Submission Guidelines

Mar 4, 20145 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Mar 4, 2014

2.4K Views

Each piece of art submitted to the group is based on the criteria below. For most, there are clear cut guidelines, but for others there is some subjectivity involved. Acceptance or declination is up to the discretion of the admin who votes on it. We will try to explain on each declined work why it was declined. If you would like further explanation or critique, all you need to do is ask. If you would like a second opinion from another admin, all you need to do is ask. We will be as polite as possible in situations such as this, and we ask you do the same.

Relevance:

This is a MLP group, we therefore only accept art and affiliation requests that are MLP related.

Exceptions:

Crossover works are fine, as long as there is some pony element related to them.

Effort:

Low effort works, and works with little original input are not allowed.

Please do not submit:

WIPs

Exceptions:

If it is created from a base you made yourself, it is acceptable.
If the image of the SFM/Gmod has artistic elements (i.e. camera angle, lighting, and composition has been considered), it is accepted. SFM/Gmod ponies standing around, even recolored ones, do not count.
If the work in the image is 90% your own, or it could theoretically stand by itself, it is accepted.

I.e. Dresses on a dress form base such as this. Or MTG/Yugioh cards where you, yourself, made the center image.

Artwork not created by you (i.e. drawn or crafted by someone else)

Exceptions:

Pictures of collections of commissioned art are fine, but it must be an actual collection, not just your newest piece that arrived in the mail.

Pony Creator Images
Memes, motivational posters

Exceptions:

If the work in the image is 90% your own, or it could theoretically stand by itself, it is accepted.

I.e. You drew the center image entirely yourself and just used the motivational poster frame around it. Art in the center is still subject to general image rules.

Photos of store-bought merchandise.

Exceptions:

Pictures of collections are fine, but it must be an actual collection, not just two or three un-boxed toys.

Role-play transcripts
Photo-manipulations/PIRL

Exceptions:

The image must have artistic elements (i.e. camera angle, lighting, and composition has been considered). The pony vectors must blend as seamlessly into the environment as possible. Vectors pasted into an iphone selfie, do not count.

Note: All vectors, backgrounds, and photo elements must be credited, even if you made the vectors/elements/took the photo yourself. No credit given is automatic declination.

Image Quality

This is not regarding the art of the image, but rather how it has been photographed or manipulated. All of the following interfere with the viewing of the image and can be prevented by a little bit of effort, so they have no exceptions.
Please do not submit:

Dark, blurry, and grainy photos.
Graphite drawings that are too light.
Low-res images.
Drawings on lined paper.

Mature Works

We allow mature works in this group, but please make sure they have the proper filter and do not violate DA's rules.

Please do not submit:

Images depicting sex, manual or oral touching of genitalia, or sexual play with toys. This includes "censored" versions which have links to uncensored ones in their descriptions. All of these things are against dA policy.
Severely graphic and gory images.

Exceptions: A little blood is fine. Bloody weapons, zombie ponies, etc are fine. But if it is going to deeply disturb/give nightmares to a viewer, it doesn't need to be here. (I.e. graphic Rainbow Factory images, or graphic Smile HD fan art.)

Images depicting hate against gender, race, sexuality, religion, etc.

Artistic Quality

This is regarding the quality of the art we will accept in an effort to introduce a little quality control into the group. Please note that there is a large difference between an art's value and it's quality. For example: A six year old draws two stick figures with crooked smiles holding hands. The art has low quality, that is undeniable; but to the child's mother, that drawing will hold incredibly high value and she'll treasure it, love it, and hang it on the fridge. However, to others, the drawing has low quality, and low value, and they wouldn't necessarily want to actively see it. Regarding how that applies to your art:

Please do not submit:

Drawings that look like they were done very hastily with low quality tools.

Think: dA muro, drawn with a mouse, in 5 minutes.

Example

Traditional pieces that have a lot of clutter around the image itself. I.e. It hasn't been cropped properly.

Exceptions:

If the photograph is artistically composed (i.e. camera angle, lighting, and composition has been considered), it is acceptable to have area around the image itself.

Sketches

Exceptions:

Something that one would want to actively look at, even though it's a sketch is acceptable.

Traditional graphite/colored pencil images that are only lightly lined and colored, or that have streaks, etc.

Basically, if you have to squint, or turn off the lights to see it on your screen, it's not acceptable. If it's a graphite piece, lights should be light, darks should be dark. If colored pencils are used, shading should be treated the same way as graphite (light lights, dark darks). If there is no shading, coloring should be even, and as saturated as possible given the color.

Drawings with poor anatomy/proportions, especially when the piece is supposed to mimic showstyle.

Every artist starts somewhere, but many people aren't thrilled about seeing "beginner's work." If you wouldn't want it spamming your inbox, we won't accept it.
Exceptions:

"Small" issues are acceptable. If you don't follow exactly the specifics of showstyle, that's fine. But if your drawing has multiple issues, it will not be accepted.
Styles often differ from artist to artist, and such stylized pieces will be regarded with leniency. However, it's pretty clear when something is "off," even with caricatures, so "stylized" pony drawings are not exempt from this rule.

Sometimes it's hard to judge yourself what qualifies when some of our rules are subjective. In this case, it never hurts to submit your piece. The worst we can do to you is decline it.

We hope, in time, these rules will help us develop a standard of higher quality art, and have art going to our watchers that they truly enjoy seeing. Thank you for your cooperation.