A moral dilemma

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Mon, 01/19/2009 - 16:23

RenegadeKamui

A moral dilemma

Some of you have probably heard of awittyname, who did some inflation art a while back. About a year ago, he renounced inflation art entirely, saying that he was tired of so many "unoriginal" requests. He even turned down a paid commission I offered him, and when he drew an inflation request for a contest winner, he mentioned how much he disliked doing it. While I don't personally see how the transformation and fat growth art he has made since then is any more "original", I respected his decision.

A week ago, AWN announced that he had quit his job and was taking more paid commissions. He even did an inflation pic, with probably a couple more on the way. I would love to have him take my commission request from before, and it sounds like he needs the money enough to accept it.

My question is, do you think it's ethical to put this kind of request on him? He's actively antipathetic toward inflation, and he always has the right to decline the commission, but on the other hand, in his current situation he may feel compelled to accept it.

Mon, 01/19/2009 - 16:45

awittyname

You do know I do lurk these boards...

And I also did post awhile back that I hadn't renounced inflation, but a good heaping section of it's fan base. Namely the rabid section that will attack you if you even whisper the word "critique".

I also really needed a break from drawing Inflation, overall. It was driving me nuts. How would you feel to have your inbox filled with requests for either someone's OC in the same situation that everyone else was asking for their OC to be in, or the same 3 video game girls as either blueberries or balloons? No one wanted to see anything new, or a different take. Same thing, regurgitated.

It also didn't help that, for most of that stretch, I was in a bad working situation that normally left me angry and bitter most nights. That, as you mentioned, recently ended.

Whether you commission me or not is really not my concern until a little note appears in my DevArt inbox, but it does concern me when someone doesn't understand/ doesn't use the whole story to make a moral dilemma out of my involvement in a project. Just remember that you don't always know who's sitting around on these boards.

Mon, 01/19/2009 - 19:07

RenegadeKamui

awittyname wrote:

You do know I do lurk these boards...

I'd totally forgotten, actually :oops:

And I understand that you're tired of the stereotypical inflation scenario, which was why I tried to give my request a little more context than usual, to separate it from the pack. I thought it was fairly original, but I guess I was wrong.

I'm sorry I misinterpreted your situation. If you're willing to take the commission, great; if not, I do have a few non-inflation ideas I'd like you to consider. Do you do "stuck"-type pics (glue, wedged between fenceposts, trapped in costumes, that sort of thing)? And do you still not like to draw copyrighted characters?

Mon, 01/19/2009 - 19:12

awittyname

depends on the "stuck" idea. Copyright characters are fine, as long as I get references, and they aren't creepilly young.

Sun, 01/25/2009 - 21:33

Inflate123

For my day job, I recently interviewed an artist about their acceptance of commissioned pieces and it was very clear that sometimes they were doing it for the money and exposure -- no shame in that, I think -- but the projects that really excited them were the ones they found artistically challenging.

When Cyndi Irresistible was taking voice commissions, she had a list of what she would and would not do. Air fantasies were fine; weight gain and rape fantasies were not. She screened the scripts and only did the ones she felt she could do well; if she was not comfortable with the topic or the fantasy, if she couldn't connect with the material, the results would suck anyway. And since it's a per-piece, private client thing, there was no pressure to deliver a wide variety and steady stream of releases -- like if she was running a subscription site and had to keep a lot of people happy. She never went that route because she wanted to retain the creative control and not feel like she had to keep the shareholders happy, you know? She was an independent contractor and it worked out; the clients and the artist were both happy with her resulting work. And I didn't mind doing the audio editing. :)

Ultimately, if someone says they're accepting commissions, ask them to draw what you want them to draw...but don't take it personally if they say no. I think commissions have to be a mutual agreement thing.

FWIW, AWN did a little contest on DA recently and offered a free pic to the winner. I won and I asked for an OC inflation pic, and he obliged quickly and politely. It wasn't what he would have chosen to draw, and I don't think he found it artistically fulfilling -- but the craftsman in him did it because it was an open offer.

I don't blame anybody for needing to take a break or getting burned out. I figure every creator in the community is creating to keep themselves interested and amused. If it doesn't push their buttons, it's not fun. So if the whole thing stops pushing their buttons, they need some time off.

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A moral dilemma

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