use. No, Coke(tm) and Pepsi(tm) did not give you permission
to use their logos.
(J) Generic human characters and items: Kings and queens, knights, princes, princesses,
gypsies, pagans, wiccans, squires, pirates, vikings, geishas, ninjas, assassins,
terrorists, guys standing around just with generic weapons (bow, sword, etc...),
gladiators, or any picture depicting historical figures by themselves are considered
non-genre by themselves, but are borderline with fantasy/sci-fi descriptions.
All of the above either currently exist or have existed in the past, and by
themselves are not fantasy/sci-fi in any way, shape or form, and must have other
fantasy elements in either the picture or the description. If the picture is
explicitly stated as historical (ie. portraying a soldier from a specific time
period, or a historical figure such as Julius Caesar), it is considered non-genre. The same
rule applies for generic weapons, meaning if you draw an image of a sword, then it's considered
non-genre by itself, but if you add a description that explains why it's fantasy/sci-fi, such
as "This sword is magical", then it will be acceptable as borderline.
(K) Copied art: copied pictures (in other words, reproductions of someone else's work,
whether traced or drawn freehand) is NOT acceptable in Elfwood. They are copies and do not belong
anywhere on Elfwood! Partially copied art will most likely also be rejected. A rule of thumb is
that if it's obvious where it's from, then it's most likely a copy and as such will be declined.
(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.
- 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 black/white drawing + 1 colored version of the B/W drawing = counts
as 2 pictures in a 1st publish.
- 1 B/W drawing + 2 colored versions of the B/W drawing = counts as
2 pictures in a 1st publish
- 1 B/W drawing + 3 colored versions of the B/W drawing = counts as
2 pictures in a 1st publish.
- 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.
- 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:
- Shit
- Fuck
- 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.

 
SF&F art rules rewritten and polished by
Matthew 'Ed the Editor' T. Summers
ERB Logo created by Devon Cady-Lee
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