Artist Primer

Whether you're a new artist or seasoned expert, the information below will help you get the most out of Visions of Darkness.

YOUR IMPORTANCE

I would like to extended an especially warm welcome to you. This is a small place where we try and foster a sense of community, helping each other learn and grow as artists. We have a deep interest in, and passion for visual art. We also believe art should be explored with as few restrictions as possible. However, there are rules, and you are asked to kindly respect them.

GALLERIES

There are three galleries inside. They are reserved for your original material and viewer feedback:

Main Hall - VoD's main gallery. Includes nudity, Damsel-in-Distress, and soft BDSM. Content that ventures into darker themes will be moved to the Basement. Content may also include something as rudimentary as a collage of primitives to show off your new texture shadings kills, or a hand you've learned to draw.

Basement - Artwork featuring extreme subject matter. Includes intercourse, bestiality, hard BDSM, genital mutilation, violence, and death.

Artist of the Month - Celebrating extraordinary work by member artists as chosen by their peers.

Rest assured, you will never be penalized or reprimanded for posting work in the wrong gallery. At most, you'll receive a private notice advising you it was moved, with a brief comment explaining why.

CONTENT DEFINITIONS AND LIMITS

In case you're wondering what Damsel-in-Distress and BDSM mean, they're outlined below:

Damsel-in-Distress - A woman in trouble with the implication that she needs to be rescued. Think of any stalking, kidnapping, or ransom scene in your average primetime crime drama and you've got the idea. Or, any comic book hero's love interest constantly getting in trouble with bad guys and having to be rescued. Women tied to train tracks, bound in vans, chair-tied in basements, shackled in dungeons... that sort of thing.

BDSM - Bondage, Discipline (or Domination), Sadism, and Masochism. It's a very popular subject among artists. All characters involved are consenting adults and derive a great deal of pleasure from their experiences. There's also a distinction between soft and hard BDSM. Please use the guide below to help you determine which gallery your work may be most appropriate for.

BDSM Limits

Soft - Oral sex, swallowing semen, nipple clamps, spanking, flogging blindfolds, butt plugs, gagging, wax play, bondage with tape.

Hard - Choking, anal sex, electro play, fisting, needles, suspension bondage, whipping, caning, fire play, blood / urine / feces

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

Our goal is to promote a sense of camaraderie while encouraging constructive criticism. To that end, you should expect - and accept - that not every comment you receive will be filled with blanket praise. For discussion of artwork to be meaningful it has to concentrate on areas that can be improved.

STORAGE

VoD uses a shared hosting plan with unlimited storage and bandwidth. Nevertheless, I've configured a 2 MB limit for file attachments. If you'd like to share something larger, you're welcome and encouraged to link to your favorite image hosting service.

Up to 20 images can be attached to a message. If you have your own image hosting site, you're welcome to link to it.