We have been discussing this issue with niXan recently and here's what came out. Someone needs to say what’s going on there. We'd like to know how many people think the same as we do because honestly, this is the TRUTH. Take this seriously.

I am so sick of seeing a lack of creation in 90% of the MT wallpapers. Always the same pattern à-la-mode: starky bg + planets + grass + clouds + cute girl. And I'm even sicker when I see that these "kind" of wallpapers are always ending up highlighted. I'm not only talking about the so-called "elite members" but also about the few new members who know how it works and make this "type" of bg. Don't you people want to challenge yourself for once?

The purpose of having my gallery here was to get constructive criticism and feedbacks because, as an IRL artist/graphic designer, I aim to improve as much as I can. I thought the MT community was full of talented artists who could join me in that experience. It's obviously not. I can easily evaluate what it takes to make such an unoriginal work. I experienced it with one of my “Fullmetal Alchemist” wallpaper: I used a part of the “pattern” (starky bg + moon + grass + cute guy). In no time, it got more favourites than all the rest of my wallpapers gathered and ended up eventually as a highlighted submission.

I was laughing.

Of course, some wallpapers of this genre are really nicely done but seriously, people need to try something else. I can't breathe anymore here. I need to see something new, something inspiring. Fresh air that is.

Finally, this may be my personal motto but consider it for yourself: pleasing the audience is always a plus but what matters the most is challenging yourself! Just go beyond your limits by always pushing them back. I can tell you in that way, you will experience much more pleasure and will go way further than anyone else in life.

Thanks for having read me til the end because this just had to be said. Now feel free to deal it with mature comments (and bash me if you feel like wahah).

Well, they have been showing up a lot recently but it may be just me Anyways, I always think it's nicer to do something more original, since it's a lot more fun (for me at least) to make and/or see wallpapers that's a bit diffrent from all the other walls

i think it looks good.But most people that do this add there own tad of personality to it for example irix i find his work amazing!

I think that starting to find repeated patterns in one's hobby is the beginning of the hobby's end. Please enjoy it and search the gallery if you want to find something else.
Another stereotype is to use erotic characters. This one buys you even more success. And I'm not doing it often. But the landscape is always attractive, because I don't get outside of the city too often, and even if I do, I either don't have time to stop and look, or the nature is devastated by the industry.
Thanks God for all the landscape walls!

trends like these are always shifting. It used to be the abstract render-bg that did the work, now it's this. Eventually even the `favwhores` will get sick of it and another trend will grow.

Your right tho, I don't get why ppl like it. I don't like it a all.

Quote by ZdenekThanks God for all the landscape walls!

AMEN

Hmp...well i tried something else instead of a girl in the foreground which has success... O_o

it's not a cute girl in the foreground it's some dude swinging a battle axe...kay i made a space background but that's how i felt making this 'cause i thought it would fit the character more and the theme of the wall...

it's highlighted now but i've yet to see some good critics...only things i get is "nice bg, great job, +fav, blablabla"

i hope some of th "elite wallers/members" decide to make something new since it's really getting boring...of course i still like the cute girls O_O but this is going to far...the only things i see in the highlighted section are girls and if im lucky some different wallpaper ^^

yes, i'd really like to see a change...which means that i have to come up with something else myself...i dunno but i kinda want to see those ppl who make those landscape walls make a simplistic wallpaper ^^ they'll have problems since they're used to making the grass and so on stuff....

I don't dislike those wallpapers but its just getting to much...

You know what? Your wall isn't out of place. I mean, that robot-guy HAD to be in a spacy background. It's not just some random kawaii girl. Then the "current trend" is just "lowering" your work - which is from a neutral point of view, good (composition, extraction, colors, overall feeling).

I'm not so sure we can call this a trend when some members here have been doing this forever and when you know it's not that hard to put those elements together. If it's easy to make and it works well, why stopping? ._.

Wah. The minimalistic style may be the next trend... yes maybe... still, I like to make unusual scenery so I will probably stick to my own style. :P

I'm really get tired with it. All of them seems to be constructed after one model and creators seems to heve no imagination.

Count me in as one who liked your "test the waters" wall. So take this for what it's worth: someone who may fit into your category of dull, boring and awful.

If a single figure, stark bg, etc. is done well, I will like it. My desktop is relatively small (bad eyes, need lower desktop resolution) and so I don't have a lot of room for icons, folders, and other crap. In the same vein I tend not to like busy or crowded bgs, an entire palette's worth of color variation, or heavy saturation of colors -- you know, a blue so atomic it makes your eyes bleed. Yours was *extremely* well done, so despite your dislike of the genre, you can take heart that your work was well done regardless.

I also think that most folks here are younger and fairly new to anime / manga or creating anime / manga, and so putting together a simple fig+bg+effect is a way of gaining confidence and learning about how to use the tools. That's probably what I'll do to start with, too, though I probably won't take the next step of posting it. I'm pretty realistic about my mad l33t skillz.

It may be possible for Sheqel and the mods to create a "master class" gallery, one in which people of demonstrable talent and vision can post exclusively (though open to comment from all, naturally). This would help call out works of true skill, variety, and talent. Popular vote shouldn't be the determination, so maybe the gallery mods can figure out what should be in that gallery.

Artists should be challenged and inspired by art, and by the art that others create. But I also don't think you should hold a beginner to the same standards as a pro, or talented amateur / hobbyist. The Master Class gallery may be a way to help promote a more professional level of dialogue.

Lastly, if you want a particular level of critique on your artwork, you should note it in the comments (and your comments are very good, btw; this is aimed more at general discussion for all artists). I'm sure there are enough people here who can bring a higher level of critique to artwork. As noted in the "Nasty/bitchy comments" thread (or whatever it is), there is a very wide range of skill, emotional maturity, and tolerance for critique, so sometimes it's not clear who can stand a more rigorous review and who needs gentle, positive feedback.

So in all, I will be looking for more abstract art, mecha-based, etc. I personally prefer sensibly-armored or -dressed individuals with swords, and a more mature age for the figure than the cutie-panty type that gets posted here. If you have anything like that on your drawing board, I'd love to see it. And if you want, you can PM me for my email and I'll be happy to offer comments offline.

--Mike

Well my "test the waters" wall wasn't that awful to me... I took some obvious patterns but it has original elements (rocks + fence) and an unusual color scheme. Like I said, many wallpapers of this type are good besides their same theme. But that's not my point.

I must admit you have a good point. A "separate" gallery would be really nice with classifications of indepth genre (abstract, minimalistic, scenery, etc.). A gallery where the subject would not matter but only the wallpaper's artistic value. I think that would raise the MT community to a different level. Of course there could still be the actual system but that one gallery could really bring something new and different to MT.

Finally, I really appreciate critics, suggestions and help for my wallpapers and always take them into account. I have resubmitted most of them 1 or 2 day after their launch for reedition. It feels good to see the interaction it produces.

i don't have this type of art (abstract, mecha) in my registry as I mainly aim, ATM, to create different backgrounds for characters... but I may try different things when new ideas will popped out of my head. ^^

i see where you're coming from...also hope this thread isn't pointing its fingers at me when you and limality talked about the particular elite member.

this reminds me of the debate on one anime community when abstract was "in," about 3 years ago or so. back then, abstract was being overused and everyone was delighted by them. like sheqel said, trends change and you really can't help it if people like them. so why not wall something people like at the present time?

in the case of me, the need to appease the peers is apparent. here's my scoop on it. i dont use wallpapers on my desktop. just a big old black space. the only reason why i make wallpapers is because some people may put it on their desktop and use it. so then, why would i make a wallpaper that doesn't follow the newest trend, and therefore get less amount of peple to use it? sounds like a simple equation for me. it would be like saying "dont get those low carb food products, because they are now the trend and everybody wants it. get the more unhealthy burger becaues they are the origoinal staple food of fast food restaraunt industry."

also, the truth of the matter is, ive been doing these kind of wallappers for a long time, and i still see areas of improvement. i think that i have the right to keep on at that particular genre to a point where i feel that i am at the limit of creating the art to the best of my abilities. its not my fault that the art style just happens to be the hottest thing right now. furthurmore, i think that even by standing with trends, you can still be origional, you can still be the gem in the stone. its just the effort it takes. if following the trend is "good," then why can't one's wallpaper be "excellent" as it follow the trend?

also, landscape art is, i think, the most befitting form of art for anime wallpapers. mabbe its just me, i dont know.

basically, and i may be rude saying this, but i want to be frank; we can wall whatever the hell we want and if some of the origional wallpaper maker pro don't like it, they can go blame the people that DO like them for giving away the favorites. i would also give much proops to those who are able to break the trend as it is amazingly hard to do so.

also, i dont wanna sound like a geek/asshole, but i looked at your gallery, ashe (and its really good ). but according your your hypothesis, shouldn't your I''S wall surpass the favorites generated by your full metal alchemist wallpaper? personally, i just think you simply did a better job on it.

dont get me wrong. all im saying is you can still be origoinal even while you're following the trend and that origionality should be held in the highest respect in art forms.

and we DID have the anime wallpaper gallery divided by genres...but i dont know what happened to it

Quote by sammoi see where you're coming from...also hope this thread isn't pointing its fingers at me when you and limality talked about the particular elite member.
this reminds me of the debate on one anime community when abstract was "in," about 3 years ago or so. back then, abstract was being overused and everyone was delighted by them. like sheqel said, trends change and you really can't help it if people like them. so why not wall something people like at the present time?
in the case of me, the need to appease the peers is apparent. here's my scoop on it. i dont use wallpapers on my desktop. just a big old black space. the only reason why i make wallpapers is because some people may put it on their desktop and use it. so then, why would i make a wallpaper that doesn't follow the newest trend, and therefore get less amount of peple to use it? sounds like a simple equation for me. it would be like saying "dont get those low carb food products, because they are now the trend and everybody wants it. get the more unhealthy burger becaues they are the origoinal staple food of fast food restaraunt industry."
also, the truth of the matter is, ive been doing these kind of wallappers for a long time, and i still see areas of improvement. i think that i have the right to keep on at that particular genre to a point where i feel that i am at the limit of creating the art to the best of my abilities. its not my fault that the art style just happens to be the hottest thing right now. furthurmore, i think that even by standing with trends, you can still be origional, you can still be the gem in the stone. its just the effort it takes. if following the trend is "good," then why can't one's wallpaper be "excellent" as it follow the trend?
also, landscape art is, i think, the most befitting form of art for anime wallpapers. mabbe its just me, i dont know.
basically, and i may be rude saying this, but i want to be frank; we can wall whatever the hell we want and if some of the origional wallpaper maker pro don't like it, they can go blame the people that DO like them for giving away the favorites. i would also give much proops to those who are able to break the trend as it is amazingly hard to do so.
also, i dont wanna sound like a geek/asshole, but i looked at your gallery, ashe (and its really good ). but according your your hypothesis, shouldn't your i''s wall surpass the favorites generated by your full metal alchemist wallpaper? personally, i just think you simply did a better job on it.
dont get me wrong. all im saying is you can still be origoinal even while you're following the trend and that origionality should be held in the highest respect in art forms.
and we DID have the anime wallpaper gallery divided by genres...but i dont know what happened to it >_<

Bingo. The truth be told is walls are like trends. Ecchi is in now, and pretty soon that'll fade, sure it'll always be somewhat popular, but its the s**t right now. Thats just how life is. Deal with it, I'm sorry but thats how things go in life. You can't really change, just try to start something new and see if it catches on.

wow..very long posts @_@..don't forget super ecchi hot gurls that gains few hundred Favs with plain white Bgs showin very lil effort...i mean Kawaii Anime gurls are always welcomed..but do something more!!..=p..well i'm not a good waller myself :P

Quote by AzNKiDoOo2wow..very long posts @_@..don't forget super ecchi hot gurls that gains
few hundred Favs with plain white Bgs showin very lil effort...i mean
Kawaii Anime gurls are always welcomed..but do something
more!!..=p..well i'm not a good waller myself :P

lol how do you say it again? Sex sells but hey, i do like it :P

and about this "Master Class" gallery... if should rather be an "Advanced Gallery,Intermediate Gallery, and a beginners gallery... " yes three galleries for three different types of wallers, say: Advanced = Yeah the ones which have pretty good skills in terms of making Wallpapers (Some thing here aren't, IMO, wallpapers anymore, they're ART to me ), Intermediate = Yes those kind of wallers which understand it a bit better than the beginners :P (i guess this was unnecessary ey?), Beginners = any questions? :P

but the only thing i dont like about this idea of three gallery's is that the community might drift apart O_O (im not speaking of the master class idea im speaking of the idea i just suggested)

That was pretty long to read. I'm not much of a writer and not very good a expressing my thoughts so i won't be making a long reply or saying anothing of any real value. I'm posting this just to let ppl who read this know that I fully agree with the idea that Ashe is pointing out.

As someone who is new to creating wallpapers, I can understand why ppl would create these kind of walls with the moons, clouds, grass, etc. Until recently I didn't even know you could make grasses like this (with brushes, i'm learning about what you can do with them rite now) Though these kind of wallpaers are not the type of wallpapers i plan on creating any time soon, I do hope to get a couple done to gain some experience in creating some of these kind of wall in the future. But to those who keep creating the same kind of wall with the greas and the moon and the girl and the stars i'm not sure they are trying to be creative, more or less trying to challenge themselves in anyway.

Right now i'm annoyed with the wallpaper section of MT. Theres way 2 many poor quality wallpapers with just an image cropped and on a plain coloured bg, or a wall where nothign on it looks like they belong 2gether. Also is it neccessary to submit a wall in 3 diff resoultion? or just simply changing a walls colour from a previously submitted wall and submitting that in (i can understand if they have a reason or if someone suggested it) I think MT needs a good cleaning up but i won't go any further this is not the post to say it in. (I have lots more to say tho haha) If a mod reads this I just wanted to know if you guyz have anything planned on keeping MT cleaned of poor quality items. (PM me) If you guyz need a hand let me know.

Its late at night and i'm not thinking stratight haha sorry if you guyz can't understand me properly hehe

bottom line. I agree that thses kind of wallpapers or getting boring and the creators need to think of something more oringinal or creative to add to there work other then doing the same ol' thing over and over...

innovation and popularity rarely mix well in an art community, mainly because art isn't objective, but rather subjective to a person's taste. But that doesn't mean creativity and originality isn't desired. Like many great artists in the past, it takes time for innovative work to be recognized and appreciated.

Give it some time and trends will shift and a new cycle will begin. If you're lucky it wil shift in your favor and then people will recognize you as a trendsetter =p (Bragging rights is a good thing )

yeah, ive seen a lot of those wall s lately

i dont even care about the trends or whatever, i wall what comes into mind. I try to be original with all of my walls of course, and i think ive been doing that. Tell me if im not

From your first post, you seem like you're going to leave, dont leave @_@. Im sure teh current trend will end soon

nah osi noone could ever beat you .. . >D tehe

well im one of this ppl who overuse this genre... but worser... the most of the wallpapers i make have a lot of echii and other pervert stuff in my walls. for those who think oh yeah thats just cause "sex sells" or "cutie make favs" are wrong. if i start to make a wallpaper i dont even think who much fav i would get or who other ppl would like the wall... the wallpaper i made are at first always just for me ... i just try that the image does fit to the background so that it will look like a image or a photo... and im just to pervert not to get a echii image on my wall...it would be like hell.

in the end sammo has pointed it out... ppl do what they want.. they are a lot of genres they are coming and going... just keep waiting for the next one

and i t hink there are a lot of ppl who just make walls with genre to grow in his skills (painting bg etc)

if you complain just about this u could also complain the one think "more friends more fav" but thats just normal

@_@; I wasn't expecting that many replies to this thread... *reading the answers*..... ok where to start from?

SAMMO-------------------------------------------------------------
Nah, I'm not pointing at your particularly. And you can go check in my friend's list. I added you in when I registered to MT because I liked (and I still do) your work. You haven't been making "grass + clouds" only bgs from what I've seen in your gallery and I think you are very talented in the scenery domain like many others I could quote (Biriwilg, Elvenkind, Jinzhou, Osiris... ). But I'm saying specializing in one particular area can be a valuable quality but it involves the danger of getting stuck in routines and trivial thought processes.

Yus, I did put way more efforts in my not-popular I"s wall. And I put way more efforts in the less popular last one of Kimino I made. Like I said previously, my fma wall was a "test to the waters". I like it more than my I"s wall because I'm a huge FMA/Ed fan so that can't help much. I agree you can add your own touch of originality in "those" kind of wallpapers and actually, like I said before, that's what I did with that one too.

To make it short, it might be just me but I'm never satisfied with what I have and I'm in constant search of new ideas because I hate to fit in the line - you know. I don't want to be a trendsetter either. >< The pain I'd feel if people would copy my basic idea over and over... ._. And that's why I always try to be original and come up with different ideas each time I wall.

limality-------------------------------------------------------------
I think the idea of having a new organization at MT would not particularly break the community in categories. It would just allow for people like me feeling like a fish in water and most important, dealing with people of equal abilities. Plus the exchange of critics of same level... now that would be really nice.

HOBBY---------------------------------------------------------------
The idea of classifying the galleries would just be the solution to the cleaning up. I'm not pro deleting the wallpapers that we think aren't really valuable of efforts. I never said we must make of MT an elite gallery. Thus, coming back to the point explained above.

OSIRIS-----------------------------------------------------------
Na-uh. I didn't plan to leave so soon. I want to see if what you said about the trend is right. I want to see what will be that "next trend".

WUSCHEL--------------------------------------------------------
I don't think there are "that" many genres for 90% of the scans you can find in MT are cuty-panty girls. And most of the wallers here use scans posted at MT which come mainly either from 4chan, Iichan or moeboard (the cute girls heaven). I also wall, first and foremost, for myself but also for friends who request. But that's not a reason for me to wall only cute guys (not like there are many anyway).

The "more friends more fav" is indeed normal but I found it very amusing. That proves how much it's not because you are highlighted or being top favourite that your work is good. S'all.

----------------

Well I don't know what to add more. I think I replied to everything. If you have again more suggestions or ideas, feel free to reply me.

lol, of course, cause this is actually a sensitive topic to some people.

Some people just make walls like this just to make walls like this, thats what I use to do when I made walls about 3-4 years ago. Not according to any trend, nothing. I did it cause I wanted to and I didn't give a damn what other people wanted, I was the one making the wall so I'm gonna make what I wanna. If I wanted to make a wall out of a demeted anime-style drawing of a squirrel blowing up stuff then so be it. Thats just how things go, its not necessarly trends, just what appeals to people at the times, others like it so they fool around with it, thus becomming trends. Like clothing, hair styles, etc.... So yeah.

Quote by AsheI don't think there are "that" many genres for 90% of the scans you can find in MT are cuty-panty girls.

Oh you'd be surprized how many freggin' pervs are out there that'll take something that can be a kids anime and make sexy pictures of it. Anything can become sexy, as long as someone has the skill and the perverted vision for it, it will and can be done. Its been proven constantly, I mean my god why do people like Hentai? lmao, seriously I'd say AT least 80-85% of anime has some form of ecchi in it these days. I cannot stress that enough. Anyways thats it for now, peace.

lol i think why people choose to wall these images to fit those backgrounds is a subconcious effect. since sceneric drawers usually wall bishoujos, by putting the girl in a field, they essentially become the "prettiest flower" u get my drift?

Now that would be a MASS subconcious effect then!

Oh well, I'm not really trying to change people, I was just giving my opinion about that because it really seemed obvious to me all of a sudden. 'Course, they can do what they want but they'll have my thought on that (like who cares lol? ).

Well you know... I personally look at walls made by people like Sammo and GundamZZ and Cloudnine, etc etc (so many of them) and I think... "Holy Crap these are good... I would LOVE to be able to do that..." so I try... Am I original? $hit no. Do I try to be? Sometimes... do I give a rats ass if people like it or not? Not a bit.... frankly I don't have any idea what the level system does other than after level 10 you can download scans (which I've downloaded like 3 from here since I've been here) and at level 40 you can change your theme to "white". Do I make starky walls so that I can get lots of favorites and level up? Hell no... I like to see what people think of what I've done.... that's pretty much it. I do a starky background because I personally really like them and I've seen it done amazingly and want to see if I can pull it off too... As Sammo said... when I feel like I'm satisfied that my starky backgrounds are the best they can be and I can't possibly improve upon them... I'll do something else... My walls aren't filled with starky backgrounds either but really to me they're all the same kinda thing... I"m not branching out and trying new and unique things because I don't feel like I've accomplished what I originally was going for yet.

Trend... no Trend... who cares really.... Wall what you like... +Fav what you like... Comment on things you do and don't like... and let the tide go where it goes.