Site Transformation?

[x4btr]

Greetings All,

Is it just myself, or does there seem to be something of a shift of focus on Simmers' from skinning towards profile art?

Now, I am not suggesting for a moment that this is a bad thing, by any means! It is just a curiosity, really. In some ways, the proliferation of very good art software has got to be responsible for the clearly increased interest in profiling. But, I also wonder if the main flight simulators (IL2, especially) are just now in a bit of a doldrums?

On the subject of aircraft profiles, may I also ask for opinions on configuration? That is to say, what is the most popular arrangement on the aircraft for the profile? Is there a preference for landing gear deployed? What about for the specimen to be shown as 'ground angle', with a corresponding shading below? Traditionally, I have completed my own work with the gear retracted at a 'flight angle', but I am starting to wonder if this is outdated?

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone.

[Goodwood]

Greetings!

Still new to the site myself so I'm not sure what you mean by a culture-shift...heh. I'm a skinner and a profiler both, and as you say IL-2 seems to be "in the doldrums" waiting for the last patch and/or coping with the recent "unofficial" developments. The way I look at it, Simmers' Paint Shop seems to cover all aspect of aviation-related art, from screenshots and photographs to skinning for (all) flight sims and making profile art.

That said, it seems as though there are two traditions to follow - the British one of "in-flight", with no propeller blades and gear up - or the American theme of "at rest", with the a/c in question on the ground with props visible. I prefer a happy medium - on the ground but with no blades (the only reason being I'm crap at that, having never done it before). Only started getting into "at rest" with my P-51B/C profiles, though.

Hope that helps.

[anadc4]

I am also a newcomer here. Switched from skinning/repainting in MS's FS to 2D profiles about 18 months ago. Had been bored with flight simming for some time and tired of having to boot it to see my repaints. So I transferred my interest to profiles, which allowed me to do colours schemes and planes that were of more interest than FS allowed. If I was clever enough to make models I might not have switched.

As for configuration, do mine as wheels up, no props, level. It is easier than gear down, ground angle, prop and was the sort of profile I grew up with reading British books and magazines. It also suits the propliner profiles I do. Think gear up works better when the prime objective is the colour scheme, while gear down is better when the prime objective is the plane. Taking that further, gear up works better with multiple images where comparisons can be made while gear down is the sort of thing I like to see hanging on my wall in a frame. None of my profiles hang on the wall!

[adlabs6]

The staff have been watching the growth of profile interest for a while, we are very pleased to see it happening. I recall my talking with Serval about this situation many months ago, which is part of what lead our decisions to add such support for profile artists in the forums and gallery sections. Part of that idea was the blogging software, something that I thought that a profile artist without his own webpage, or who wanted an ongoing personal discussion center that was closer to the members and guests of this site, might find some use for.

I personally enjoy the profile posts we have here. And the wide range of vehicle subjects only adds to the interest for me.

About the sim community being in a slow point, I can't say. I've not been active in the IL2 community in much too long to know it's state. However I will say that my interest in profiles (I've produced less than a dozen) did directly come from my skinning skills. What I most enjoyed about the profiles is the fact that they can be printed and enjoyed much more nicely than the game skins. I have a couple of my profile prints in a binder stored away, while most of my skins are really not viewable anymore since I don't even have IL2 installed.

[Supah]

This seems to go in waves, I have seen it over at screenshotprints.com too. After a while most of the new people realize its very hard to sell your work and give up, some prematurely, others keep at it Most people make ww2 aircraft, a market that is quite over crowded.

[sparty72]

To be honest ..as much as I'd like to sell ( In the millions of course) I just enjoy drawing the art, planes mostly but i like Armour as well so i think I'm gonna be around for a while learning new styles and techniques..as in format gear up/gear down..purely how you want to depict it, all mine have the ability to be either..just a case of switching layers on or off and adjusting accordingly

Just my penneth!

Sparty

[gamary]

Funny this subject was brought up as I intended to start asking people about what they thought was best: gears up/down, flight/ground angle.

I think that we all start with flight angle and no gear, no prop, no nothing... The reason, as already pointed out, is that it's easier to draw. I may be transiting to the US "rest" style, if I'm not too lazy. Some people even add the "remove before flight" stripes and other things which look nice IMHO.

As for selling our stuff, I agree with sparty: we should be selling millions of profiles but we artists are never fully understood. Think of Da Vinci. And even then: ol' Leonardo couldn't draw a decent profile on Photoshop to save his life.

Just an easy consideration aside from that: there are lots of profilers who draw superb, accurate and well-researched planes and don't sell much, if anything. And there are also guys who draw pure crap and sell them profusely. I don't want to start a war here, so I won't give any names (you can find them as well as I can anyway). I guess being a good salesman is more important than being a good artist... This is also true of music and lots of other fields.

I'll finish this on a more positive note, though: I greatly appreciate SPS for its friendly community. People here are helpful to each other and progress together. I haven't seen any unhealthy competition here and I hope this will continue. Thanks to everybody for making SPS a nice and beneficial place!

OK. OK. I'll stop typing now before I get banned, or before a moderator PMs me saying "Put the keyboard down. Gently. Don't try anything heroic, sonny, and everything will be fine.".

[pkassak]

... Most people make ww2 aircraft, a market that is quite over crowded.

Hmmm, so why it is that some magazines are still in search for a good profile artists to cover articles which are going to be published? Of course there is a lot of people who draw and paint for their internet web site shopping centres or whatever it is...no offense,...but some magazines still need good profile artists..

[Goodwood]

Hmmm, so why it is that some magazines are still in search for a good profile artists to cover articles which are going to be published? Of course there is a lot of people who draw and paint for their internet web site shopping centres or whatever it is...no offense,...but some magazines still need good profile artists..

Got some leads on who needs artists? I'm sure they would be more then welcome here...

[gamary]

I'm not sure I could say, Peter. Maybe the work conditions (I'm mostly thinking of delays and payment, but maybe image format & colours too?) are too harsh? As I have almost no experience in the field (except for our collaboration), I really can't tell.

But you will admit that some profilers just make bad work. I'll take an example, without naming the guy: he owns a rather successful modeling magazine and draws loads of profiles which he publishes in his own magazine and books, but also in OTHER ones (which he doesn't own). I've seen drawings by him which are hilarious they're so bad. I'm not exaggerating here. You look at it and think "What is this, some joke or something?". The shape, lighting, shading, colours, etc... everything is simply very bad.

I'm not particularly complaining for myself: I'm still learning and there are far better profilers around, starting here. As an ex-professional musician and dilettante artist, I know that in most artistic circles, marketing counts for more than actual talent.

Now, I'll join Goodwood in his remark: got any tips?